As a diabetic, and as a human being in general, eating a healthy diet and making sure your body had the necessary vitamins and nutrients that it need to function properly is so important. Almost any planned, well informed diet can do this, but today I'm going to talk about an option that is often overlooked and underestimated: veganism.
I know, I know, veganism doesn't seem, at first glance, like the most healthy, nutritious diet(most of you are probably thinking, "What do those people eat? Salads for every meal, every day?!) But despite the stigma surrounding veganism and those who choose to adopt this lifestyle, eating a healthy, well planned vegan diet can provide all the necessary nutrients and can offer many amazing heath benefits.
Veganism simply means that, like vegetarians, you don't eat meat, fish, or poultry, and you take it a step further: you don't consume any animal products either(aka eggs, milk, dairy products, honey, or gelatin.) While this post will mostly focus on the health benefits of the vegan diet, veganism also comes from a compassion towards animals and a desire to see animal cruelty minimized and spare the lives(or at least the brutal killing) of animals that we would normally eat without thinking twice about. Whether you're looking to adopt the vegan diet for health reasons, ethical reasons, or both, the vegan lifestyle can be adjusted to fit any person in any walk or stage of life.
As I said before, veganism offers many awesome health benefits, and vegans are some of the healthiest people around, granted that they're carefully planning out their diet and have done their research to learn what nutrients they need to get and how to get them without consuming meat or animal products.
HEART HEALTH.
Studies have shown that vegans following a healthy diet plan have an 26% percent lower chance of having a stroke or heart disease than those who eat a nonvegetarian diet and it has been found that the vegan diet provides much stronger protection against stroke than any other dietary pattern, and it has also been shown that vegans have the lowest total and LDL(bad) cholesterol, that vegans have the lowest intake levels of saturated fats, trans fatty acids, and cholesterol, have higher blood levels of antioxidant and lower levels of lipid peroxidation, have lower rates of hypertension and have leaner waist to hip ratios. Along with these benefits, there are a few risks, such as possible higher rates for blood clots due to low levels of omega-3 fatty acids and higher or similar homocysteine levels, which can increase the risk for heart disease, due to low levels of vitamin B12.
CANCER.
In addition to these heart health benefits, eating a vegan diet(plenty of fruits and vegetables) is associated with lower risk of cancer at almost every sight, and is proven beneficial because animal products and meat, which can have a detrimental effect of health, are not being consumed.
DIABETES.
Most of you reading this are questioning why I'm putting this section in here because, if you're like me, you're thinking, "I already have diabetes, there's nothing I can do now to prevent it. "
However, the vegan diet can help bring better control in diabetes and knowing the facts about how it can possibly help reduce the risk of diabetes is helpful information for the future and for protection our families from having to fight the same battle we are dealing with.
The vegan diet has been shown to help improve blood glucose control(along with exercise) and has been shown to possibly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes(vegans tend to have the lowest number of cases of type 2 diabetes. However, it is still unclear if the low body weight is strictly the cause of this.) As type one diabetes only account for about 10% of all cases of diabetes, it's hard to tell what triggers the disease, but milk consumption has been possibly linked as one of the factors/triggers, which, if it's true that milk triggers type one diabetes, could make the vegan diet a way to help prevent type one diabetes by eliminating milk and dairy consumption. However, there is only limited research on this and further research is needed.
While these health benefits are great for any person in general, I think they are especially great for diabetics, who are two to four times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke than people without diabetes.
The vegan diet, as you've seen, has many great health benefits as well as ethical benefits brought by not consuming meat or animal products. But, as with any dietary change, it is important to do your research before making the switch. Find books at your local library or at Barnes and Nobles, ask someone you know who's a vegan or vegetarian, ask a nurse, nutritionist, or just ask your doctor. Just do your research to decide if eating a vegan diet is the right choice for you. The book that almost all the information in this post is coming from is Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina, and I've found it very informative in learning about the health benefits of veganism as well as the risks and how to properly plan a vegan diet so that you get all the vitamins and nutrients you need.
While I think veganism can be extremely beneficially to diabetics, I am in no way trying to say that it is the only healthy way to eat or trying to force it upon anyone. Veganism is not for everyone, and meat and animal products can still be part of a healthy diet and there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating them at all. I simply wanted to share what I've learned about veganism as I've looked into and researched it and I look forward to hopefully sharing more about veganism and diabetes as I make the transition.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Diabetes and Relationships
Let me just start this post off by saying that even though this subject can feel awkward, it doesn't have to, and shouldn't be! Relationships. whether they're platonic or romantic, are a natural part of human life and diabetes shouldn't get in the way of this. Diabetes can pose lots of questions in relationships on both sides. How do I tell them I have diabetes? Is it okay to check my blood sugar or give an injection in front of them? Does that hurt? Can you eat this? Can you eat that?
