Decoding Diabetes:

Welcome to the Balanced Body Podcast, where Sherri Griggs, owner of Balanced Body Health and Wellness in Omaha, talks to us about health, wellness, and balancing hormones. Hello, we're introducing Sherri Griggs with Balanced Body Health and Wellness in Omaha, Nebraska, who I call the hormone expert extraordinaire. Sherri, how are you doing?

I'm great, John. How are you?

Doing awesome. And, you know, even though we'll probably be going through what you called last time disease processes, which I still love saying, so it's gonna be heavy topics, but I love talking about all this and how it ties into your hormone health.

Right.

And we talked about how type 1, type 2 diabetes is something important to discuss, know about, and, you know, go through. So that's our topic for today.

And it's a big topic, not only in the amount of information, but what's going on in our world today, and more specifically in the United States as far as diabetes is concerned.

Yeah. Well, and I think, you know, just from my layman's terms of understanding, I feel like Diabetes is something that does affect the US at sort of higher rate than across the world. Am I right in assuming that?

It is. And that's because it has a lot to do with how we eat, what we eat. We are very much into fast food and processed foods, and it's not good for us. It's not healthy. Our children are obese. Our children are younger and younger all the time coming down with type 2 diabetes. Used to be type 2 diabetes, that's what you got when you got old and fat. Hmm. Right?

Yeah.

And now, sadly, it's children.

That is sad.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's picking up all the time. It's just more and more and more children. are being diagnosed with type 2. And we're looking at, let's see, I was going to try to find you some statistics on that, but in the US, it's saying type 2 in children ages 12 to 19, it's 4.1 per 1,000. And that's too much.

Yeah, that seems— I mean, I know that we're talking in sort of like very big numbers, But I mean, there's, there's a lot of people in the US, and so that means a lot of children have got—

Are getting diabetes, right? And normally, you know, we always thought of diabetes that children get as the juvenile diabetes or a type 1 diabetes.

Hmm. Okay. Well, so that's something great to dive into then. Let's discuss the differences, right?

That's just what I was thinking. You were reading my mind, John. So, what are the different kinds of diabetes? So, we have type 1 that I brought up, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, and that was a very confusing thing to call it because type 1 diabetes is autoimmune diabetes. And that is where the body attacks itself. And in this case, your immune system attacks the beta cells of your pancreas. You can develop type 1 diabetes at any age.

Oh.

Yeah, even adults can get type 1 diabetes. And that is why it was so confusing to call it juvenile diabetes. Now, When children get type 1 diabetes, they generally, it is just an all-out, they're not making any insulin anymore. The beta cells are dead. Their parents find that they're urinating all the time. They're eating, but they're losing weight. They're constantly thirsty. And they go to the doctor and say, your child has diabetes.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, that sounds awful.

So they're skinny, they're not fat.

So it's the opposite of the two. That is interesting. Okay. I did not know that.

And the reason, because when you don't make any insulin, so your body needs— let's look at it this way. Let's look at insulin as the key that opens up the cell so that your body can use So that your cells can use the energy source of sugar. Glucose is your cell's energy source. And if you don't have any insulin to open up those cells, you have no way for energy source. So, you're tired all the time, you're losing weight.

Hmm.

You're malnourished. And the other symptoms that go along, the excessive thirst, right? Because your body wants to try to help even this out because you've got all this glucose, all this sugar in your blood because everything you're eating, all this sugar is going in there. Nothing is being used by your cells for energy.

Oh, God.

Waste away.

So that is like the best way I've ever heard that explained because I never really understood what was going on. Even though people have told me.

Well, I use— I like to use pictures because if you think about insulin being the key, what happens when someone tells you you're insulin resistant?

Hmm.

That means that the keyhole is gummed up. Aha.

Okay. See, this is all being— this is all being put together as like a puzzle for me now. Okay.

So now what's type 2?

But that's a perfect question. That was my question. What is type 2 now?

So now type 2 is a form of insulin resistance. Okay. Type 2 diabetics still make insulin and they can make plenty of it, but their body, their cells still can't use the sugar for energy because that insulin can't get into that— that key can't get into that gummed-up keyhole to open the cell up.

Oh, interesting.

And that is why insulin in itself will cause you to hold weight or to gain weight. So you eat sugar, your body Produces insulin like it should, and your cells say, we're hungry. So your body produces more insulin. Your cells say, we're still hungry. So it produces more insulin. And now you're sitting there with an abundance of insulin in your body, and you keep gaining weight.

