#486 How We Eat: FODMAP
A D-mom talks about parenting with a FODMAP diet.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to Episode 486 of the Juicebox Podcast.
Today's episode of features Meredith, and she's here to talk about being the mother of a child with type one, and about understanding, creating and cooking for a fodmap diet. That's a funny word, right? fodmap it's not actually a word, it's an acronym.
This episode is going to be ad free Memorial Day celebration, no ads. But it is part of the how we eat series. Now if you're not familiar with that, I'm going to spend 20 seconds explaining it before the episode starts. But it's going to happen after I tell you that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, please always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. We're becoming bold with insulin. All right, let the music finish up. I'll spend this couple of seconds talking about how we eat and then we get right into the episode with murder, by the way, is a super fan of the show. And I'm sure right now is shaking in our pants listening.
The how we eat series is building up a nice little repertoire. Is that the word I mean? It doesn't matter. So right now we have Episode 373. Vegan cat, which is not about a cat. Episode 400 carnivore. Episode 405 plant based Episode 439 gluten free Episode 453 low carb episode, episode in boy ready here we go again, Episode 480, Dr. Bernstein, and today's episode 486 fodmap. And there are many more coming. This has become a favorite for people. And I'm very much enjoying having these conversations. I hope you enjoy this one with Meredith, check out the others.
Meredith 2:21
Hi, my name is Meredith and I am a mom of three children, one of whom is a type one diabetic.
Scott Benner 2:28
Cool. And you're on today to talk about an eating style. Is that right?
Meredith 2:35
I am we have a lot of interesting food issues. The reason that I'm here is to talk about the low fodmap diet. But we actually eat not just low fodmap My daughter has lots of food allergies, as well. So that also interacts with diabetes and and low fodmap.
Scott Benner 3:00
Okay, so I assume that first you present with a food allergy? And then how does that how does that present itself the first time it happens
Unknown Speaker 3:11
with food allergy? Yeah,
Scott Benner 3:12
like what's the first like, what's the remembrance you have of like, Hey, does anybody notice she turns purple when we let us or something like that, like whatever happened, you
Meredith 3:20
know? Well, you know, it goes back for us. Before that my daughter that's diabetic is my second child. And so the food allergies go back to my first child. So really, we were prepared for so with my first daughter, my oldest is I've got a girl girl boy. And the oldest, was just presented with food allergies when she was two months old and had eczema and was fussy all the time. And so that was just from sort of, essentially birth. And we figured it out through what beyond is nursing and what I was eating. And then as we were introducing them I had to eliminate foods from my diet. And as we were introducing foods to her diet. She had some full blown reactions. By the time my second daughter who was like the type one diabetic by the time she was born, we were like assuming she had allergies we didn't know and it was also the way they treated allergies then is very different than what they do now. That's a whole it's changed a lot over the years now they introduce peanuts to kids practically from birth at like four months old. They want to give them peanut powder and based on the whole study in actually started in Israel but where they give kids bomba which is like this peanut snack anyway, and they found that kids had fewer peanut allergies. But when my kids were sort of in that sweet spot where they were preaching total avoidance, and they've since changed some of the recommendations but at any rate, when Eve was born, we ended up testing her for A lot of foods and avoiding a lot of foods initially, and she tested positive for a lot of food allergies. So some of a lot of her allergies are to things that she actually never even ate. So we didn't know for sure that how she would react. And then later, we would go to the food out, we'd go to the allergist yearly and have blood and skin tests. And she either had like a cache a couple of accidental exposures, but they were kind of minor because we were so careful all the time. So I never thankfully had really a full blown turning purple when she really horrible reactions, but I carry it with me all the time and, and everything else. But she did have several food challenges in the office, which is my kids laugh at this beam. But essentially, you go to the food, they go to the allergist office, and they give you a little bit of the food that you they think you might have outgrown, and then a little more and then a little more and then a little more and hope that you don't go back and turn purple and whatever anyway, and she had some that were successful, and some that were not. And some of those ended with epi pens. And yeah,
Scott Benner 6:19
well, let me let me go all the way back to your to your first child, and you're breastfeeding. So you figure out she has allergies to something, and you eliminate it from your diet. Yep, that's kind of fun. Like so what did you have to eliminate with your first daughter? Oh, wow.
Unknown Speaker 6:35
Well remember,
Meredith 6:36
when I was nursing, I eliminated dairy eggs, not sweet. Soy? I don't remember she's 19. Now,
Scott Benner 6:48
what were you eating? Would you just like styrofoam assault? or What did you have, by the, by the time you've learned everything?
Meredith 6:54
Well, there's, you know, we do a lot of meat and potatoes in our house. Um, and chicken and rice and a lot of race, which is, um, causes interaction of all of the fit issues, is I think one of the hardest things around with diabetes, too, because then, as each each condition sort of builds on the other. And then it becomes, because my daughter also has stomach issues. She's always had stomach aches, and even her allergies, which some of some of the things we didn't know, she would get a lot of stomach aches, and we didn't know whether she was alert, she said, you know, she didn't feel well after she ate things. And that's actually why it turns out, she's eating a low fodmap diet, which is something that is usually it's a treatment for IBS. And she didn't know whether she was allergic to every single thing she was eating, she kept getting these stomach eggs. And it turns out that she had to avoid foods for for that reason. And it turns out, like so then there were things that were good for her to eat on them, like to avoid for the low fodmap diet, but aren't good to eat. Because of her allergies or and then late then she was diagnosed with diabetes. But it's like, well, that's, you know, you should have these low carb things. And there's a whole list of low carb things. And she's allergic to half of them. You know, it's just, you know, we sort of had to like, look at the list and say, Well, she can't she can't, she can't have this and you just cross off half the thing. Wow.
Scott Benner 8:38
So there's basically three different things to consider.
Meredith 8:42
Oh, by the way, we keep kosher.
Scott Benner 8:44
Yeah, so four different things to keep considers you know, we're not just I mean, I mean, honestly, how many things could be left, right? So you remove the Well, okay, I saw I understand all that. What is fodmap stand for?
Meredith 8:58
Okay, so fodmap, which is a crazy diet when, um, fodmaps are and I'll read you this that I took off the internet. fodmaps are a collection of short chain carbohydrates, which are sugars that aren't absorbed properly in the gut, and can trigger symptoms in people with IBS. And they're naturally found in many foods and food additives. And there are four times and they're hard to pronounce, so I'll do my best but they're illegal saccharides, STI saccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. And so when we were advised by your doctor to avoid to go on the low fodmap diet, I said, Okay, you know, sure I can do this. I've done food allergies. All three of my kids and my husband have multiple food allergies. I said, I can do this. I've done this for years and like cook and all these crazy ways and they aren't all allergic to the same things. So I said sure. Tell me what she has to avoid. And then they gave me like the list. And it's not a category. It's like, some fruits are high in fodmaps, and some are low in fodmaps. And some are percentages, like with food allergies. If you can't have eggs, you can't have eggs. Like, that's it, and just a little bit can kill you, if you can't have peanuts, you know, it'll kill you, you know? Yeah, so I'm used to that. In with fodmaps, one of the things that you can have, depending they're also some people can tolerate certain amounts of certain things. But for example, um, what peaches, which is, you know, a favorite fruit of my daughter's, um, she could have like one peach or one nectarine, or if she had that a nectarine or a peach, today or tomorrow, she couldn't have a, you know, watermelon The next day, because then it would just it builds and it sort of the too much too many fodmaps together, will then affect her her stomach. So you can have things that impact not quite as hard. But if you stack them up too close to each other day after day, it's the same impact as having something that strikes her that hard. Exactly. And so what you usually do at the beginning is you do a total elimination diet. And then you add in a food from each of the different four categories or some of the foods from each that the four categories separately, and you add them back into your diet to see whether it's one of the categories or two or three that are affecting you. So for example, the all the illegal saccharides are fructans, and GLS, which are in foods like wheat, rye, onions, garlic, and Legos. So onion and garlic are completely out of our diet. Now, my husband always used to joke that I put black pepper and garlic salt on everything, you know, I made, that was just sort of our staple. And I now don't use all although, oddly, you can in a low fodmap diet, you can flavor things with garlic, you can flavor the oil with garlic, but apparently the garlic doesn't get absorbed into the actual oil. So you can infuse garlic with oil, and then remove the actual garlic. There are all these really weird tricks. And then like the scallions, you can use the green part of the skeleton but not the white part of the scallion. There's a whole Australian University called Monash that's devoted to this. I don't know if they're devoted to it. But they have a unit or division that focuses on fodmap. And they're really detailed and they have an app and everything that's talks all about low fodmap. And it's fascinating because this is very scientific. It sounds like complete Voodoo to me when I was reading the list. Like for example for the monosaccharides are fructose. So this is there's a lot of overlap. It's really interesting when you're talking about diabetes and how you eat and carbs. And when you were talking about the when I was listening to the episode on glycemic index, there's a lot that sort of overlaps. It's it's different. But it sort of comes in it comes at it from a different angle. But there's a lot of kind of overlapping interesting things. And so would it be a surprise, I'll just just tell you the fridge just as one so it's in honey and apples. And like she can't tell honey apples or high fructose corn syrup. But she can have maple syrup, for example.