Questions are normal, and you shouldn't be afraid to ask or answer them. As long as you're open and not afraid to be yourself and maybe even be a little vulnerable, you'll both be fine. :)
But I'm going to answer some of the questions that diabetics at least have in regards to relationships and their diabetes.
When should I tell someone that I'm diabetic?
Telling someone that you're diabetic can be scary, depending on how open you are about it, but at some point or another they're going to find out anyway. In my experience, at least, the best way to "tell" someone you have diabetes is just to take care of it in front of them( check your blood sugar, give yourself an injection, etc.) and let them ask questions. This is always how people have found out that I have diabetes(for the most part) and it's just a natural way for it to come up.
Can I check my blood sugar/give an injection in front of them?
Although you probably want to make sure they're not super squeamish about needles or blood, I think the answer to this is yes. If they're your friends, and especially if they're your boyfriend/girlfriend, you should be able to be comfortable and you should be able to take care of yourself with them. This may not happen immediately but it will happen, don't get discouraged. :) Some things take time, and being comfortable enough to stab yourself(not quite so much, but that's probably about what it looks like to them) can take a little time.
The best advice I can give you is just don't overthink it too much! At the end of the day, diabetes does not change who you are as a person and it shouldn't change the way they see you.
Questions are normal, and you shouldn't be afraid to ask or answer them. As long as you're open and not afraid to be yourself and maybe even be a little vulnerable, you'll both be fine. :)
But I'm going to answer some of the questions that diabetics at least have in regards to relationships and their diabetes.
When should I tell someone that I'm diabetic?
Telling someone that you're diabetic can be scary, depending on how open you are about it, but at some point or another they're going to find out anyway. In my experience, at least, the best way to "tell" someone you have diabetes is just to take care of it in front of them( check your blood sugar, give yourself an injection, etc.) and let them ask questions. This is always how people have found out that I have diabetes(for the most part) and it's just a natural way for it to come up.
Can I check my blood sugar/give an injection in front of them?
Although you probably want to make sure they're not super squeamish about needles or blood, I think the answer to this is yes. If they're your friends, and especially if they're your boyfriend/girlfriend, you should be able to be comfortable and you should be able to take care of yourself with them. This may not happen immediately but it will happen, don't get discouraged. :) Some things take time, and being comfortable enough to stab yourself(not quite so much, but that's probably about what it looks like to them) can take a little time.
The best advice I can give you is just don't overthink it too much! At the end of the day, diabetes does not change who you are as a person and it shouldn't change the way they see you.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Lilly Diabetes Journey Awards™
Onto a happier topic! Although diabetes isn't fun or easy to deal with, Lily Diabetes understands this and to make things a little more optimistic, I suppose, they created the Lily Diabetes Journey Awards. Basically, these awards help you celebrate milestones in your life with diabetes. After 10, 25, 50, and 75 years with diabetes, you are eligible to apply for(or be nominated by your healthcare professional) a Lily Diabetes Journey Awards. In essences, these awards are meant to help you celebrate 10, 25, 50, 75, and more years of successfully managing diabetes and I think that's pretty cool and I'm super pumped to be able to apply for first Lily Diabetes Journey Award this summer to celebrate 10 years of managing my Type One Diabetes!!!! While I'm not sure the awards are limited to Type One Diabetics, I do know that you have to have treated your diabetes with insulin continuously for the number of years the awards states (for me, 10 years) to be eligible. You can find more information about the Lily Diabetes Journey Awards at http://www.lillydiabetes.com/Pages/lilly-diabetes-journey-awards.aspx or I'm sure you can ask your endocrinologist or your diabetes educator for more info if you're curious!
It's More than Meets the Eye
When you think about diabetes, the first things that come to mind are probably needles, blood, and shots, not anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. But just because you don't see the mental pain and exhaustion that diabetes causes does not mean it doesn't exist, because it most certainly does. Diabetes is a disease that wears you out and never goes away. You never get a break.
Today while on Facebook I saw an article posted by TypeOneNation titled When Type 1 Diabetes is Too Much for a Child to Bear: Part 2 and, intrigued, clicked on the link (http://asweetlife.org/feature/when-type-1-diabetes-is-too-much-for-a-child-to-bear-part-2/.)