Huh.

So, so starts out with insulin resistance, type 2 does.

So insulin resistance versus— and now I'm just trying to connect it again, so sorry if I'm repeating myself— but type 1 is that you're— it's, it's there but it won't accept it?

No, that's type 2. So here, type 1 is you don't have any insulin. Type 2 You have it, but you can't use it.

Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. Okay. So that, okay. That's what you were saying is that the sugar's there, but then the insulin isn't created for type 1.

Right. So there's no, there's no keys there. There, the key doesn't exist.

Type 2 is that it's there and it's producing it, but you're not able to take it on.

Correct. You have plenty of keys. You just can't get the cell open.

I like this key analogy. I feel like it's like a janitor walking around one of those big old like key rings with like 100 different keys on it. They're just sitting there at the door just trying to like try all the different ones.

Well, and if you want to think of insulin like a key, even that idea saying, okay, well, this key didn't work, we better make another one, better make another one, better make another one, right? Better add more insulin, add more insulin. Gotta open those cells up. We're hungry. We need energy.

Which is not good for it.

And then, and then people will feel weak, so they'll eat more. Hmm.

Okay. And then this type 2 is the one that's tied to how your, like, your initial image, or at least mine is, of somebody who's a little bit older. And overweight because they're dealing with that.

Right now, there's the other way people will say, "Well, you don't get type two diabetes until you're fat." Mm-hmm. Well, what do you think causes that inflammation in your body that causes insulin resistance?

The breakdown of that system.

So it's what you eat.

Oh, okay. So it's all about— it's your diet then.

And it does break the system down. Sugar is toxic. So you eat a lot of sugar, you eat a lot of carbs, because you won't see somebody who eats a lot of protein and vegetables getting fat.

Okay.

It's those complex carbs. It's your pastas, your breads, your donuts, your cakes, your cookies. The stuff that you buy on the shelf in a box. Mm-hmm.

Yes, yes. Okay. It's so funny because I feel as if I know nothing about this, even though I started— I actually did take your lead and I started listening to The Autoimmune Fix by Tom O'Brien. Oh yes. And now this is making sense. This breakthrough is kind of happening in my mind of the, the breakdown isn't that you have it, cuz that's the, that's the result of years of breaking down the system on the inside, right? So like, kind of what is that what you were leading to? That like the break of the fix because you're eating sort of more sugar and it's your internal system is kind of turning into now you have type 2 diabetes and the, the fix is to eat more veg— vegetables and less processed food. Like, The breakdown happens. Type 2 diabetes is that effect after you've broken everything. Is that, is that right? Or am I put—

am I— That is. Yes. Nope, nope. You've got that. That's right. Now, type 2 diabetes. And then so here's what else is interesting. Now, this is, this is my theory on— so there's another There's another way that type 2 diabetes can be described, and it's as though you don't make enough insulin. You have it, you're making it, but you don't make enough.

Oh, okay.

But my thought process on this has always been— and you'll see type 2s that eventually need insulin. They need the insulin shot. They need the insulin artificially replaced from outside of their body. I always said that's because they've worn the pancreas out. That's because they have put so much sugar in their body and continually put so much sugar in their body that the pancreas is just worn out. It's tired. It's done.

Hmm.

So, when you get to that point, when you become that person that they say, well, you know, you're type 2 diabetic, you're not type 1 because we've checked to see if you have the antibodies. You're not a type 1. You're a type 2, but you're a type 2 that just doesn't make enough insulin. Well, why do you suppose that is? Now, I suppose, could it be a type 2 that— I don't know, maybe their bodies, their organs have just gotten tired, right? I mean, a 90-year-old, a 99-year-old. I mean, our body breaks down, things break down. It doesn't work as well. Maybe.

Hmm.

But it's interesting because I, you know, in working in geriatrics for many, many years, I can't say that I knew too many type 2 diabetics that weren't overweight.

Hmm.

People tend to get the idea that, well, you know what, I'll just take more insulin. I'll just eat this and take more insulin. And then they just keep eating like crud, right? Just keep eating crap and they don't make it any better. And I think, you know, there is the genetic— there is a genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes as well. Those people, and we know it's a genetic predisposition, those people Eat good, exercise, and they still come down with type 2 diabetes. And you're like, why?

Hmm.

