Nutrition Information

Posted on June 17, 2013 by janekdickinson

nutritionIndexDo you read food labels?

An interesting article reported that women check food labels more frequently than men. Even more important, they use the information on the food label more than men do. The authors also reported that Hispanic men read food labels more than Caucasian men do.

Food labels provide a lot of valuable information about the food we eat. Clearly, if we are eating mostly fresh fruits and vegetables – without labels – that is a healthy thing! In that case, you may want to get your nutrition information from a reputable website or book – please note the web will have the most exhaustive lists!

When I read a food label, I do so in this order:

1.) find the servings per container

2.) find the serving size

3.) find the total carbs

4.) figure out how many servings I’m going to eat (or just ate) and calculate how many carbs it contains

5.) look for any other nutrient info I’m curious about.

Do you read food labels?

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Medical Appointments

Posted on June 14, 2013 by janekdickinson

group visitsHave you been to a group appointment for your health care? Have you heard of them? They are getting more and more popular for a few reasons. They are more cost-effective and they help people! Group visits allow health care providers to see more patients for a longer amount of time, and this approach may help with the current shortage of diabetes educators, physicians and other health care professionals.

Group visits are something that diabetes educators talk about a lot. There are sessions at conferences on this topic, class discussions, webinars, and everyday water cooler conversations (or e-mail messages) between colleagues.

But what about the people for whom we provide these group visits? What do you think of them? Is it true that you learn more than in an individual visit? Do you feel comfortable in a room full of people, discussing diabetes? What number of people do you think is the most effective – 5, 15, 50? It’s time we hear some feedback about group visits…from the group!

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Mari Ruddy is Missing

Posted on June 12, 2013 by janekdickinson

MariPink-212x300This morning I saw a post on Facebook saying that Mari Ruddy, founder of TeamWILD and doer of many great things, is missing. I thought it was a joke. I thought it was one of those internet games where people “look” for Mari. It only took a few minutes to figure out this is not only true, but incredibly scary.

Please share this link with all your networks: http://www.findmariruddy.com/2013/06/12/find-mari-ruddy/. Maybe someone knows something and can help find Mari. Hopefully she’s safe.

 

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Oral Health and Diabetes

Posted on June 10, 2013 by janekdickinson

tooth-cartoon-vectorIt would be nice if everyone would brush and floss, but here’s the deal: people with diabetes have a higher risk for periodontal disease (that’s all the nasty stuff that can happen in your mouth), so we need to be even more vigilant with oral health.

I just read an article about adolescents with diabetes and how they are less likely to take care of their teeth and gums. What’s up with that? It wouldn’t surprise me if adolescents in general didn’t have great mouth care, because adolescence is not a time of focusing on things like brushing and flossing. But why are teens with diabetes even less into it? Maybe they just have too much going on already. Between trying to live life as a teen-ager and then adding blood glucose monitoring, carb counting, (planned) exercise, medications, and health provider visits  – maybe they are busy enough!

If you know an adolescent with diabetes, send them some kind, subtle hints to take care of their mouths. I always remind my kids that brushing and flossing now will help keep their teeth in their heads for years to come. And for kids (and adults) with diabetes it can prevent far more than losing teeth.

Have you brushed and flossed today??

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Breakfast foods

Posted on June 7, 2013 by janekdickinson

food3Breakfast foods, at least for me, tend to be all carbohydrate foods. Cereal, toast, oatmeal, and so on. I have been reading a book about low carb lifestyle and wanted to experiment with lowering my own carbs, but what about breakfast?

I asked a friend who follows a low carb lifestyle and she suggested (besides just having eggs all the time) a smoothie with Greek yogurt, blueberries, spinach, chia seeds, water, and cinnamon (stevia to sweeten). She also suggested a breakfast of nuts or 1/2 an avocado with shrimp or chicken salad. I realize that I am just not hungry for what I consider lunch food…at breakfast!

Today I tried a smoothie with Greek yogurt and blueberries. It definitely needs work.

What do you eat for a low carb breakfast??

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Asher Day

Posted on June 3, 2013 by janekdickinson

Today I attended a memorial service for a 9-year-old. Not something anyone should have to do. The message was “make it an Asher Day,” which means live life to the fullest. With a huge smile on your face. Do what makes you happy; what give you joy. Then do it some more.