Scott Benner 13:49
Okay. Do you know why? I guess there's no way to By the way, this sounds exhausting. It is no point to just like, oh god, I'm going to leave them at the mall. And that'll be the end of this because we're just like Mommy's going out and just never come back. And you guys are gonna have to fart your whole lives because I'm not doing this. Like what is it? You know? I mean, seriously, like, just so just thinking about an elimination diet. First of all to get your answers about what it is that you can and can't eat or should or shouldn't be eating. How do you start an elimination diet? Is it like with a piece of chicken that you boil, and then everyone eats it in horror? Terrible.
Meredith 14:32
And here's honestly like, I mean, that's the thing is it? It starts with total paralysis is what it starts with. Okay, um, and you kind of go, oh my god, what am I gonna feed the family, which is actually kind of the way I started with diabetes to like, Oh my god, how am I gonna feed my daughter? Um, but then slowly I did what I did with food allergies too, and I went to the internet and I looked for Facebook groups, I looked for recipes and I looked for resources. And essentially, I started with brand new recipes and I just looked, you know, you Google, you go to Pinterest, you go wherever and you find low fodmap recipes. And then what I would do is, I would modify them, because inevitably, it would have something in it that my kids were allergic to. And then or something they didn't like, or something that was an ingredient that, you know, I couldn't gather or whatever, but I tend to make a lot of different meals, which
Unknown Speaker 15:37
is,
Meredith 15:38
you know, one of the things that, um, you know, they say, Oh, you know, if your kids don't want your main meal that you make for dinner, like, just tell them they can have cereal tonight. When everybody's allergic to different things, and everyone has special diets, it's not really fair at some point to say, Well, too bad.
Scott Benner 15:56
Yeah. Wow, what's the reaction of I mean, you the children, everybody in the family, when you realize that this is the way you're gonna eat, I realized it was probably different for you because of the food allergy thing. But, but what I'm trying to imagine if I went to Arden tomorrow, and I said, Hey, we're going to eliminate everything from your diet to figure out why something happens, she probably would kill me in my sleep. So I'm trying to figure like, seriously, and or at least put up one hell of a fight about it, I can actually, I can envision her saying I'd rather my stomach hurt than do this. So
Meredith 16:31
I think that there are a couple of issues that you're there. As far as the food allergies, I actually think it was easier because my kids were diagnosed with them really from the get go. So they don't know what it's like to eat, whatever my oldest is, has now outgrown all her nut allergies. And the craziest thing is that she now eats, like, all Oh, nuts. I mean, it's just blows my mind when she's peanuts, and cashews and walnuts and talks about the differences. And, you know, I just is totally crazy. I'm used to thinking of them as poison. Um, but so they, they didn't know what it was like, they didn't know what they were missing. That's something that was almost easy. It was harder when they went to school and more of a social component, and going out with their friends and going to restaurants. And those kinds of things were the most difficult for the low fodmap diet, which came well. Diabetes came in, in the tween, and then the low fodmap diet came after. So in terms of timing, um, so with diabetes, we don't, we don't eat differently, really, for diabetes, there was only a very short period of time. When it was first diagnosed that they she was she didn't have one of those horrible diagnosis stories where she was admitted she wasn't NDK. Um, she had a whole variety of health issues for about a year where we were trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with her, which included a lot of stomach issues, which actually had been going on for much of her life, she'd had a lot of stomach discomfort, and went to one doctor for a second opinion, who did a whole battery of blood tests. And I got a call the next day and I was like, Where's your daughter? And I'm like, Well, she's at school. Like her blood sugar is really high. You need to come get her and redo her blood test. And I'm like, yeah, I'm going to pick her up for was actually some other tests for something else. Because like I said, she was having all these other issues. And I'm gonna get her in a couple hours and take her to the doctor for something. They're like, No, no, you need to go now. And I'm like, I don't like I don't know anything about blood. I don't know anything about diabetes. And I don't know what they're talking.
Scott Benner 19:00
We don't eat sugar in my house. There's no sugar in her blood.
Meredith 19:08
literally about to get on the subway. I'll talk to you later. And I got off the subway like three stops later. And the phone rang, like my cell phone rang and they're like, it's the doctor like, where are you? And I'm like, Oh,
Unknown Speaker 19:22
yeah, you're not getting it. Give me a sec order. And you need to
Meredith 19:27
have this checked. But anyway, I lost my train of thought and why I was.
Scott Benner 19:32
Well, while you're finding your train of thought I'm taking off my headphones to take off a sweatshirt home. how incredibly unprofessional of me was it to do that right in the middle of the episode. I would never forgive myself if I was you. But since we're taking the break, have you heard about the diabetes pro tip series that begins at Episode 210. If you haven't seen it, you can check it out at Juicebox Podcast comm where diabetes pro tip calm or just go back in your app. To Episode 210, I'd also like to recommend, as I said earlier, the how we eat series. If you're interested in algorithm based pumping, there's a whole series about that. We have defining diabetes, which I'm very proud of its terms about type one diabetes, that are explained, but not in a dry way. There are short episodes with Jenny Smith and I, we explained the term and then put it into some context for you. So sort of like, imagine if you saw a hammer didn't know what a hammer was. And someone just said, it's a hammer, you use it to strike a nail, that would be not very helpful. But if you said it's a hammer, you use it to strike a nail, and then explained what a nail was, and why you might want to use a nail, well, then that would be useful information. To me, that's what the finding diabetes is. I'm just gonna take this moment to let you know about another series that's coming up also with Jenny Smith, it's going to be called variables. super interesting. We had Lehman on like, it's super interesting, you now either have to believe me, or you don't talk to you went to the Facebook page, the private Facebook page for the podcast and asked for people to make a list of things that impacted their life with diabetes, and a list came back, I think over 150 things long. Jenny and I are going to do these very short kind of burst episodes, about variables. So you'll start seeing them soon. Here, that's where you're gonna start seeing them soon. That is so much better.