Those are the same people that would almost always have high cholesterol, possibly high blood pressure. I call them a metabolic— they have metabolic syndrome. So, all these things happen and it's just bad genes. It was just passed down in their DNA.

That's tough. That's hard to come to terms with.

That's tough for them. Yeah. Yeah. And they can do everything, you know, and they still— they'll still have the diabetes. So, their bodies, they generally are less of an insulin-resistant issue at that point. Remember, these people are exercising, they're eating well, there's no breaking down. in their body taking place because of processed foods. It's genetics and their body's just for them most of the time not making enough insulin.

Now, when we're thinking about the two, yeah, it's, I mean, obviously I'm kind of working this through in my head and it's like they're, they're two different things, but they're so similar. Are there similarities in Are there any differences in the underlying, like, symptoms that you can notice between the two?

Yes, there are. Two symptoms that are generally very common are increased thirst and increased urination.

Okay.

So, that's our body trying to equal out the sugar in the bloodstream, and we're really, really thirsty, but then obviously we're constantly Constantly urinating, so that's a symptom. Another symptom is going to be fatigue. They're tired. Remember, the cells can't get any energy.

Oh, okay. So in both cases, you're tired and you're thirsty, which by the way happens when you go to Colorado. So you know, I think depending on where you are in the world, yeah, take that with a grain of salt. But like here in Omaha. I remember, and this, I only make that joke because I, I moved here from Colorado and I was drinking water like it was my job, kind of like what I used to do when I was over there.

Yeah.

And it wasn't that I was thirsty. I was just used to drinking so much water because it, I would just like sweat it off or, I mean, I don't know what happens in Colorado, but you just need water all the time cuz it's so dry. But I stopped drinking so much because it was a pain because I was just drinking so much water and then having to go to the bathroom all the time. But I wasn't necessarily thirsty. It was more habit. I had to break that habit of drinking so much water anyway.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sorry to derail the conversation, but that, those symptoms seem like, okay, more water, tired.

Uh-huh. And, and so I, how I diag— well, part of the way I diagnosed my dog when he got diabetes, although I could smell the ketones on his breath, but, um, he was thirsty and needing to pee all the time. He had diabetes.

Ketones.

So our pets, our pets get the same symptoms that we do. Interesting. It is a smell that is kind of a sweet smell. It smells like a chemical smell and it's kind of sweet. And people and animals get that same smell when they have diabetes.

It's because they have all that extra sugar in their system. And so it's just kind of coming out like, is it oozing out basically?

Well, you smell it on their breath. That's going to be beyond my knowledge of the breakdown that causes—

Sorry.

No, that's okay. I think it is a— I want to say it's a muscle breakdown that causes that. And the reason the muscles are breaking down is because they can't get any— the cells can't get sugar, right? If the cells can't grow, if you can't feed them, what happens? Your body gets hungry. It's got to eat something. Huh. Interesting.

And man, and so, okay, I know I've heard a lot of things, whether it's, you know, causes or, or, you know, people who are, who go outta their way to talk about, you know, trouble with diabetes. A lot of people, I think, jump because it's simple. They jump to the conclusion that it's the sugar manufacturers. Issue or people manufacturing foods for people because we're using too much sugar in our diet in America? That's why not processed foods.

I mean, a lot of foods, they put sugar, you know, salt and sugar because we've, we've adjusted to that taste. It's the taste we like. It's cheap. You know, even if You know, if you're somebody that says, well, I'm going to— I'm autoimmune, so I'll be gluten-free. So you eat your gluten-free stuff, but you'll look at the labels and they're full of sugar.

Mm-hmm.

So we just, you know, it's interesting because, you know, what's Halloween about? Sugar. What do you give your kids when they're upset? Sugar. What, you know, we joke in our meeting about, oh my gosh, another cookie company opened up. Sugar, America. And sugar, I have heard, is more addictive than morphine.

So, okay, okay, okay. I actually have a take on that because when my son was born, um, you know, they asked— and this might be TMI— but they asked if we wanted to do, you know, the SNP for him. And we're like, okay. And as a baby, they didn't give him any kind of pain medication. I mean, he's a baby, so know, what are you gonna— you're gonna give them aspirin or something for something like that? Um, what they do is they have this little pipette of sugar that they give kids that they're gonna do that with because— and they say this, the, the, like, the nurses that were there told me this— they were like, sugar is such a shock to their system because it's like just an overwhelming amount of something happening that they won't even— That, that snip happens. And sure enough, they gave him the little pipette, did the thing, and I mean, he didn't skip a beat, you know, sucking on his little, um, whatever they put in his mouth to make sure that he didn't cry. So like, he didn't notice at all. And it was because they got him high on sugar when he was 0 days old, right then and there in front of me.

