I’m currently reading the book Diabetes Sucks And You Can Handle It by Dr. Mark Heyman, a psychologist who lives with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). For those of you who don’t know, T1D is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the pancreatic cells that produce insulin.
Although I don’t have type 1 diabetes myself, I started reading the book because I work for a continuous glucose monitoring company, which produces medical devices for those with diabetes to help them monitor their glucose levels. Reading about diabetes has given me some insight on what it’s like to live with this challenging chronic illness.
As I was reading Dr. Heyman’s book, I realized that there are a lot of similarities between living with T1D and other autoimmune conditions, like Sjogren’s Syndrome and Hidradenitis Suppurativa, which I live with. Being diagnosed with any kind of chronic health condition can be overwhelming, especially at first. You may think, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ or other unhelpful thoughts. Even after the initial shock of your diagnosis wears off, there is the ongoing challenge of having to live your ‘new normal’ of life with a disease. It can also impact your ability to do the work and activities that you love.
Dr. Heyman says that the first step to living well with diabetes is to first acknowledge that IT SUCKS. This may seem counterintuitive…after all, if you’re struggling with living with an illness, thinking about how much it sucks would only make things worse, right? But Dr. Heyman says that oftentimes, those with T1D try to ignore their disease, or to think positive thoughts only – this just doesn’t work. You can’t ignore your health problems as if that’ll make them going away. And trying to force yourself to only think positively is basically the definition of toxic positivity.
As Dr. Heyman explains, the best way to live well with diabetes is to acknowledge that although it sucks, you can handle it. Here is a brief excerpt from the boook:
You can handle T1D because you have T1D. I know this sounds like circular logic, but it isn’t. Diabetes is demanding. It requires a lot from you. And you are doing it. You may not be perfect, and it may not feel like you’re doing a great job at handling it. Feeling overwhelmed, and burned out are not signs that you can’t handle T1D. The fact that you’re still living your life and want to keep improving is strong evidence that you can handle the challenging parts of diabetes because that is exactly what you’ve been doing since being diagnosed.
I have never met anyone with T1D who isn’t stronger in some way because of diabetes. You know that managing this condition day in and day out means always being on your toes. You have to make important decisions about your health, pivot your strategy regularly, and keep going, no matter what. You are already doing this.
Sometimes it may feel like you’re not doing a perfect job, and of course, there is always room for improvement. But the reality is T1D has made you stronger. You have to be resilient to survive with diabetes. The fact that you live with T1D proves you are strong. I hope you see it too.
I found this passage to be pretty relatable as someone managing multiple chronic illnesses. You may sometimes feel overburdened by your disease, but at the same time, you are made stronger by the challenges it has put you through. Maybe you’ve also become more conscientious of your health than before you were diagnosed, or it’s led you to re-prioritize your life to make space for only the things that you truly love and care about. Seeing it through this perspective doesn’t mean ignoring how hard it is to live with a disease. Instead, it’s about acknowledging how strong YOU have become in the process of managing life with a disease.
Let us know in the comments below…how has living life with a chronic illness made you stronger or more resilient?
10 facts about type 1 diabetes. Image courtesy of the Nursing Times.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system destroys pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. Without sufficient insulin, glucose levels build up in the blood and become too high, resulting in potentially life-threating symptoms. Read on to learn 10 interesting facts about type 1 diabetes.
1. T1D is less common than other forms of diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is less common than type 2 diabetes; approximately 5-10% of people living with diabetes have type 1. However, type 1 diabetes is far from a rare disease. According to Beyond Type 1, In the United States alone, 1.6 million Americans live with T1D, and an estimated 64,000 people are diagnosed with the condition each year. In fact, it is estimated that 5 million people will be diagnosed with T1D by 2050.
2. T1D is often diagnosed at a young age
Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults, but it can develop at any age. Because type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction, the destruction of beta cells can go on for months or even years before any symptoms appear in the patient. Type 1 diabetes can be diagnosed through a simple blood test, such as an A1C test, which measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 2-3 months. An A1C level of 6.5% or higher indicates you have diabetes.