Meredith 21:28
Okay, good. Um, anyway, so she, um, so she then was diagnosed, and basically what they told us, so then we were, we had like, two days where she, they knew her blood sugar was high, we had an appointment The next day, one day, and they had an appointment the next day at the diabetes clinic, the goddess and right away, but they told us, we could go home, and then we, we went back in for training, like outpatient. And we came in, like two or three days in a row, for hours long sessions, to learn to use insulin and count carbs and all this stuff. But they basically told us for, you know, two or three days, like, just eat really low carb, like, don't eat any carbs for the next two days, was essentially what they told us. Um, so while while we went home, I mean, because their blood sugar wasn't crazy high, but they're like, you know, just, you know, have have protein and don't have any, any carbs. While while we're doing that you're
Scott Benner 22:24
like, just give me a list. I know how to eliminate things from a diet, this won't be any trouble whatsoever.
Meredith 22:30
Right. So so that was so in that case. So that was just a couple of like, days where we really ate very, like, she had a lot of cucumbers, and, and then, um, and then in general, with diabetes, we don't, we don't eliminate food from our diet all that often. Except for you know, sometimes, like, she had an important test. And I was like, you know, let's not have dessert tonight, let's try to have a really low, like a low carb dinner tonight. Or, you know, let's see what's going to not impact your blood sugar. Um, a lot. Um, she's a junior in high school. Yeah. Um, you know, those kinds of things. So, in that respect, I think about her diet with their diabetes, but I don't otherwise say you can't eat X, Y, or Z because of the diabetes. Although, when we had to figure then we had some big changes when we moved to low fodmap. Because for the elimination diet, it's not that you can't eat any foods. It's more that there, you pull a lot of things out of the diet, but it was one of the initial things was, well, she can't add apples. So one of the things she had she just was a staple for low blood sugars was apple juice. Okay, so I was like, oh, man, like, she has apple juice all the time. Right? Like, okay, well, what are we going to do now? So now we do grape juice, but like excited to get grape juice boxes? I think I still have juice boxes of apple juice somewhere in my back of my cabin. I
Unknown Speaker 24:05
don't know what to do with expired.
Meredith 24:05
I gotta, you know,
Unknown Speaker 24:07
what were
Scott Benner 24:08
what were the symptoms we're talking about, like, you know, because I'm obviously I'm looking online too. And cramping, diarrhea, constipation, stomach, bloating, gas and flash ones. Is that basically or is it just you're in pain? Is it hard to put the word
Meredith 24:23
stomach pain for years and years and years? And I think she's a, I think, well, let's leave it at that.
Scott Benner 24:32
Wait, that was fascinating. You started to say something and then you stopped yourself. And now I'm gonna wonder for the rest of my life. What you were going to say? You don't have to say, you know what, forget it. Say it. I'll bleep it out for you. What were you gonna say?
Unknown Speaker 24:47
I think we're gonna leave it at that.
Scott Benner 24:49
All right. Okay, so she had stomach pains for a long time.
Meredith 24:53
Yeah, I mean, really since she was since she was little and we see in lots of doctors and dentists. things and chess, you know, checked and well, there might be various medicines and this is one of the things that is has helped. And it does help. And unfortunately, it's doesn't help all the way for her. Okay, um, but it does help. And so when you say Is she willing to do it? Well? Yeah, because it helps, right? Um, but no, it's sometimes really socks. So she wants to eat things. I mean, like, licorice is like something she likes and she you know it has the Twizzlers have wheat in them and she now is on a gluten free diet. Well, as you know from other things, the gall the gluten free stuff has stays in your system longer and has probably has like a higher glycemic load. It's, it's, um, you know, has other other issues. Um, and cauliflower, you know, you could do a nice cauliflower pizza crust, well, she can't have dairy. So that's a whole other issue. But, you know, cauliflower instead of pasta, say, rice, cauliflower or something? Well, that's, that is a, that's high fodmap. So she could have caught cauliflower, but only in a small quantity. So there are a lot of interactions between the foods that cause problems, or, you know, it's just a balance. Yeah. between what you know, what do you want to what do you want to choose? You want to so she ends up often with higher carb choices that impact her blood sugar, and that we then have to figure out how to how to deal with
Unknown Speaker 26:46
Yeah, when did she when we should diagnosed how old again?
Meredith 26:49
She was diagnosed when she was almost 12 when she was 11. She was diagnosed in Yeah, in 2015. Right? November Actually, this is her anniversary mark.
Scott Benner 27:03
Come on. No kidding. We're here. Do you know all this off the top of your head? Like if I if I came to your house and I had a big bag of food, and I sat your daughter next to me and I started reaching out or with a banana would you know that's okay, or Oh my god, stop no banana? Like, Are there times when you have to stop yourself and say, I don't even know how to eat this. And I like when does it? You know,
Meredith 27:27
I can tell you which foods everybody in my house is allergic to? Well, I am. It's actually really funny. I have a joke that I want to make like a Venn diagram. Like a piece of art. It's a Venn diagram with like, was alerted to what and like sell them to people. But like, I just think it's funny that maybe I'm the only person in the world that thinks it's funny. But anyway,
Scott Benner 27:48
you realize now that you said that everyone listening who doesn't think it's funny is thinking in their head? Yeah. That was not funny. Although someone's laughing their head. Oh, my joke
Unknown Speaker 27:57
in my house. Yeah.
Scott Benner 28:01
You're screwed. So,
Meredith 28:03
um, for the fodmaps. It's interesting, I guess. You've started that when she was a little older. And also, it's so complicated. I know. We're on video, nobody else's. But this is a list of like, some of the low fodmap food. And like I said, brand categories. I have to look. I mean, I don't remember. And then there's this app. I mentioned the app I like literally go on the app and look. So I know a lot of them. But like for example, she can have as many strawberries as she wants, I think but not as many raspberries. So when I say it's arbitrary, like it's really arbitrary. Yeah, like, you know, she, you know, berries are mostly okay, but like strawberries are better than raspberries. And like really? I'm,
Scott Benner 28:53
I'm I'm fascinated by the way that your other daughter just magically is not allergic to nuts anymore.
Unknown Speaker 28:57
She's not magically Well, you
Scott Benner 28:59
don't I mean, you did something though. Like you introduce them slowly. Is that
Unknown Speaker 29:02
very Yeah.
Meredith 29:04
And you have a lot of food challenges and we spent years going to the doctor and having Yeah, crazy and actually, um, we've got some food challenges scheduled will and have been canceled given due to the pandemic Yes, canceled a couple times for Eve. So she actually has outgrown she out. She did outgrow almonds, she can have almonds, and she can have pecans and pine nuts. Of course, almonds are not low fodmap. And she has a couple food challenges scheduled but until she tries his foods in the office, we won't know for sure. So there are a few foods that she could potentially have outgrown. But we don't know for sure. And it's not safe to try them at home because there's really, unfortunately no way to know for sure Unless you eat the food, whether you really are grown it, because even though they do blood tests and skin tests, they're not foolproof. And there's really no real way to know. So yeah,
Scott Benner 30:10
until you know, I'm not I'm imagining the heart that would come if I my entire life, I wasn't allowed to have an almond. And then one day someone says, Oh, great, you're gonna have almonds again. But this intersects poorly with your other things. So you can't have on this or by the way, I pop an almond in my mouth, and I go, I don't like almonds. He's such a downer.
Meredith 30:31
When my oldest daughter had her peanut challenge. We I was really excited about it. And we get to the office, and she's got peanut butter in front of her. And it's on a spoon. And I'm like, okay, like, go for it. And she literally it was like a magnet repelling it from her mouth. She could not put it in her mouth. I mean, I understand because actually, I've literally been telling her was poisoned her whole life. But she was so it was like, she couldn't get it in her mouth. And finally she did. And then she was like, Oh, I like this. And the other ones were easier, but and then she was fine. It turned out but it was, she was understandably terrified. I mean, it wasn't even, it wasn't even terror. It was almost just like, an inability
Unknown Speaker 31:18
to put it in.