Right.

Yeah.

And that's why you'll hear people talk about the sugar crash, right?

Yeah.

You get the high on the sugar and then they crash because it gets out of their system. You know, if their pancreas works like it's supposed to, you process it out and then it's gone.

Hmm. Interesting.

So, you know, and, and, and because of the processed foods and the way we're eating and the, and the everything being quick and easy, We're just running into so many more children again, as we talked about the diabetes. But so another thought I've had, let me, let me tell you some more symptoms and I want to tell you these symptoms. So blurred vision. So blurred vision is generally caused when your blood sugar is outrageously high. Okay.

Oh my gosh.

The thirst and the urination starts when your blood sugar gets over 400. Blood sugar should be, for a non-diabetic, below 120. And when you eat, you should make enough insulin to keep your blood sugar down. So over 400. But then when it starts to get higher, then, then other things happen in the body. And blurred vision is one of them. I had a friend that was driving and said all of a sudden he couldn't see, had blurred vision. He drove himself to the emergency room and his blood sugar was 1,200.

Oh my gosh, that— I have no idea what the scale of numbers actually means, but that seems insanely high.

Right, if 120, it shouldn't be above that, right? And he's 1,200. Um, and again, I'll, I'll talk about something called diabetic Ketoacidosis or DKA. And I'm not going to go into the science of what happens to the cell and to the body. But essentially, DKA, the body systems start to shut down. You start to go into multiple organ failure.

Oh my gosh.

At that point, it's an emergency. It is a— it's an emergency. And they— the only way they're going to get that blood sugar down fast enough to keep you alive is in the hospital.

That sounds awful. Now, is there a correlation between everybody's body and like some sort of measurable amount of sugar that is something that we could manage for something like that?

I don't understand the question.

So like the numbers, you know, your baseline is at 120, high blurred vision's like 400. That person was at 1,200.

Okay, so increased thirst and urination, um, or, um, is over 400?

Over 400.

Blurred vision can be at any point. So diabetic ketoacidosis, that's a symptom of DKA. Blurred vision can happen to anybody. People have it if they get over 200. Everybody's body is different in how it reacts.

Oh my gosh. Yes, I know that we're always saying that, and I completely threw that out the window and was like, how many teaspoons for 120?

And you know what? When you say how many teaspoons for 120, I don't know. How well do you make insulin?

Oh, okay. Now this is making sense. Okay.

How well does your body use it? So if you put a type 2 next to a type 1, next to a person without diabetes. In fact, I want to tell people an absolutely wonderful resource. It's called TCOYD, Taking Control of Your Diabetes. It is an absolutely wonderful resource.

Huh. It's tcoyd.com.

It is 2 endocrinologists out of San Diego. They both are type 1s. They both became type 1s when they were 15. They're about 20 years apart, maybe 30 years apart in age. And they do videos. They, they do funny videos. And they did a video with one of their cameramen. And one used this type of insulin, one used another type. And the cameraman didn't use any, and everyone got their blood sugar checked. So they were hating on the cameraman because he was eating donuts and his blood sugar stayed normal.

Huh.

And they couldn't.

Yeah.

They couldn't eat donuts. Although they have a video that says how to, how to eat 3 donuts when you're diabetic.

Oh my gosh.

They have a good one. Another fun one. How to drink alcohol when you're diabetic. How to eat pizza when you're an alcoholic, when you're diabetic. And they do also do training for type 2s, but it's a really good resource for new diabetics, especially. They do an annual get-together. I went to their get-together last year. They did it. They're doing another one this year. Or it's done. I'm not certain if it's passed or it's coming up very soon. And everybody there has diabetes, frequently more type 1s than type 2s. One of the things that is near and dear to my heart is making sure that adults diagnosed with diabetes really have type 2 diabetes. And these guys want to say, if you're an adult and you're diagnosed with diabetes, and especially if you're not overweight, make sure it's not type 1. Hmm. Okay. Right now, somebody who's overweight could have type 1 diabetes. They could also have an autoimmune disease. It's less likely, but adults diagnosed with type 1, The diabetes that children normally get. Their journey is a little different. Their journey is not one of like children where all of a sudden they don't make any insulin and they must be on insulin to live forever. Type 1s, because it's autoimmune, and as an adult, for some reason their body doesn't— it doesn't always kill all of the beta cells of the pancreas. Oh. Like it does with children. And so an adult that's a type 1, for instance, um, I know a gentleman that is an adult type 1, and he just takes his insulin every morning, and he doesn't have to worry about when he eats, and he's just steady Eddie the whole way. He takes the long-acting, and he's fine.