3. There are several risk factors for T1D
Although the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, certain genes can make you more susceptible to developing T1D. Studies have shown, for example, that children with a genetic predisposition for and a family history of type 1 diabetes have more than a 1 in 5 risk for developing this autoimmune disease.
However, many people with these genes won’t go on to develop the condition even if they have a genetic predisposition. For that reason, environmental triggers, such as exposure to viruses, are also thought to play a part in the development of type 1 diabetes. Contrary to popular belief, diet and lifestyle habits do not cause type 1 diabetes.
4. Insulin is key to managing diabetes
T1D patients need to take insulin shots, or wear an insulin pump, every day to manage their blood sugar levels and get the energy their body needs. Patients with type 1 diabetes should work with their doctor to determine the most effective type of insulin and dosage that are right for them. Types of insulin range from ultra rapid-acting insulin, to rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting, and ultra long-acting.
In addition, T1D patients also need to check their blood sugar levels regularly. By keeping their blood sugar levels close to a target determined by their physician, patients can prevent or delay further complications. Blood sugar levels can be monitored through the use of a blood glucose monitor and finger sticks, or a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system.
5. T1D causes a variety of symptoms
Type 1 diabetes symptoms can vary from patient to patient. According to the Mayo Clinic, some signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes include: increased thirst, frequent urination, bed-wetting in children, extreme hunger, unintended weight loss, bacterial and fungal infections of the mouth, gum disease, irritability and mood changes, fatigue and weakness, and blurred vision.
Another common complication of type 1 diabetes is hypoglycemia, otherwise known as low blood sugar. This occurs when the patient has too much insulin, or has waited too long for a meal or snack, or simply hasn’t eaten enough food. It can also be caused by getting extra physical activity.
6. T1D can be disabling
Type 1 diabetes can result in complications affecting various bodily systems. For example, T1D can cause nerve damage, also known as neuropathy. Symptoms include tingling, numbness, burning or pain in one’s extremities. This can also cause gastrointestinal issues, like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation. In men, erectile dysfunction can be an issue.
Foot damage may also occur, as a result of poor blood flow to or nerve damage in the feet. If not treated, cuts and blisters in the feet can turn into serious infections that may require limb amputation.
T1D may also cause kidney damage, resulting in kidney failure or irreversible end-state kidney disease, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant.
It’s less commonly known that type 1 diabetes can also cause eye damage. The blood vessels of the retina become damaged (called diabetic retinopathy), potentially causing blindness. Diabetes also increases the risk of developing other vision conditions, like cataracts and glaucoma.
7. T1D can be life-threatening
Type 1 diabetes can in fact be life-threatening. For instance, T1D can cause cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, chest pain (angina), atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), heart attack, and stroke.
Another life-threatening complication of type 1 diabetes is diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a state in which your body cannot use the sugar in its bloodstream to produce energy, so it starts to break down fat as fuel. This causes ketones to be released into the body. If the level of ketones in your body becomes excessively high, this can result in a coma or even death. Some warning signs of DKA include dehydration, extreme thirst, flushed skin, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, shortness of breath, fruity-smelling breath, and disorientation.
8. Lifestyle changes can make a difference
Although type 1 diabetes isn’t caused by poor diet or lifestyle habits, maintaining healthy lifestyle habits can go a long way to improving your overall health and wellbeing. Such habits include stress reduction, getting sufficient sleep, making healthy food choices, being physically active, and controlling your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Maintaining a close working relationship with your medical care team, and regularly attending your appointments, are also important in managing your type 1 diabetes. Your care team may include your primary care physician, endocrinologist, podiatrist (foot doctor), ophthalmologist and optometrist (eye doctors), dentist, pharmacist, registered dietician, and more.
9. Type 1 diabetes can develop during pregnancy
Type 1 diabetes may develop in women who are pregnant, a condition referred to as gestational diabetes. This occurs when blood sugar levels become high during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes affects up to 10% of women who are pregnant in the US each year. While gestational diabetes does go away after giving birth, it can impact your baby’s health, and raises your risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
10. There is hope
If you are a type 1 diabetes patient, it’s important to get the support and resources you need to manage daily life with the condition. Here are a few resources that may help:
In this article, we explore seven anti-inflammatory foods that you can grow in your home garden.