Scott Benner 31:20
Yeah, this would be perfect for me, I have to tell you, because I don't love food for some reason. Like, I don't that I can't think of one thing that I eat. I'm like, Oh, this is the thing I should eat every day for the rest of my life. I don't I'm so happy because I'm meeting whatever this is. I have never felt like that in my life. And as you know, I had Paul Saladino on a couple of weeks ago, and I prepped by not like basically eating very low carb more protein. The week leading up to him so I kind of would like have something to talk about with him if in case like it didn't go well, but and he ended up being terrific, but but I lost like seven pounds by the time I spoke to him. And now it's got to be like a week and a half later, like 13 pounds lighter. I'm not even hungry anymore. I just get over. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I just get up in the morning. I'm like food. Not really necessary, I guess. Yeah, you know, so I'll, I'll eat, I'll still have protein. Like yesterday, I had, I don't know, I had a piece of chicken. And a couple of fried eggs. At one point, I think my son had bacon lifestyle, like two pieces of bacon from him. And by nine o'clock last night, we were watching election returns, and everybody was like snacking, and I was just like, I'm not hungry. I just I'm not hungry anymore. Assuming that most of my hunger comes from, like, the interaction of carbs in my body, and I have a carb and then my body is like guilt. It's probably like crack to it. It's like, oh my god eat more of that, you know. But I've eliminated so much for now. Like, I think if you gave me four foods to eat, I could probably go on for quite some time like that.
Meredith 32:54
But I wish that were the case. For you, you know, there's always chocolate.
Scott Benner 33:03
Oh, you know what, I should be completely honest. The way I get through all this, is I take a small bag of Jordan, Ellie's chocolate chips, and I pick it them once or twice a day, I'll take like five or six chips, and I'll be like, there we go. And that as long as I kind of like whatever the sweet monster is as long as I give the sweet monster that but it has to be really good chocolate. Like if I had a Hershey's Kiss. It would make me nauseous. So there's something about like, like, like, quality. No, I'm actually not joking, because I've tried it because I'm cheap. I wanted to just do it with a Hershey Kiss. Because this bag of chips are like $3 I am really cheap. The bag of chips are like $3 and like that's very expensive. But that's that's how I've gotten through and there are days I don't go to the chocolate chip bag but but that's really it's fast. Like yesterday was one of those days I was just not hungry. I should I it never occurred to me to eat. I only ate this morning because I started getting tired. I was like, Am I shutting off so and I'm gonna eat something when I'm done speaking with you, but I it's fascinating what happens to me when you take away carbs, although that's not what you're doing. You're just it means that list you showed me is crazy. You know?
Unknown Speaker 34:21
Oh, it really is you have how
Scott Benner 34:24
many things that this so and it's it's funny when you say fodmap it obviously and you explained it earlier but there's so many big words that I just want to roll over it one more time again, right it's it's it's fodmap stands for fermentable all IG Sacra dotties whatever, doesn't
Meredith 34:43
amigo saccharine okay.
Unknown Speaker 34:45
decid char
Meredith 34:47
nice dry saccharine.
Scott Benner 34:49
I saccharides monosaccharides Look at me. I'm fallen boy, you're not gonna let me try the fourth one.
Unknown Speaker 34:55
Oh, yeah, go for it. polyols Yeah, go
Unknown Speaker 34:57
for it.
Scott Benner 34:58
Yeah.
What's your shortcut? carbohydrates, you shouldn't use that all that but, but the point is, is that when I heard fodmap in the past, I always just associated it with you have to eliminate things from your diet for some reason. I always thought of it is like, what am I trying to say? Not as a specific thing, but an idea. But it's a it's a specific idea. Incredibly specific, actually.
Meredith 35:25
It's very specific. And it's based in scientific, like the examination of the you know, the scientific like molecule like I can't think of the right word of the elements that are there make up the food, and it's really I don't know how you analyze it, but you they've got scientists breaking apart. What's in a watermelon and what's in a chick pea.
Scott Benner 35:57
Oh my god, it's so funny. You said that my daughter's friend a baby two years ago. They're like they couldn't find her everybody's like we're sorry, I can't find Sasha haven't heard from Sandra cup we so they're texting her texts. And finally, she's like, I'm in the hospital chick p incident. And she was doing an adding, like, they were re adding things. You know, she had some allergies too. And they've been having a lot of success. And I think somehow the the counting got off with the chickpeas and she just had too many chickpeas trying to and the whole time I'm hearing the story. I'm like, just don't eat chickpeas. Like who was it?
Unknown Speaker 36:36
Was this a fun number? This
Unknown Speaker 36:37
was an allergy. It was an allergy. And they were my my,
Meredith 36:40
my kids are allergic to chickpeas also. Okay,
Scott Benner 36:43
so listen, what's going on here? Did you marry your brother or something like that? How come? How come nobody can eat anything in here? Is it just is it in the extended family at all?
Meredith 36:53
Good allergies in the extended family. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Actually, both sides of the family have allergies. I like to think that we gave them a lot of other benefits and really great genes in other ways. But no, the the allergies were pretty much a perfect storm. Well.
Scott Benner 37:09
So here's a question. I've been dying to know, the whole time everybody's weight average. Like this eating like this lead to a slenderness is I guess my question?
Meredith 37:20
Um, yeah, I mean, pretty much. We're, I mean, I'm eating Ed was really skinny before she was diagnosed. Um,
Scott Benner 37:30
but, um, you consider them to be like, average, but like, you are like, average bill. Like, I'm trying to decide like this eating like this make me super skinny. Or not necessarily, or even like with that gluten free stuff. I've seen people put weight on with gluten free because
Unknown Speaker 37:46
Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah.
Meredith 37:48
No, I think that it's actually very easy to, um, it's actually easy to overeat and to eat too much or the wrong things. Because you end up I mean, anyone can justify eating too much, except for you. Because you don't like food.
Scott Benner 38:07
Oh, no, I can definitely eat too much. But you have to give, like I said, it's got to be crack. It's got to be like, oh, cookie, and then my brain goes cookie.
Unknown Speaker 38:15
And then I'm done.
Meredith 38:16
I think sometimes, if you can't choose what you want, exactly. You might eat too much of something else. Because it's available or because I mean, I've seen my kids, like, eat things that are like, they got a dessert. They don't they you know, and they don't know if they're gonna get it again. Or there's, you know, some and so they'll they'll want you know, it's special. But they'll you know, it's sort of this like, Oh my god, I got this amazing cake. And who knows if I'll ever get this cool, amazing cake again, because it's really hard to get and then they'll want to eat more than you would otherwise. But No, they're not. They're not overweight and underweight. They're pretty much
Scott Benner 38:56
you understand your kids basically have a depression mentality about about Yeah, I see. Okay.
Meredith 39:03
And I don't know that they have it. I just think that that I've seen I've seen it. I mean, when it was interesting when my my oldest was little she had no snack, you know, no snacks. She had no treats, she had no anything. And then when I found things she could have that like I didn't make myself that were store bought that were safe for her. And now there are so many allergy friendly, available treats, and even low fodmap treats you find there's no like low fodmap logo that you can find on some foods now. But anyway, but now you find things in this guy would find something in the store and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I can buy a store bought packaged cupcake or whatever it is. And I'm like, wow, and then I would of course buy it because it exists. Yeah. Right. Like, not because we needed it. But I'm like, Oh my God, we have to try it.
Scott Benner 39:53
Oh sure. I understand that. Like, nobody wants a cupcake but it says fodmap on it. Just take it
Unknown Speaker 40:01
Is it an expensive way
Meredith 40:01
to have free, dairy free, nut free? How can we not get it?