Huh.

Which I find interesting because that doesn't make a lot of sense. As you take in more sugar, you should need more insulin. But maybe he's not managing it properly, but he says he is.

Oh my gosh. Right?

Yeah. Maybe, maybe next time I should stick his finger when he eats. Um, a type 1 adult. Who knows? Because it's autoimmune and stress affects autoimmunity, as does sleep and everything else, might find that if they're more relaxed or they've gotten a lot of sleep, they don't need as much insulin as they would normally need.

Hmm.

So it can be very challenging, especially as an adult. There are tests that can be done to find out if you or somebody you know was diagnosed as a type 2 adult and you're looking at them and thinking, you're not overweight, you eat good, you work out all the time. How can you be a type 2? JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, JDRF has a test that you can go online yourself and you can get. And it's through a finger stick where you can be tested to make sure you're not a type 1. Now, you're— if you have insurance, your doctor should do this, right? I mean, it should be covered. But if you're somebody that, that doesn't want to go in, whatever, you can, you can find out yourself.

Hmm.

If you have type 1 diabetes by this test.

Interesting. So we talked about how to spot, because, you know, the, the different causes and symptoms, what to look for.

Mm-hmm.

And the differences between 1 and 2 for diabetes.

Mm-hmm.

What are some questions that you get if you are working with somebody who's like, Freshly diagnosed with this besides the, let's check if you're number, you know, type 1, if it, if you kind of look a certain way or, or have a history of it. Like what are some initial questions that people who find out that they have type 2 diabetes have when they just all of a sudden struck with this? I mean, is it, my mind goes to immediately, do I have to cut bread?

Right. How do I eat? I had a gentleman in here the other day. And that was his exact issue. He's a recently diagnosed type 2 diabetic. He looks like one. He— but he says, I don't know how to eat.

Hmm.

I don't know what to eat, what I should eat, what I shouldn't eat. Now, what's really nice is that you can now buy a glucose monitor, a continuous glucose monitor over the counter without a prescription that you can put on the back of your arm or wherever. And see what affects your blood sugar. What makes your blood sugar elevate to give you an idea of what you should and should not eat. There are the common things we know of, and that is carbs, complex— those carbs like breads and pastas and rice and that kind of stuff. You're better to stick with You know, foods that you make yourself, foods that are not, um, processed and packaged. In fact, left my brain for a moment. Yes, foods that are processed and packaged, meats and vegetables, fruits, and stay away from that packaged stuff. Okay.

And that's just general rule. But like you, like you pointed out earlier when I was doing the same thing where I just chucked out Person, you know, personal preferences and things that your body has. There might be. So my question, I guess, is there might be things that may not affect your blood sugars from a type 2 diabetic standpoint that might be kind of like those carby things, or—

They will. So there's something called the glycemic index. Yeah, sadly they will. The glycemic index, it's out there, it's online. Anybody can find it. It tells you how it affects Your blood sugar. So we know glycemic index. We know through nutrition the molecules and how things are made, and when they you know when they dump into our bloodstream lots of sugar, right? Very quickly, forcing the body to have to deal with it immediately. That's why these injectables, these GLP ones, or things like your Ozempic. The stuff they're using for weight loss, that slows down. Not only does it decrease appetite, but it also slows down how quickly the food empties out of the stomach. So instead of it emptying quickly and then being absorbed through the small intestine into the body, it empties slower.

Got it.

So the blood sugar doesn't rise as quickly.

It's so funny that you say that because now that has connected another thing for me because Ozempic, I mean, everybody's talking about it as like the way to lose weight.

Right.

And everybody also then says like with a little asterisk, oh, but it's a type 2 diabetes thing. Now it makes sense why it's type 2 diabetes for me. What, like a drug for that? Because then it helps to elongate the time that your body needs to deal with these Keyhole issues.