According to the US National Library of Medicine, inflammation is your body’s normal physiological defense against pathogen infection. In normal circumstances, the inflammatory process ends quickly; but, with many chronic conditions, the immune system’s response continues well after an infection is present, leading to significant tissue and organ damage. This is the case with many autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type 1 diabetes, and more.
Many autoimmune disease patients are forced to turn to pharmaceutical drugs to calm their overactive immune systems. Unfortunately, many of these immunosuppressant drugs are not without significant side effects. Plus, by decreasing your body’s ability to fight infections, patients may find that they’re vulnerable to bacteria and viruses, something that’s especially of concern now during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, what if there was a way to fight inflammation naturally, without having to turn to prescription medications with difficult side effects? According to Harvard Health Publishing, some of the best anti-inflammatory compounds can be found not in your local pharmacy, but in the grocery aisle.
“Many experimental studies have shown that components of foods or beverages may have anti-inflammatory effects,” explains Dr. Frank Hu, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard’s School of Public Health. Anti-inflammatory food also helps individuals to maintain a healthy weight – something important, since weight gain is a risk factor for inflammation. However, even when studies controlled for obesity, the effects of inflammation remained: “Some of the food components or ingredients may have independent effects on inflammation over and above increased caloric intake,” Dr. Hu says.
So, what are these anti-inflammatory foods that you can grow at home? Check out the full list, below!
Tomatoes were first on Harvard Health Publishing‘s list of anti-inflammatory foods. According to Healthline, tomatoes are an excellent source of lycopene, an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have also shown that lycopene may be beneficial for reducing pro-inflammatory compounds related to several types of cancer. Another study found that women with excess weight who drank tomato juice significantly decreased their inflammatory markers.
Tomatoes are also some of the easiest plants to grow. I grew up in Southwestern Canada, an area that isn’t exactly known for warm weather or sunshine. Despite the climate, our family was able to easily grow cherry tomatoes on our small, north-facing balcony during the spring and summer. Now that I live in Southern California, tomatoes grow even more abundantly, and we’re growing both cherry and heirloom varieties.
Pro tip- if you’re looking to increase lycopene absorption, consider cooking your tomatoes in olive oil. This is because lycopene is a carotenoid, which is a nutrient that is better absorbed in combination with a fat.
Olives are rich in monounsaturated fats, which are heart-healthy fats that combat damaging inflammation. It’s no wonder then, that olives and olive oil are staples in the mediterranean diet, a healthy eating lifestyle followed by many supercentenarian communities.
Olives and olive oil also contain oleocanthal, an antioxidant that has been compared by scientists to ibuprofen, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly taken to combat pain and inflammation. Extra virgin olive oil has even more anti-inflammatory benefits compared to more refined types of olive oil.
Olive trees grow best in a subtropical, mediterranean climate in which winters are mild and summers are long, dry and warm. The best climate for olive trees would be zones 10 and 11, though certain varieties of olive trees can tolerate zones 8 or 9. Then, once you’ve grown olives, you can use an oil press machine to extract the oils from the pitted fruit. We live in zone 10a and are currently growing an olea europaea, which is the European variety.
Of course, if you don’t live in an ideal climate for growing olives, then not to worry – olives and extra virgin olive oil are commonly found in grocery stores all over the world.
Green, leafy vegetables are next up on the list. Spinach, kale and collard greens are all easy-to-grow vegetables that possess powerful, anti-inflammatory properties. According to the Arthritis Foundation, these vegetables are high in vitamins like A, C and K which protect your cells against damaging free radicals. They are also high in calcium, which helps promote bone health.
In our garden, we’re currently growing spinach and red chard. Not only do these vegetables grow extremely fast, they also are quite hardy across different climates, and produce an abundant, constant harvest. Plus, leafy greens aren’t just for salads – you can throw them in your smoothie or protein shake, in soups and stews, stirfries, and even scramble them up with eggs. The possibilities are endless!