The article is about a little boy, whose name was changed for privacy but in the article is called Finn. Finn had been depressed even before his diagnosis of Type One Diabetes in 2011 and later Celiac Disease, but these chronic diseases only added to the depression that he felt. He had been seeing a therapist about his depression, but one day he told his school counselor that he wanted to hurt himself and the school counselor contacted Finn's parents as well as the children's psychiatric hospital’s emergency department. After several calls, Finn was admitted and stayed for just under a week. Although Finn was not miraculously cured after this stay in the hospital, it helped him realize that he wasn't alone and there are others who are struggling worse than he is, and more importantly, it helped his parents realize how they could help Finn and that they needed to.
I told you all this story because it helps show that diabetes is definitely not just physical. It is just as mentally exhausting as it is physically. And this mental exhaustion comes in all shapes and sizes. It can come in the major extremes of depression and anxiety, or it can come in smaller forms like burnout and just not wanting to deal with diabetes. Sometimes diabetes just mentally wears you out to the point that it's hard to make yourself do things like check your blood sugar and give yourself insulin because even though you know you need to do them to stay alive and well, you just don't want to. No matter how long, or how briefly, you've lived with diabetes, you can still experience the mental effects of the disease and you probably will, unfortunately. Just as diabetes is different from person to person in the physical effects it causes, it is also different in the mental effects that it causes. One person may only deal with minor burnout and having to force themselves to do what they need to do to care for themselves not matter how much they don't want to while other people like Finn may experience the more extreme mental effects that diabetes can cause like depression and anxiety.
No matter how much alone you feel in dealing with the mental exhaustion that diabetes causes, you're not, and that's important to know. It's okay to admit that you're not okay, and it's okay to reach out for help. Find a parent, doctor, nurse or some other person you trust and let them know what you're going through. They want to help you and they don't want you to have to go through this battle alone. They may not understand what you're going through, but they can support you and encourage you to keep going when you feel like giving up. So please, if you're like Finn and are struggling with diabetes and need help, please reach out and get help. There are people who are there to, and want to, help you and all you have to do is ask.
Today while on Facebook I saw an article posted by TypeOneNation titled When Type 1 Diabetes is Too Much for a Child to Bear: Part 2 and, intrigued, clicked on the link (http://asweetlife.org/feature/when-type-1-diabetes-is-too-much-for-a-child-to-bear-part-2/.)
The article is about a little boy, whose name was changed for privacy but in the article is called Finn. Finn had been depressed even before his diagnosis of Type One Diabetes in 2011 and later Celiac Disease, but these chronic diseases only added to the depression that he felt. He had been seeing a therapist about his depression, but one day he told his school counselor that he wanted to hurt himself and the school counselor contacted Finn's parents as well as the children's psychiatric hospital’s emergency department. After several calls, Finn was admitted and stayed for just under a week. Although Finn was not miraculously cured after this stay in the hospital, it helped him realize that he wasn't alone and there are others who are struggling worse than he is, and more importantly, it helped his parents realize how they could help Finn and that they needed to.
I told you all this story because it helps show that diabetes is definitely not just physical. It is just as mentally exhausting as it is physically. And this mental exhaustion comes in all shapes and sizes. It can come in the major extremes of depression and anxiety, or it can come in smaller forms like burnout and just not wanting to deal with diabetes. Sometimes diabetes just mentally wears you out to the point that it's hard to make yourself do things like check your blood sugar and give yourself insulin because even though you know you need to do them to stay alive and well, you just don't want to. No matter how long, or how briefly, you've lived with diabetes, you can still experience the mental effects of the disease and you probably will, unfortunately. Just as diabetes is different from person to person in the physical effects it causes, it is also different in the mental effects that it causes. One person may only deal with minor burnout and having to force themselves to do what they need to do to care for themselves not matter how much they don't want to while other people like Finn may experience the more extreme mental effects that diabetes can cause like depression and anxiety.
No matter how much alone you feel in dealing with the mental exhaustion that diabetes causes, you're not, and that's important to know. It's okay to admit that you're not okay, and it's okay to reach out for help. Find a parent, doctor, nurse or some other person you trust and let them know what you're going through. They want to help you and they don't want you to have to go through this battle alone. They may not understand what you're going through, but they can support you and encourage you to keep going when you feel like giving up. So please, if you're like Finn and are struggling with diabetes and need help, please reach out and get help. There are people who are there to, and want to, help you and all you have to do is ask.