Correct. So your body's not dumping large amounts of insulin, right? The insulin that makes you fat and makes you hold weight. So it does decrease your appetite, but because it takes longer for that food to empty out of your stomach, you stay full longer. So not only do we not spike your blood sugar, causing your body to dump lots of insulin in or try to, we decrease the hunger. So then you decrease the amount of food you eat. So they found, wow, okay, so these drugs work great for diabetics and they're losing weight. Maybe we should use them for weight loss drugs.

I see. That makes sense.

And that's how that came about. But you don't have to be. So there's— so I've had numerous patients that have come in. There's a blood test called the hemoglobin A1C. That blood test Looks at gives you an average of what your blood sugar has been over the last three months, right? Gives you an idea of what the average blood sugar has been over the last three months, and primary medicine is doing that at a certain age once a year. Insurance has asked for that to be done. So if they I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole. I say care how they get paid; they're doing it. But You will find that there is a— where they say you're borderline. So if your hemoglobin A1C is between, I believe it is 5.4 and 6.3, they're going to tell you, oh, you're borderline diabetic. Just watch what you're eating, exercise. You don't need to do anything.

Borderline.

Yep. It's between 5.7 and 6.4. Yep. So if you're borderline, with normal being below 5.7 and prediabetes, borderline diabetes, 5.7 to 6.4. Now when you go to 6.5, you're diabetic just like that overnight.

In medical terms, yeah, probably.

Here's what I don't like about this. And here is one of those symptoms: tingling, numbness, or tingling in your feet or hands, sores that don't heal. Why? Because you've already compromised your circulation. And because high blood sugars damage small blood vessels. And high blood sugar causes inflammation in your arteries, causing heart disease.

Oh my gosh.

So my thought process is, okay, so if somebody sits there as a borderline diabetic for 10 years, meaning their blood sugar is so high that their average is up there, that's their average. So they could have days that they run low for hours. They run low because they're working out more, they're eating better. And then the days they run high, those blood vessels are being damaged.

Hmm.

So by the time you get to the point that you're having these numbness, tingling hands, feet, sores that don't heal, you're in trouble. You've already done the damage. Now they're going to tell you you're diabetic and treat you.

But it's a system. It's a system in which you've already broke down that process or it's already broke down.

Well, you've already caused the damage. You've already caused damage. Now, the damage could be worse, but you've already caused damage. So when I see patients, if they have a hemoglobin A1C that's above 5.4, I say you are on your way to diabetes. We have to do something now. You don't want to be diabetic. We need to do something now. We're not going to tell you you're, you're pre-diabetic or you're borderline. We're just going to watch it because that's what you'll hear. The doctor says, you know what, we'll just watch this and we'll check the hemoglobin A1C in a year and see what's going on.

So do they hope that because they're saying that, you think? I don't know. I never really want to get into the mindset of a doctor because my dad's a doctor. And it's not because my dad's a doctor that I don't want to know what he's thinking. I just know that I don't think the same way that my dad, the doctor, does. But is the thought process possibly that they brought it up, so now you should change, and they're thinking that you're going to change?

That's part of it. And the other process is, is that in the United States, we practice sick medicine in general. So we don't treat you till you're sick. So you have to have somebody that's willing to give you a diabetic medication Before you have the true diagnosis of diabetes. Now you start running into a whole nother thing when you start talking about big pharma and insurance and yada yada yada, right? So if you find yourself, and I think prevention to me is key, you know, you find yourself where your medical provider is saying to you. you are pre-diabetic or you're borderline diabetic, don't wait. Start doing something now. There are supplements you can use. There's— there are ways you can learn to eat. You know, even if you're somebody that can't exercise, you can't out-exercise a bad diet. It's all about food. There are things you can do because you don't want to become diabetic. By the time you're diabetic, the damage is done. The heart disease has already started. The small vessels are already damaged, and that's in reference to type 2.

Right, because type 1, you're just not—

and it's going to happen a lot faster.

Right.

Usually, usually, usually. Again, adults, they call it a lot of, you know, I always forget it's late adult diabetes. I never remember what it's called the right way to say it because I just, I I always said it wrong. And so then, but it's LADA.

If it's an A at the end, I always assume it's association. So, okay, okay, okay. So some key, some key points just to kind of reiterate, starting at the beginning.

So key points. 1, If diabetes runs in your family, you are more apt to have it. It can be genetic.