Scott Benner 40:06
How is by the way? Is it flavor free? Or do they know? How did they figure that out? Problem?
Meredith 40:12
You guys?
Scott Benner 40:13
I'm wondering
Meredith 40:14
that no, we make really delicious food.
Scott Benner 40:18
Cool. That's excellent. How do you say you just, you just kind of, I was gonna say pepper it but you, you, you, um, you just use different spices that you're able to use?
Meredith 40:29
Yeah. And And honestly, what I really tried to do is I really tried to make food that everyone in my house can eat, for the most part. So that's the thing about I think, I think low fodmap for us was actually kind of the, the death knell to that a little bit, if you will, with the allergies, I mostly am able to do that. Like even for example, like my husband is allergic to wheat. So he was eating not not exclusively gluten free, but allergic to just wheat. So if, for example, I made spaghetti and meat sauce or whatever, I'd make two pots of pasta. So that was one thing that I would do separately, like I'd make him gluten free pasta, and I would make everybody else wheat pasta. Yeah, um, and I mean, now Eve also is gluten free pasta for because of fodmap. But for most other things, I would try to make a main course and most of the food that everybody would eat. with some exceptions, I think the low fodmap somehow has, there are some things that I do that way and a lot of things that I do that way. But I do tend to make a little bit more, I'll make two things or, or I'll make, like, I'll make two main courses where it's the same main course but I'll separate it out where half of it doesn't have garlic and half of it does cause but there's all kinds of other spices that i've you know, started to use as alternatives that I make spice mixtures, I just make a new I make I make a mix up my own spices. So I mix now, you know I didn't used to, but I'll mix up curry powder without garlic, or onion, and I'll mix up a taco seasoning that doesn't have garlic and onion ended and I mix up. And you can find, you know, recipes for all these things online. But you know, they're all kinds of different spice mixtures that I'll just make. And I use a lot of oregano and basil and I use a ton of tumeric and, you know, Indian type spices, a lot of them don't even, you know necessarily call for garlic or if they do I just leave it out. Right? Wow.
Scott Benner 42:37
I i Geez, you're so at ease with it and comfortable, which is comforting. And no, seriously, like, because I easily could have come on here and been like, Oh, we have to eat like this. Scott, it's a drudgery. Every day we consider ending it. You know what I mean? But you're just you're you don't feel that way. I'm assuming it's because you can make a lot of different things. And you put some effort into figuring out what those things are and people have been amenable. But I guess it's hard not to be amenable if you're allergic to something. Yeah, but did you ever run into fights with the kids? Like, did they ever tell you like, Look, I don't care what you say I'm meeting this or does that you just got them at the right age.
Meredith 43:18
I don't think that's ever been an issue. I think it's more that they won't. They might not like something that I make. So I get I get into a lot of like, I don't want to eat that. Or I get a lot of dinner fatigue. And whether the dinner fatigue is coming from me or from them is not always consistent. Yeah. But I mean, I'm sick of making dinner because sometimes because either I feel like I'll make something that people don't want to eat. You know, I it's not it, you know, there's that, oh, you I went to all this trouble, and I made this elaborate thing. And then people don't eat it. There's that a little bit, but it's even just like, I don't care when I make I'll make anything, right, just tell me what it is that you'll all eat. So, um, there's a little bit of that my son eats you know, meat and rice, like, you know, sauteed meat, you know, just that plain grounding and rice for you know, it's default for like most meals and he's very happy. And then I'll go through this phase where I'm like, that's really just not okay, like, I
Unknown Speaker 44:22
have to do some
Meredith 44:23
diet. Yeah. And, and then he's not happy and then I'm frustrated. I'm happy. It's not that bad.
Scott Benner 44:30
Yeah. How old is he? He's 12 Oh, yeah. By placement Cole was 12 I gave him chicken every day. So wonder we can't fly and lay an egg. I have to be honest, I've gone through it took me years not to have my feelings hurt when I made a meal and everybody's like, it's fine. I'm like, fine. Like you like
Unknown Speaker 44:53
I've been in the kitchen since 230. What do you mean It's fine. It's amazing. And if it's not you shut up and eat it and smile and then just like Hey, Dad don't make that again. But while I'm still hot, Don't tell me it's not. Like I'm standing here. I'm like, Alright, here you go. What is this on it? Yes, sons, the
Meredith 45:14
best thing I did actually is I made a Google Doc, where I wrote down like I listed the title of, of different recipes with the link to where I found them. And then I made a couple of notes. So because the problem is I was saving things and that people were like, Oh, I really liked that chili you made. And I knew that if I made it, I either printed or saved it in printers or saved it somewhere or whatever. But I was like, which chili? Cuz I tried two or three. And they're like, you know, the one we had whenever? And I'm like, so then I'll make the chili that I think it is. And they're like, that one. That one was gross. And I'm like, I don't know which chili it was and I can't figure it out.
Scott Benner 45:58
I am so horrible. I know. I know I that that happens to they're like make this again. It was good. He make it you know, I got that wasn't the right recipe. Apparently. It really so you must hate cooking shows, right? Because it's just the view of things you can't do.
Unknown Speaker 46:13
Yeah, I don't watch cooking.
Scott Benner 46:15
The whole time. I was like, there's no way Meredith watches cooking shows they must be
Meredith 46:19
home decorating shows. And that's just aspirational. Yeah, it doesn't look like any of them.
Scott Benner 46:24
I so like, I like I said, I haven't had anything except protein. And you know, for I gotta be coming up on like, three weeks now. But on Sunday, I got Hey, Dad, can you make that pizza again? And so it's like homemade pizza like, so I'm going to make the dough from scratch. I'm going to do the whole thing, right? And I'm like, Am I really not going to have pizza? seems unlikely. You know, it seems unlikely. But I'm worried I'm worried that my body's gonna not be like, Oh, why are you having flour? Like, what are you doing? You? We haven't had that in four weeks by the time I eat it. And there'll be some sort of revolt? But I don't know.
Meredith 47:07
We don't do is sort of like, I don't I guess we eat all these specialized diets. But I don't do like a no, you know, no flour? No, whatever. I guess I do. I
mean, I do know gluten for some of the people I know. But it doesn't I don't, there's a pretty wide mixture of
Scott Benner 47:26
concepts in your eating style. It's just
Meredith 47:28
there's so many things. We don't eat that I feel like I can't restrict
Unknown Speaker 47:31
other things, right. So
Meredith 47:32
like, for example, a lot of what we eat, for at least for two of the kids overlaps with vegan, but there's no way we're vegans, because we eat so much meat, but they don't. But my daughter's don't eat are allergic to dairy and eggs. So I don't have any eggs in the house. Literally, they are not in the house. I have not ever had an egg in the house. And there's been no product that has eggs in it in the house. Which is of course a great low carb food.