Friday, March 6, 2015
You are a Fighter
There's one thing about diabetes that just becomes more and more evident the longer you live with the disease: diabetes is annoying. It wears you down, both physically and emotionally, very quickly and you never. get. a. break. Diabetes is the disease that never takes a break. There's never a day off, or a lazy day with diabetes, or a day that you just choose not to deal with it. That's the thing about diabetes and other chronic illnesses: you have to fight it every day. Every day you have to make a conscious decision to fight for your health, to fight for your life even, and that gets tiring. And you know what? That's okay. It's okay to feel tired because of diabetes. It's okay to have days where you just feel done with diabetes. It's okay to cry and it's okay to be upset. But what's not okay is giving up. If you're living with diabetes, you are strong enough to handle it. Diabetes is a tough disease, but you can handle it; you can overcome it and thrive in spite of it. Diabetes is a challenge, but it's not a handicap. Diabetes cannot stop you from doing anything. You can do anything you set your mind to, and diabetes cannot stop you. Diabetes will be a big part of your life, but it will not be your life. You will not be defined by diabetes, but it will help explain why you have to do certain things different than other people. Diabetes can feel like a thorn in your side, but if you look at it through a different set of lenses, it can also be a blessing in disguise. Diabetes makes us strong. We deal with so much that other people don't, and we handle it like champs. We survive the daily finger pricks and needles without flinching. While others are afraid of having blood drawn or having a flu shot, that stuff is nothing to us because we endure so much more than that. Sure, counting carbs can be annoying, but we know more about the nutrition labels than most nutritionists, to be honest. We know how to be prepared for anything(ever need batteries? Find a diabetic. They probably have a stash of them for their meter/pump.) and we know how to hide medical devices like pros(because sometimes your pump just completely ruins your outfit, you know.)
Diabetes has it's downs, but it also has it's ups. There will inevitably be days that you feel like you are your disease, but you're not. You are so much more than that. You are a unique, one of a kind human being and your disease just proves how strong you are. And no matter how weak you feel, you are strong and you can handle this. On the days when diabetes seems to be controlling your life, just remember that: you are strong and you are not alone. There are so many other people just like you who live with diabetes every day, and they're there to support you, you just have to find them. And beyond that, you have friends, family, and doctors, who although they may not understand what you're going through, love you and are there to support you when diabetes weighs you down.
Diabetes is tough, but you can handle it because you are strong and you are a fighter.
Diabetes has it's downs, but it also has it's ups. There will inevitably be days that you feel like you are your disease, but you're not. You are so much more than that. You are a unique, one of a kind human being and your disease just proves how strong you are. And no matter how weak you feel, you are strong and you can handle this. On the days when diabetes seems to be controlling your life, just remember that: you are strong and you are not alone. There are so many other people just like you who live with diabetes every day, and they're there to support you, you just have to find them. And beyond that, you have friends, family, and doctors, who although they may not understand what you're going through, love you and are there to support you when diabetes weighs you down.
Diabetes is tough, but you can handle it because you are strong and you are a fighter.
How to Handle Lows
Low blood sugars can be one of the most annoying parts about being a diabetic, or at least to me they can be. I'll be at school taking a test, or out to see a movie with my boyfriend, or laying in bed at night, and I'll start feeling like my blood sugar is dropping. If I'm by myself or at home or in a situation where testing my blood sugar isn't a problem, then of course I'm going to sit down, test, and eat or drink something to bring it up if it actually is low. But, it can be harder to deal with a low when I'm out and about. A lot of the time, for me at least, I feel like I can't take the time away from class or from whatever I'm doing to take care of my blood sugar and to take care of myself.
No matter where you are, though, it's important to take the time to take care of yourself and your blood sugar. Not only can a low blood sugar be unpleasant and make it hard to focus, they can be dangerous. No one wants to pass out because of a low, so it's important to take care of low blood sugars promptly.
The first thing to do is check(obviously.) It's helpful to know just how low you are or if you're low at all. It's the weirdest thing, but sometimes your body makes you feel like you're low when you're actually not. In addition to this, it's also helpful to have a record of lows so your doctor can help you see a pattern and fix whatever is causing the lows.
After you check, you're just going to sit tight and eat or drink something to bring your blood sugar up. Glucose tabs, juice, milk- any of these will do. What you want to keep in mind while treating lows is that you want to choose something that has fast acting sugar and not a lot of fat. The sugar will bring it up quickly whereas the fat will cause it to rise slowly. While you're waiting for your blood sugar to come back up to normal, just take it easy and rest for a few minutes. Moving around will only slow down your blood sugar as it rises and most of the time, you probably aren't going to feel great. Lows can cause you to feel weak and shaky, so there's nothing wrong with just sitting down for a minute!
