Was the Donut Worth it?

Today was an exhausting day. I had to tell a very sweet special patient that she now has Diabetes. She cried. I gave her some tissues, and it felt like that was all I had to give.
The truth is that I knew this was coming. I've been warning her of PRE-Diabetes since 2007. She would always confide that she had a weakness for powdered donuts and ate them all the time...since she was a young girl. "I know that they are bad for you, but I just LOVE them"
I gave it my all in trying to educate her, teach her to make some lifestyle changes that would get her off the road to Diabetes. I preached about the evil of a highly processed, high carb diet. I explained that a bagel is not a meal (and neither is a donut). Stop eating pasta everyday. I tried to get her to understand that her life was too sedentary, that she was not a farmer and that her body did not earn the amount of carb calories that she was giving it each day. I pushed fresh fruit and raw vegetables. The response is always the same, "Oh I like fruit, but it just goes bad in the fridge." "Oh but I dont really eat much...just a little piece of cake once in a while" "Oh, I can't walk on the treadmill because my knee hurts". " I never eat sugar, so I don't understand"
When she brought me chocolates for Christmas, I explained that I don't eat them but that I would share them with the staff (you know, the pre-diabetic ones). I wanted her to learn by example. I REALLY wanted her to succeed.
Today I was again reminded that health is a very individual journey. Her diabetes is HER diagnosis, not mine. I can give her the tools, the information, the books, and all the dialogue, but its her choice to take it, or to just sit and cry. So I handed her more tissues.
The reality is she will go home and be upset for a couple of days. She'll go and buy some sugar-free donuts, Diet pepsi (which she has been drinking for years), and those stupid 100 calorie snack pscks. She'll join a gym. She might even make an appointment with the nutritionist and go once or twice. But over time, the shock and the novelty of the diagnosis fades. Old habits creep right back in. And we all know how true love.....between a woman and her donuts....never dies.

Type II Diabetes is a silent disease. She feels nothing. So she is not reminded of her diabetes on a daily basis, aside from the meds she now has to take. What she doesn't realize is that all that excess sugar viciously reacts with your body's proteins causing damaging GLYCATION reactions, which fuels chronic inflammation and the production of destructive free radicals.
It is rare to find a type II Diabetic that does not also have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, arthritis, poor vision, and coronary artery disease (even if they passed their stress test). Helloooo, those are all inflammatory conditions.
I offer my diabetics lots of supplements like Irvingia, green tea, propolmannan, brown seaweed extract, cinnmamon extract, chromium, etc. The key to success though lies in the diet. You must eat LESS (<1800 cal daily), and eliminate simple processed carbs. You simply do not need them. Period. There really is not much more to say about that.
People also develop II diabetes as they get older and hormone levels decline. It is so very important to maintain youthful DHEA and TESTOSTERONE levels which help with insulin sensitivity.
Type II diabetes is preventable, yet it is predicted that the number of Americans living with diabetes will TRIPLE by 2050. THAT is the greatest tragedy of all.
So, get to the gym today. Do 30 min on the bike. Eat an 2 apples a day. Eat the tuna salad on a platter without the bread.
Commit to health. Keep your fasting sugars less than 85. Your after meal sugar level should be no higher than 40 points above that. Call me if they are not. Early intervention is the key to success.
Ok bimbaccioni...
Be healthy. Make smart choices.
Like Nike says, "Just Do It"