Okay.

That's type 2. Type 2.

Okay.

Type 1 diabetes is if there's autoimmunity in your family. Doesn't have to be autoimmune diabetes, just autoimmunity. You're set up frequently. Many autoimmune type 1s are the first person in their family to ever have it. Don't wait. Have that checked. Find out what your blood sugar is. Find out what your fasting is. It should be, you know, below 90. If it's high, don't wait and say, well, I'm just pre or I'm borderline, but I don't need to do anything until I'm diabetic. Those are, those are really some key things. Short of getting into the, you should eat a certain way, you should move, you should, you know, do this and that.

I think that's another, that's another thing with our medical system. And maybe it's just in general across the world, it could be, but like, people always push it to eat better and exercise. Makes it sound so easy. And yet it's not, right?

You need some guidance. What's eat better if you've never been taught how to eat better? I, you know, I know people where the mother eats nothing but carbs, is a type 2 diabetic, and for years has ignored it and is still eating carbs. She will be one that will be on insulin, and she will be one that will be one of these old people that they're cutting her toes and her feet off and other things because there's no more circulation and the tissue dies and If you, you know, it gets infected and if you leave it, it'll kill you. She feeds her children macaroni and cheese and carbs and carbs and carbs, and both children are now fat. They didn't start that way, but they don't know. They don't know how to eat.

And eating is such a crazy— I, this is sort of maybe even a separate topic at some point, but I feel like food and society tied to food. It's, it's an addiction that is very hard to break because out of all addictions that you have or can have, you know, think, you know, anything like a drug addiction or a habit addiction or whatever, you're able to remove yourself from that addiction at some point except for food. Because we need food to live. So, you know, if you're used to eating a certain way, And you're used to a certain type of diet, it might be hard. It might be especially hard to change that, that habit because that's what you got to do. You can't just, you can't just remove food and be like, all right, I'm going to solve my type 2 diabetes problem not eating. That's tough. Oh my gosh, that is so tough.

Because it's a completely different way of life. It's a different, you know, it's very, very, very difficult to eat healthy. When you are an active person, you can't— there— I don't, I don't know of any fast food restaurant you can drive through. That's, that's, that stops. You're not doing drive-through anymore. You're not stopping at the gas station getting something to eat.

What about the Kale Crunch salad? That sounds nice.

What else is on it?

Oh, man, it's the crunch.

The crunch of it every time.

Oh, well, okay. So, man, there's a lot here. And I even almost think like, if you're, if you're thinking about planning ahead or looking ahead, or you just have questions, I mean, look, Sherri, you're not only primed to talk to people about their habits, what's going on, what we're worried about, what we're stressed about, what we're thinking about. With a free 15-minute consultation on your website. Just sign up and have a call, right?

Call and ask me questions. I mean, we could talk about diabetes for hours. I barely, barely touched the tip of that iceberg. So, you know, go to my website, call me, we'll have a call, we'll talk about it. And if it's something I can help you with, then I'll tell you. If it's something I can't, I can at least give you potentially the guidance or you know where to go, where to start. It can be a very overwhelming diagnosis, and maybe you say, "But wait a minute, what's diabetes have to do with hormones?" Oh my God! I was just thinking that insulin is a hormone.

Oh yeah. Okay. I should have put two and two together there.

When you see me for hormone testing, I check your insulin level too, because if I. If I see that your insulin level is elevated, then I know you're insulin resistant. Your body's making more insulin than you need.

Okay.

So, we better do something now before you get into trouble. Let's prevent this. Let's change those habits now. Let's work on this now before it's too late.

And that's, I mean, that's something that I keep going back to anytime we talk. is like the fact that you're looking at the whole picture. It's not just let's check your insulin and then done. It's let's check all your hormones, see how they're working in tandem, what's working for you, what might be working at your body's speed, and how do we optimize that?

That's right, because they all work together. Just like our friend said yesterday, sometimes replacing testosterone can improve Diabetes, because they're all hormones that work together. Nobody ever thinks about that. If we balance this hormone, it might help balance another one out because it's all a balancing act. They all work together and balance each other out. And when one's off, it can throw the others off.

Now, there's something that I thought of real quick where you were talking about how the type 1 diabetics, especially that are adults that kind of find out, Mm-hmm. Have a different, it seems like you have a much different, um, take on their disease than maybe type 2 diabetes.

Yeah.