So that's my advice. Although they're extremely annoying, lows aren't too complicated to handle. Just handle the promptly and take it easy while your body gets back to where it needs to be.
No matter where you are, though, it's important to take the time to take care of yourself and your blood sugar. Not only can a low blood sugar be unpleasant and make it hard to focus, they can be dangerous. No one wants to pass out because of a low, so it's important to take care of low blood sugars promptly.
The first thing to do is check(obviously.) It's helpful to know just how low you are or if you're low at all. It's the weirdest thing, but sometimes your body makes you feel like you're low when you're actually not. In addition to this, it's also helpful to have a record of lows so your doctor can help you see a pattern and fix whatever is causing the lows.
After you check, you're just going to sit tight and eat or drink something to bring your blood sugar up. Glucose tabs, juice, milk- any of these will do. What you want to keep in mind while treating lows is that you want to choose something that has fast acting sugar and not a lot of fat. The sugar will bring it up quickly whereas the fat will cause it to rise slowly. While you're waiting for your blood sugar to come back up to normal, just take it easy and rest for a few minutes. Moving around will only slow down your blood sugar as it rises and most of the time, you probably aren't going to feel great. Lows can cause you to feel weak and shaky, so there's nothing wrong with just sitting down for a minute!
So that's my advice. Although they're extremely annoying, lows aren't too complicated to handle. Just handle the promptly and take it easy while your body gets back to where it needs to be.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
The Importance of Being Prepared
I'm just going to start out this post by saying that I meant to do this post a while ago(and by a while ago, I mean a week ago...oops.) But, you know, other things got in the way and I just kind of forgot. Nonetheless, here it is!
Last week I was reminded of the importance of being prepared as a diabetic. While at school, I somehow managed to rip out my infusion set when I stood up to go to the bathroom during class(super embarrassing and I still don't know how I managed to do it.... hahahaha). After doing this, I had to call my mom to have her bring me a new infusion set to put it and it hit me that I really needed to start carrying around an extra infusion set in case this were to happen again. The feeling of needing to be prepared was only furthered when my mom brought up the point that next year when I'm away at college I won't be able to call her if something like that happens. I'll only be about thirty minutes away from home, but still, I she's right. I do need to be prepared and carry extras around with me. And so do you! If you've bee a diabetic for any amount of time or even just know one, you know that there's just always going be things you have to carry around with you everywhere you go. That's just a fact of life for diabetics. But, rather than denying this and not being prepared, it's best to just embrace it and go along with it. So, since this incident with my infusion set, I've had at least an extra set in my backpack and I keep meaning to get a little "diabetic emergency kit" type thing put together, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet(oops...get with it, Megan!)
In this post, along with telling you/reminding you that being prepared is important, I thought I'd share my idea for my little bag with you guys! I plan to get a little makeup bag thing or something of the sort that can easily be grabbed and thrown from one bag to another with ease. In this bag, I plan to keep:
Last week I was reminded of the importance of being prepared as a diabetic. While at school, I somehow managed to rip out my infusion set when I stood up to go to the bathroom during class(super embarrassing and I still don't know how I managed to do it.... hahahaha). After doing this, I had to call my mom to have her bring me a new infusion set to put it and it hit me that I really needed to start carrying around an extra infusion set in case this were to happen again. The feeling of needing to be prepared was only furthered when my mom brought up the point that next year when I'm away at college I won't be able to call her if something like that happens. I'll only be about thirty minutes away from home, but still, I she's right. I do need to be prepared and carry extras around with me. And so do you! If you've bee a diabetic for any amount of time or even just know one, you know that there's just always going be things you have to carry around with you everywhere you go. That's just a fact of life for diabetics. But, rather than denying this and not being prepared, it's best to just embrace it and go along with it. So, since this incident with my infusion set, I've had at least an extra set in my backpack and I keep meaning to get a little "diabetic emergency kit" type thing put together, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet(oops...get with it, Megan!)
In this post, along with telling you/reminding you that being prepared is important, I thought I'd share my idea for my little bag with you guys! I plan to get a little makeup bag thing or something of the sort that can easily be grabbed and thrown from one bag to another with ease. In this bag, I plan to keep:
- an extra infusion set
- glucose tabs
- extra test strips
- extra pump/meter batteries
- band aids
- snacks for lows
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