Scott Benner 48:05
Yeah, well, so how does this all? Alright, I'll tell you what, I want to know how this intersects with type one. But I want to take a detour for a second first. And you don't have to talk too much about this if you don't want to, but you are helping me with something. And I want to thank you where other people can hear me. Thank you. Oh, seriously. So I mean, everybody who listens knows that. I like I just got done editing a show that's gonna go up tomorrow. And at one point in the show, the guy said FOMO, and he was hiking, and he went on this trail somewhere. And I'm gonna call the episode hiking the FOMO trail, which has almost nothing to do with anything that we spoke about, right. And then I'm gonna write a two sentence description that says, This guy has type one diabetes was was diagnosed as an adult, and teaches overseas. That's what I'm gonna write because by the time I found him, booked him, interviewed him, edited it, put it back together, I've got seven, eight hours into his episode. And I'm gone. Like at that point, like, I can't sit down and like, you'd be surprised that I just got done editing his show. And if you asked me to write a synopsis about it, I don't 100% know that I could, because I'm not listening to it for that as much during the editing process. And during the conversation. I'm just trying to keep the conversation moving. I'm trying to listen and ask questions that I imagine people want to know the answers to. So I'm never in conversation. The way human being is, while I'm making this podcast, right? So people complain to me a lot about there and the more popular the podcast gets, the more frequently I get complaints. They're always very kind complaints like Oh, I wish there was a better description of this show. And I always See that somewhere and think, yeah, I wish there was two, but I'm only one person. So this is pretty much what I have. And it was I on the private Facebook page, it came up again, pretty recently. And I just said, like, Look, if you guys want to do this, that'd be terrific. And you really took like control of it. And you were you were you were very nice about it, you weren't, you were eating soup, and you're like, I'll handle this I was, you were like, I can be a little helpful. I think I messaged you privately. And I'm like, just do this, if you want to do it, like just, but leave me the hell out of it. Like I can't, I can't really think about it too much. And, and you guys are doing like you put together like a group, right? There's 1516 people
Meredith 50:42
a great group of I think it's about 16 people. And, um, everyone is really, really invested and have great ideas about how to tag the episodes and summarize the episodes and give them different, you know, information that's will be helpful and more searchable for so that if people are looking for something specific that they can, and will still have all of your great fun titles, and people that want to listen from the beginning like I did, we'll do that. But if you have a kid that is going through puberty, and you really want to find something about that, or you're really struggling right now with your cow, you know, basil, Basil testing, and you want to look for that and not just find the defining diabetes episode about it, but you want to hear other people talking about it, you'll be able to search for that
Scott Benner 51:48
is very, I am genuinely excited. I used you the sample synopsis of Alyssa Wyler Stein's episode and I use the I
Unknown Speaker 51:56
did not know your cello and and
Scott Benner 51:59
I loved it. And so when I put it up, I was like, This is what these should look like. I found myself fairly disappointed in myself as I use it. I was like, Yeah, I should have been doing this. But at the same time, it's hard to it's a nice in my mind, it's a really, it's not just a nice have. It's an amazing have. But I know how well the podcast is doing. And it did that well without descriptions of the episodes too. So I'm not like, you know,
Meredith 52:25
I think the reason that it's so necessary, is because the podcast has done so well. And there are so many episodes now. Yeah, I think the more episodes there are, the more necessary it is. Because when there were only 20 or 50 or 80 or even 100, then it's fun to find out the Terry lives on a boat. But when they're 400 or 600, or hopefully 1000. Maybe you kind of want to search for something specific. And I think that the people that are interested in doing this LP Scott, are really interested because we've all found your podcasts so helpful for us. And it's a way for us to first of all, make it even more user friendly for us and other people, but also to say thanks cuz, you know, it's been great for us and for our kids. And for all the people that you've been helping,
Scott Benner 53:21
I really I very much appreciate that I seriously do it. This is and it's a pretty big departure for me because I was just like I met Meredith like, I listen, I know, as many of you as I can through like avatars and you know, things people say like, I can't really keep up with everybody, obviously. But you're, I remember your avatar, and I associate your avatar with reasonable things being said, Isn't that amazing? Like, that's how my brain works, right? And so you jumped in, I'm like, oh, reasonable lady with the curly hair in the picture, once the help. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 53:59
So
Scott Benner 54:00
I'm like, that makes sense to me. Because there are crazy people I can think of, and if they would have popped in, I would have been like, oh, stay quiet and pretend you don't see that. So I would have handled it a different way. But it really is amazing. You guys developed a list, like like basically, this form to fill out while somebody listens back to an episode and fills the form out so that the information can be put in. And I tried to I tried to give to the to the whole project on my end as much as I could to and I, I somebody donated some money through the blog. I use the money to pay for a service to do transcripts of the podcasts. And so very slowly, I've added transcripts online. I haven't told anybody yet they're there. If you find them, they're there, but I'm just I don't, I don't. I'm not correcting them. Meaning like I don't do a transcript and then go through and go we've made juicebox two words, you know Basil is with an eye like, you know, you'll get the idea if you're reading. But I've been adding them slowly because that is another thing people ask for that. They don't ask for a lot, but I'm like, Okay, well, that seems reasonable to do. So I've been doing that it's a ton of work. I swear to you, as I started doing it, I was like eight episodes into it. I was like, why did I do this? Should I continue to ignore people's desire for a transcript? But, but I am doing that. And I and I have heard back from a couple of people who found them on their own. I was like, Hey, I just read Episode 11. And I'm like, wow. And you have to understand that, from my perspective, I love the podcast, like I could listen to the podcast on my own. But it's still when you hear somebody say they read a transcript of a 45 minute conversation you had. It's, it's overwhelming to hear somebody say that, you know, they mean, you're just like, no, come on. Because I start talking in the kitchen. And halfway through my sentence, my wife walks out and I'm like, Oh, my God, like she, I like, sometimes I'll be like the other, like, a lot of people waiting to hear what I have to say. And she's like, I'm not one of them. And she like rolls out of the room. Like, Oh, Jesus, that was harsh, you know. But But anyway, my
Meredith 56:07
family's pretty sick of you, too. I talked about you a little too much.
Scott Benner 56:10
You tell them to screw off too. I don't care. If they are not careful. I'll feed them a blueberry.
Meredith 56:17
I think blueberries are okay, but only in maybe limited quantities.
Scott Benner 56:22
I did my best to guess. Like I have an app on my phone here. I can tell you right now, if
Meredith 56:29
you do, I'm gonna tell you, I think you can actually blueberries in almost in in a lot. We're gonna see if I can figure it out, anyway.
Scott Benner 56:39
Well, anyway, I really appreciate that you took the lead on this. I appreciate everyone who's doing it. I am trying to I'm figuring something out to say thank you to you all with because the truth is, is that once you get through the backlog of 400 of them, I'm going to need you to keep going because because a new ones gonna come out and then where are we gonna be?
Meredith 56:59
I think there are people there. We'll keep going. Troy nice to have a cup of them.
Scott Benner 57:05
A couple of blueberries.
Meredith 57:07
A cup of blueberries are green, I think well, they have fructans. They're green for fructose and lactose and Amazon service, all NGOs. But they're, they have fructans in them. So I know, okay, they're low in the quarter cup. But then they're yellow at a third of a cup. And they're red. If you have,
Scott Benner 57:30
oh, I see like severity. A whole cup of a quarter
Meredith 57:34
cup, you can have a quarter cup with no problem. And it starts to get problematic,
Scott Benner 57:40
then that sounds like something I did when I was younger.
Unknown Speaker 57:43
See, there you go.
Scott Benner 57:44
Yeah. Anyway, thank you very much. I really I genuinely appreciate it. It's it's been it's a very, like you guys, you obviously keep me in the loop. And it's like a very professional undertaking. I feel like a project manager. When I get it. I'm like, Wow, my people are working well together.