Is there, is there something that you hear or something that you hear from people who are like loved ones of somebody who might be dealing with type 2 diabetes? That's like, you know, the doctor already told us that we need to be thinking about this or changing habits or whatever, but they're not taking action. Is that a common theme with type 2 diabetics?

What's the best way to get people to take care of themselves? You know, that is a good question. There is a lot of frustration. I do know that the— that type 1 diabetics have fewer complications than type 2s, which you wouldn't think would make sense because the type 1 generally doesn't even have the insulin they need, but they take care of themselves better. They're forced to do that. I think part of the other issue historically with type 2s not taking care of themselves is that they've always eaten that way. They're not going to change at this And spouses can be very frustrated. There was a gentleman, 45 years old, in the nursing home when I was doing my rotation, and they were getting ready to cut off another part of his body. And the nurses were saying, well, his wife never comes to see him anymore. She was done, right? She had spent years with him trying to get him to eat right, to do what he needed to do, to stop. And he didn't stop. He was still eating his sugar and eating his cookies and his cakes as they're cutting different body parts off because of the blood vessels that are damaged because of the high blood sugars. She gave up.

See, that to me sounds like an addiction, like a sugar addiction.

Right.

Is there something that you think is a good— I mean, have you found a way to address that with somebody who might be combative against, you You know, doing anything against their type 2 diabetes?

People that come to see me personally, they don't want to get it, right? They're trying to prevent it. The gentleman that came to see me, he was finally like, I have to do something, right? Also a friend. So, I think he probably wanted— I reached out when I heard him make the comment that he goes, I don't know how to eat. So, I reached out. In my— historically, no, we can't do anything. Historically, I, again, have worked geriatrics. I've worked internal medicine with an endocrinologist, and these people will do what they want to do. And there is support. There's support. Family members, loved ones can go to TCOID. They also support family members. They call them Type 3s. And help them to deal with things they can do. Support them. It's a great support, like I said, organization. I can't speak highly enough about it because they talk about real life, right? They don't medical you, you know. And so you can— all you can do is tell people what they need to do. And right, you can't— you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

So true. Yeah.

So, they have to want to do it themselves. And you start to get into— then now you start to get into things a little bit deeper and other— you like the word disease processes. When a type 2 who's starting to have complications still doesn't want to take care of themselves, there's something else there, right?

Yeah.

There's something else going on. So, there's some other processes. And that's when the heart disease— you end up with heart disease, you end up with Poor circulation. You know, you get to be where maybe you can't go for walks anymore. It's too late. And that's what I'm doing. I'm preventing people from getting to the point that it's too late.

I like that.

And it's, it's great.

Yeah, I think that's, I think that's motivation in and of itself. Like, if you're motivated but don't know where to start, Because it's overwhelming. I mean, it— you're very overwhelmed. And it, it seems not only that Type 2 is one of those overwhelming ones because you have— you basically have to change a lot of different things, but you can control it, right? Like, we have not only processes to help you get to where you want to go, but then there's ways in which to test and make sure that you're able to Watch the levels.

And I have more than one patient that's come in with a slightly elevated hemoglobin A1C, and through food and supplements, they come back in 3 months later, it's perfect, it's beautiful. And, and I work with them. I have one patient right now who said, you know what, I think I'm doing it with food. I don't need this supplement. So now she will have been off the supplement 90 days, and we're going to check her hemoglobin A1C. And if it stayed down, She's doing it with food.

That's awesome.

But if it didn't, then we know she needs that extra help, that extra supplement. It works. Those supplements— berberine, cinnamon, chromium— those are just a few, and I like to give them all, right, that help with insulin resistance, that help prevent becoming a type 2 diabetic. The type 2, that it's insulin resistance, right, that you're still making enough, your body just can't use it. And it's It's cleaning the system out because it's all gummed up, right? Can't get that key insulin into the, into the hole to open the cell up, and it cleans it out. And just a lot of other wonderful things happen too. You feel better, you look better, you have more energy. It just doesn't change.

Hmm. Well, that seems like motivation to me. This has been the Balanced Body Medical Podcast. Welcome to the podcast with Sherri Griggs, owner of Balanced Body Health and Wellness. If you're looking to find Sherri, go ahead and look for the website balancedbodymedical.com. If you're looking for the business and you want to find Sherri at her office, you can find her at 10815 Elm Street in Rockbrook Plaza.

Thank you.