I am a Type 1 diabetic and I want you to know a few things about me as a diabetic and as a faithful Shakeology drinker. It has changed my life as a diabetic and all I want to do is reach others with T1D and help them too!!
Here are some facts about Type 1 first and foremost:
1. Diabetics try their best to live the most normal life possible. We can do anything anyone else can. We are in a lifelong struggle to define themselves in any other way but diabetic.
2. People with Type 1 Diabetes can’t make Insulin. Insulin, in people without diabetes, is a hormone made in the pancreas. It allows glucose in the bloodstream to be converted for use in the body as energy.
3. Excess glucose in the bloodstream damages body systems and is the root of diabetic complications. Having too much, or too little glucose in the blood is dangerous and can ultimately cause death. Keeping blood glucose levels within normal levels is the ultimate goal of people with diabetes but can be affected by food, exercise, illness, stress, and a whole bunch of other annoying, unpredictable events.
4. They are not allergic to sugar. They balance what they eat by testing their blood glucose levels and taking insulin through injections. Yes, injections and finger pricks often hurt at first but we get used to it.
5. Type 1 Diabetes is occurs when the Islets of Langerhans (insulin-producing cells in the pancreas) are attacked by the body.
6. Nobody understands why their bodies attack themselves. They did not get diabetes from their mothers who gained too much weight during pregnancy, from eating too much sugar, from exercising infrequently or from any other known reason. Please be careful not to confuse Type 1 with Type 2 Diabetes. People with Type 1 cannot exercise away their diabetes or eat better to "cure" it.
7. We hate it when you offer the rest of the room cake and tell them they can’t have it and offer them a diet coke instead. They know you mean well, but you make them feel alienated and inherently different. Let them refuse cake if they want to, and let them eat cake if we choose. We know more than you about what we’re living with.
8. There is no such thing as ‘having diabetes really bad’. People with Diabetes choose to take care of themselves or not, or somewhere in between. Your uncle who ‘had diabetes so bad’ chose not to take care of himself and he lost his leg or went blind as a result. That being said, even the most tightly controlled diabetes reduces life span.
9. The cost of living INSURED with type 1- for me- is anywhere between 50-150 a month. (A few months ago it was 225 a month) The cost of living uninsured with diabetes can easily be 400 dollars per month or more.
10. Preventative healthcare and education are the ideal weapons in the fight against diabetes.
Here's what I can tell you about being on Shakeology and having Type 1 Diabetes:
1. Since starting Shakeology my HgbA1C level has consistently been in the 5-6 range. Before using Shakeology it was in the 9-12 range.
2. Since exercising daily and drinking my shakes daily I have more control over my blood sugars and see less spikes in glucose levels.
3. My LDL (bad Cholesterol) is at 110 and my HDL (good Cholesterol) is 50.
4. I do not get sick as often at all. Being a diabetic, this is extremely important - most times when I get sick, I get really sick and a simple cold can turn into an upper respiratory infection or pneumonia.
5. It is low on the Glycemic Index: Which means that carbs enter the blood stream at a lower rate than foods higher on the GI. This keeps blood sugar levels steady and allow us to use those carbs as energy more easily. Any number under 55 is considered low - Shakeology is at 24.
Low GI diets help people loose and manage weight.
Low GI diets can increase the body's sensitivity to insulin.
Low GI carbs help improve diabetes management.
The reduce hunger and prolong physical endurance.
Here is an old video I did while raising money for Tour De Cure in 2008 to educate people on Type 1 diabetes. Forgive me... this was 7 years ago.
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