Unknown Speaker 58:00
They're good people. They're good people. I
Scott Benner 58:02
genuinely believe that everyone listening to this podcast is good. And I'll tell you that I come to that from that private Facebook group, because I because once it got to 7000 people, when it's still such a kind, gentle, lovely place to be. I was like, wow, there's something about this podcast that that you must pull in people like this or something, but it's just I don't know, I don't know how to quantify it, but it's absolutely It's lovely. So, alright, so before we finish like to finish up, I'd like to understand somebody is having an allergic reaction or a physical reaction, they can't figure out what it is they're pretty sure it's food. They try a fodmap diet, which is basic is very simply broken down is a three step process, stop eating high fodmap foods, slowly reintroduce them to see which ones are troublesome, once you identify them, that that cause symptoms you can avoid or limit them while enjoying everything else where you're free, unless you're your family, which is
Meredith 59:02
and you're really supposed to do with a dietitian for fodmaps I'd really recommend you do that with a dietitian but yes, get
Scott Benner 59:06
a doctor. And and so so that's the process. But what happens when you're low fodmap and type one, is it a more insulin situation? Or not? So
Meredith 59:19
not specifically really you eat the same way you otherwise would eat but there are certain things that we switched a little bit So for us it was just I know I looked at the low fodmap list and then I said okay, these are things that are issues for us because of diabetes. So for example, um, like I said, we were using apple juice for Lowe's, we switched to grape juice. Honey was a sweetener that we were using. I don't know whether that's really for diabetes, but whatever we switched to maple syrup. Artificial sweeteners are not good on a fodmap diet so that's, that's an issue. So, um, because artificial sweeteners are better if you're diabetic than using, you know, too much. Um,
Scott Benner 1:00:10
yeah. So that's just something less than death to think about, you know, what the, you know, the argument around artificial sweeteners are is they make you hungry, so you don't eat sugar, but you eat something else, and it might be a toss up anyway.
Meredith 1:00:23
Right, but in terms of just like drinking and stuff, so you don't want to have like one of those, you know, some kind of a drink with an artificial sweetener, or whatever else, you actually need sugar, but then you're going to have to dose for that or whatever. Um, you can't have high fructose corn syrup. That's something a lot. So lots of candies, and things don't work for for low. So a lot of it was really like, what are we going to use for Lowe's? more immediate,
Scott Benner 1:00:50
right? Like, like, when you need something to work right away, your brain goes to simple sugar. So what do you do in a panic situation?
Meredith 1:00:57
So that's so that that was the issue that was I was really interested in the question, the index thing was saying that, like, um, fructose, like the I was, I was listening to that, and some of the things that work faster are actually high and fodmap. So maybe that's why some of our things don't work as well. But we use grape juice, or it uses chocolate, which doesn't work as fast, but that just happens to be something that she uses. So she has allergy friendly chocolate bars that she keeps with her. And she's a bad she does use glucose tabs, um, now, but she didn't use too. Um, and then other things that were sort of relevant, that's not really low fodmap so much, but um, is sort of goes along with stomach issues, a lot of you really shouldn't have too much ibuprofen, so she was taking Tylenol, and she has migraines too, so. So Tylenol then would affect the G five. Now at least she's on the Dexcom g six, so she can have more Tylenol, but not too much Tylenol, because energy six will still go wonky if you get too much. So that's an issue. Um, gluten free pasta is something that you need to have are gluten free, and you know, you eat gluten free on the low fodmap diet. So that's higher carb than some of the other grains. So that's kind of an issue and a lot of the low carb foods also don't work with low fodmap because insulin in them, okay, um, which is a problem. So there's just this like, interaction of things, and I would say that that low fodmap interacts fine with diabetes. I think you just make some substitutions, I think and I would say you especially make substitutions for Lowe's. I would say the hardest thing is really probably the allergies and the diabetes because a lot of the low carb things that would be great go twos are things that my daughter's allergic to but that doesn't mean that everyone's allergic to sure um Wow Yeah.
Scott Benner 1:03:15
Well you you may if you're not tired then I don't be tired
Unknown Speaker 1:03:22
Are you allergic to anything?
Meredith 1:03:24
I I don't eat soy because it gives me migraines. But ironically you know my everyone else in the house can eat soy. But no, I'm just allergic to like dogs and cats and environmental stuff but
Unknown Speaker 1:03:37
don't choose Wow, Jesus Alright,
Meredith 1:03:41
but it won't kill me. You know,
Scott Benner 1:03:42
are your children gonna disclose this during dating? I think I think if they do they're limiting themselves they shouldn't they should keep it free
Meredith 1:03:51
my kids are real catches on just
Scott Benner 1:03:54
Hey, you know if we get married you won't be able to eat you know anything. I hope you enjoy fish and rice
Unknown Speaker 1:04:04
no fish sorry.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:08
Actually,
Meredith 1:04:08
the girl is gonna fish my son Camembert attention to who? You know you got to think about like crack me up No
Unknown Speaker 1:04:16
no no.
Scott Benner 1:04:18
Anyway, I'm sure they have other I just I'm telling them just that they want to be earners. You know what I mean? Like, like wage earners, like so people are like, you know, we can only eat five things, but she makes a good living.
Meredith 1:04:31
Works, you know? Yeah, they do. They need to make a good living because they really like steak. steak and potatoes. No kidding.
Scott Benner 1:04:37
Yeah, I was gonna ask you. Is it more expensive to eat this way? Probably.
Meredith 1:04:40
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, our food bells are like nuts.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:45
Well, no, well, no pun intended.
Scott Benner 1:04:49
Our food bills are like nuts. Well, I'm just glad that you ate the nuts slowly to get rid of the nut allergies and didn't rub them on you because I was like, as you were saying, and I'm like, is Murdock gonna say we had to rub nuts on our kids then she didn't. And I was like, thank god anywho you were really kind of do this. I am trying really hard to get all people's styles of eating included in the podcast. I had been having Paul on recently talking about carnivore, I only got one half, like kind of sideways pushback online from somebody was like that's, you know, I forget what they said that fad eating and I was like, Listen, it's fat. He Call it whatever you want. I was like, the guy's got one of the most popular podcasts on Apple like it can't because it's a fad. Like, it must be because a lot of people are doing it. I don't know if it's right or wrong or not. I'm not I'm not making a judgement about it. I'm just trying to find out how other people eat and talk about it. So I really appreciate you doing this one because this one's specific. And you jumped right up and you're like, I can talk about fodmap. And I was like,
Meredith 1:05:54
get out of here. All right. And then you know how many people it'll it'll will be relevant for but I you know, I think it'll be
Oh, and I want to say one thing though. I did not cover is with all of our crazy eating things on. A one C is now down. The last time we had an appointment was down to 5.1. Wow.
Scott Benner 1:06:17
Well, that's because of me though. Yeah, I'm just I was joking. Stop.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:23
You know, let me make the joke, though. It is? Absolutely.
Scott Benner 1:06:27
That's very cool. Good for you. I'm, any of the other kids have markers for type one.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:33
The yellow one does,
Scott Benner 1:06:34
yeah, do we? Do we tell which one it is? Or we just tell them? It's one of you.
Meredith 1:06:38
I know at the end and my child knows. But I don't need to
Scott Benner 1:06:41
know I wouldn't ask you to tell everybody else. I was just wondering if you were like, hey, if you got on both tests, and you said, Hey, one of us got it. But I'm not gonna tell you which one?
Meredith 1:06:48
No, I don't think I would do that the child does No.
Scott Benner 1:06:51
Oh, okay. Well, I'm glad you know, how long good you look. Did you use trial that
Meredith 1:06:56
did trial net, and it was fairly soon after diagnosis.
Unknown Speaker 1:07:03
So a couple years ago? Well, and follow you something to look forward to?
Unknown Speaker 1:07:09
We're not. Thanks, God.