Diabetes is just one part of life. We can do diabetes so that we can get on with living and smiling and having Asher days.

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Slow Down

Posted on May 31, 2013 by janekdickinson

A message for myself as much as anyone reading this. This is the end of a very hard month in our local community. I don’t need to list all the tragedies, because everyone has experienced something, whether close or far removed. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have experienced tragedy this week, this month, this year, this life. It’s impossible to know how to process the terrible things that happen.

One thing we can do is slow down. We can savor each moment for what it holds. We can live boldly every day, enjoy the abundance in our lives, and take good care of ourselves and those around us. We can learn from each other and from our mistakes.

Have a great weekend!

 

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Quality of Life and Diabetes

Posted on May 29, 2013 by janekdickinson

qollogoblueQuality of life is pretty important to me, and hopefully that’s an obvious statement. I just read an article about severe hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) and it’s effect on quality of life in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

If you are experiencing severe hypoglycemia – or frequent hypoglycemia of any level – you can benefit from discussing some options with your health care provider. Insulin pumps, still sometimes thought of for handling high blood glucose, are just as much for limiting low blood glucose. At any rate, the point of insulin pump therapy is to close the gap between highs and lows and maintain target blood glucose levels as much of the time as possible.

Another tool that can help limit or eliminate severe hypoglycemia is continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). CGM systems help people look at trends in order to make adjustments to insulin doses. They have trending arrows which help people detect when their blood glucose is rising or falling, and they have alerts that warn people when their blood glucose level is heading out of target (high or low).

If your health insurance doesn’t cover CGM or insulin pumps and you are experiencing severe low blood glucose events, ask about getting a letter of medical necessity from your health care provider. If this is something that interests you and might help you, give it a try! There are countless resources available (a simple Google search will lead you to most of them – ask your health care provider for more) to support you once you do.

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Diabetes and Health Care Professionals

Posted on May 24, 2013 by janekdickinson

wheelI enjoyed participating in the inaugural Diabetes Hope Conference on Tuesday. I think it was a huge success, with one interesting twist. During the second panel, there was a health care professional who – on more than one occasion – stated that he would “fire” patients for doing or not doing certain things (if you are curious, you can view the archived videos, I’m sure).

I’m curious how people feel about providers “firing” patients. I am a firm believer that it’s all about the patient and not the provider. When a provider fires a patient, it seems to me that they are making it about themself – the provider – and what works for them. I love this image with the patient in the center of the wheel – the patient drives their health care.

Have any of you ever been “fired” by a health care provider? What about the flipside – have any of you ever “fired” a provider? If so, why?

It is very helpful for diabetes professionals to know what people who live with diabetes are experiencing at health care visits. This knowledge can help to improve our bedside manner, delivery of care, etc. What experiences have you had – good or bad – with your diabetes or general health care professionals? What suggestions do you have for improvement? 

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Low Carb Lifestyle

Posted on May 20, 2013 by janekdickinson

low-carb-dietLow carb living may be the way to go for many people. I am reading The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living by Volekand Phinney. This book is interesting and eye opening! I am discovering many things about my own thinking:

1) I support people with diabetes in following the meal plan that gives them the best results

2) I see how many (if not most) health care professionals have been saying the same things about food for a long, long time and may need to open up a little (or a lot)

3) I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around a high fat meal plan (because it flies in the face of everything I’ve been taught), but I’m open to learning more

4) A low carb lifestyle may truly help a lot of people lose weight and achieve the blood glucose levels and other outcomes they are after

5) We still need better access to affordable, quality produce!

6) For those who do choose to eat carbohydrate, we still need to promote the healthy ones (and healthy protein and fat, too, while we’re at it).

I’m curious to hear others’ thoughts on low carb living. Does it work for you? Are you eating a high fat meal plan, and if so, how is that working in terms of food choices, satisfaction, blood fats, cholesterol, etc.? Please share what you’ve experienced or what you’ve heard from others.

I look forward to learning more about this and helping people choose and follow what works best for them. I still believe – with all my heart – that if we do this with a positive attitude, knowing that’s it’s ultimately our choice to decide which meal plan we follow – we will have better outcomes.

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