Cruciferous veggies include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, kohlrabi, watercress and bok choy. These vegetables have many of the vitamins and minerals found in other leafy greens, plus the added benefit of a phytochemical called sulphoraphane, which has been shown to block the inflammatory process, and may slow cartilage damage in osteoarthritis (OA), according to studies done on mice.
In lab studies, sulphoraphane has also been shown to stimulate enzymes in the body that detoxify carcinogens before they can damage one’s cells. Two other compounds found in cruciferous vegetables called indole 3-carbinol and crambene are also believed to activate detoxifying enzymes.
Cruciferous vegetables belong to the brassica family, and are best suited to regions with mild summers, cool springs and fall temperatures. This means that you don’t have to live in a tropical or subtropical area to be able to grow these anti-inflammatory foods.
Berries contain antioxidants called anthocyanins, which are compounds that have anti-inflammatory effects and may reduce your risk of disease. Studies have shown that people who ate berries consistently had lower levels of certain inflammatory markers in their blood. Other studies have shown that individuals who consume berries also had higher levels of natural killer (NK) cells that kept their immune system functioning properly.
Though many different varieties of berries exist, the most common are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. While many berry varieties are native to the wet Pacific Northwest, berries like strawberries can be successfully grown in drier climates like California and Mexico when given enough water. Here in Southern California, we have been able to successfully grow both strawberries and blueberries during the wetter winter months, and recently planted raspberry and blackberry bushes as well.
Mushrooms contain a property called phenols, which have been shown to provide protection against damaging inflammation. Other anti-inflammatory properties found in mushrooms include polysaccharides, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, and many other low molecular weight molecules. Lion’s mane mushrooms have also been found to reduce low-grade, chronic inflammation linked to metabolic disorders like obesity. Thanks to its healing properties, fungi has often been used in traditional medicine across different parts of Asia and Africa.
Some easy-to-cook mushroom varieties include white button, crimini, portabella, oyster, lion’s mane, shiitake, morels and truffles. Though you may be thinking, ‘how can I grow mushrooms in my home garden?’ It’s actually easier than you think! We have used a mushroom grow kit from Back to the Roots to grow both oyster mushrooms and lion’s mane mushrooms at home in as little as two weeks!
Grapes, like berries, also contain high levels of anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory effects. Consumption of grapes has been shown to reduce the risk of many conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and eye disorders. Grapes are also a staple in the mediterranean diet, as well as moderate levels of heart-healthy red wine. In fact, cannonau red wine has touted for its antioxidant benefits by supercentenarian researchers in the blue zones of Italy and Greece, due to its artery-scrubbing flavonoids.
Grapevines grow best in areas with long, warm summers and rainy winters. This is why only certain parts of the world are known for producing the best grapes for wine-making: the Bordeaux region of France, Tuscany, Italy, the Napa Valley in California, La Rioja in Spain, the Colchuaga Valley in Chile, and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada. While I don’t anticipate that we’ll be making any wine at home, we are growing both a red and green grapevine in our California garden, and so far, both have taken off quite well.
7. Turmeric
Last but certainly not least, turmeric is one of the best plants to combat inflammation. This is because turmeric contains a property called curcumin, a powerful, anti-inflammatory nutrient found to help those suffering from arthritis, diabetes, and other conditions causing joint pain.
Turmeric resembles a root vegetable, and once harvested, it can be dried out and ground to make a spice. Turmeric is commonly used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Being part East Indian myself, I know that it’s a staple in Indian curries, as well as in Ayurvedic medicine, which has been practiced for thousands of years in India.
However, many individuals with joint pain opt to take curcumin supplements, rather than grow turmeric at home or buying the spice at the grocery store. This is because it can be challenging to get enough curcumin through eating turmeric, unless you consume a lot of it. Plus, curcumin has been found to be more easily absorbed when taken in combination with piperine, a compound found in black pepper. So the benefit of taking a curcumin supplement is that it often has piperine added to aid absorption.
Do you grow any of these anti-inflammatory plants in your home garden? Let us know in the comments below!
Please note, this content and any products cited in it are for informational purposes only. Autoimmune Warrior does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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