Scott Benner 1:07:12
Berta. Thank you very, very much. So that was Meredith and this was another episode of how we eat here on the Juicebox Podcast. Look, for more coming soon. I'm gonna ask you, what am I gonna say to you? Yeah, there's nothing to say. There's no ads. I'll tell you what, though. If you've been thinking about checking out the T one D exchange, because you've heard me talking about it. I'm gonna just put the information right here after the music. And if you haven't been thinking about doing that, just let me remind you that the show grows, when you share with others. Please subscribe in your podcast player, we're following your podcast player. If you're not listening in a podcast player, consider it. And that's it. I really appreciate your listening, the show's doing fantastic. It's all because you guys and I couldn't be more grateful. Last thing, the T one D exchange. The T one D exchange is looking for adult type ones and caregivers of type ones who are us residents to participate in a quick survey that can be completed in just a few minutes from your computer, or your phone. Right from your home. Like on your sofa, you could do it. After you finish the questions. I took the let's say I did it in about seven or eight minutes. I didn't find the questions to be deeply probing. They were actually kind of basic questions about type one diabetes, but they need the data. They need the answers to these questions from many, many people. So I was happy to throw into them. Anyway, when you're done, that's it. You're done. You know, it's 100% anonymous, it's HIPAA compliant. You don't have to go to a doctor or a remote site. And you're still helping people think you might get an email from them like once a year where they'll be like, hey, there's another opportunity here for you. And if you are interested, you do it. And if not, don't do it. It's just you. Putting your answers into a registry that allows them to take that data and make decisions. They influence things that happen in the world for people to type ones. For example, test trip coverage, Medicare coverage for CGM ada guidelines for pediatric a one c goals, that kind of stuff. They've impacted, even labeling for CGM to include fingerstick replacements that data helped with that. This is super simple to do an incredibly valuable T one d exchange.org. forward slash juice box you get there. Click on join our registry now, answer the simple survey and you're done. If you do it, you're helping other people with type one diabetes and you're helping the podcast. I hope you check it out. T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox
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#485 Altered Minds
Scott and Jenny Smith, CDE share insights on type 1 diabetes care.
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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
Hello, and welcome to Episode 485 of the Juicebox Podcast. Guess who's on the show today.
Today on the podcast, I'm joined by Jenny Smith. Jenny, of course, is from all the defining diabetes episodes, and the pro tip series. And today she's here to talk about how people can be altered in their, in their minds when their blood sugars are high or low. Right. So if you're looking for an understanding of what high and low might make someone feel like or could make you feel like this is the episode for you. During this conversation, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin.
Jenny holds a bachelor's degree in human nutrition and biology from the University of Wisconsin. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified diabetes educator and a certified trainer on most makes and models of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors. One day when I grow up, I hope to be just like Jenny.
The T one D exchange needs 6000 people to join the registry. And I have to keep saying this to you until you do it. So the D one D exchange is looking for T one D adults and T one D caregivers who are us residents. They want you to participate in a quick survey that can be completed in just a few minutes from your phone or computer after you finish the questions. And they are very simple. I completed the survey in about seven minutes. You may be contacted annually to update your information. And they may even ask you a couple more questions. But this is 100% anonymous, it is completely HIPAA compliant. And it does not require you to ever visit a doctor or go to a remote site. See, this is interesting. This is a way for you in just a few minutes to help other people living with Type One Diabetes. Past participants have helped bring increased coverage for test trips, Medicare coverage for CGM, and changes in the ADA guideline for pediatric a one c goals. These are important behind the scenes things that people with type one diabetes need, and you have a unique opportunity to help them. These are not deep probing personal questions. They're pretty simple basic surface diabetes stuff, but they just need the data. Help them at T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. And at the very least, if 6000 of you go right now, but I don't have to say this again. Do it for me.
Unknown Speaker 3:06
I'm kidding. Do it for the other people living with Type One Diabetes. But I mean, if you want to think of me while you're doing it, it's fine. This one's weird. But I will say
Unknown Speaker 3:18
it means it came from
Unknown Speaker 3:19
somebody came from somebody, but it's not
Unknown Speaker 3:21
from somebody.
Scott Benner 3:23
But it but it made a lot of sense to me when they said it. And then I left it on my list for a long time. And every time I look at the list, I'm like, yeah, we're gonna have to talk about that. I think so. Hopefully, I
Unknown Speaker 3:34
have something.
Scott Benner 3:37
So I'm posing this next question to you, Jenny. Because you have diabetes, and you would have you would have a real feeling for what this is? Maybe? We'll see. We'll see. Hopefully, I think you will. So I hear this from either parents or spouses usually. And it's something we make light of in communities and joke about, like I've said before, to my daughter, you know, when she was little, I'm gonna test your blood sugar. And if it's not high or low, you're in trouble. Right? You know, like, because you kind of can't, you can't tell, like, Is somebody acting a certain way because they're altered? Or are they acting a certain way? Because they're, you know, right a pain in the ass. So like, you know, which isn't, but that always makes me feel like what is the person with diabetes hearing when they're altered? And so that's what I want to understand. And when I'm we're gonna do both, but let's start with higher blood sugar. So I know there's no Mendoza line that you can point to perfectly, but I will. I've always said in the past that as ardent as active if her blood sugar starts to creep above 161 80. I could see her slow down, her reactions get slower, things like that. We know that people get cloudier. We've talked about on the podcast a million times as you get higher and higher, but what's it like to be in your head when your blood sugar's higher. Like, like, what if your kids are acting up? Or your husband's being unreasonable? Or you have to make dinner? Like and like, what does that feel like to you?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 5:14
Yeah, I think it to me, it feels one I'm just annoyed. Right? And it's not annoyance with them, it's annoyance for the number for why ever it is where it is, right? And it could be even worse, if it was like a bad site. Right that now, you know, like, fiddling with for a while actually get it. And I think then it the mental piece of that then comes when you're trying to manage this number that you're not happy with. And somebody interrupts that train of thought in that interrupt by, they're not like doing it intentionally to ask you, you know, can we have applesauce for dinner Mom, you know, like, it's just a piece in the mix. So I think mine is more like, it's just a mental struggle at that point. And I do also tend to, I get kind of headachy not so much when I have lows, but more so when I am higher, it's that like, mental that foggy kind of piece. And it makes me feel headachy I'm not the kind that's like a throbbing, but it's like that cloudy kind of headache that you get. Um, and again, that's just an irritating factor in and of itself, too.
Scott Benner 6:36
So there's a mechanical portion of it where it is, you know, for whatever reason, either you may be missed on a Bolus, or like you said, your site went wrong or something. So there's, there's a mechanical thing, I need to fix this thing, which becomes irritating as it would to any person, like, like, if I walked into a doorframe, I'd be like, I cannot believe I just walked into a doorframe like that. So you've got that going on. And then you have the actual act of having to fix it. And then you're focused on that someone else comes in. So this is still all mechanical, like, but then the headache happens. And that's not something like a like a, like a warning light on your palm doesn't go off and say Jenny's got a headache now, right? So when a five year old comes at you, you you can't say to yourself, I'm, I feel a pain in my head that I'm not even aware of yet. I'm going to react it you don't have like, that's not how thinking works. So then you're just level of irritation is, does it? Here's how I just went, here's how my wife puts it. around her period, she'll tell me, I'm not being unreasonable, I just have less space for bullshit is how she puts it.
Unknown Speaker 7:48
That's really great.
Scott Benner 7:52
I don't I think she's covering for herself, but I understand the intent of what she's saying. So there's a there's a ceiling in people before they get upset. Right. And there's all kinds of, of outside irritants that can limit that ceiling. But just your blood sugar being higher physically, can take away from your ability to, to abide both, basically, I guess, correct.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 8:16
And, you know, from my standpoint, too, you know, with the work that I do, and all of the data management that I do and interpreting things for people. I mean, the majority of my management is just because I want to be healthy, right? But the other piece of it is it also leads into my work. Can I get worked on really well, if I'm sitting really high, or if I'm sitting really low? My brain isn't functioning well on either level. So that management piece is always also there to benefit people.
Unknown Speaker 8:51
So I'm not typing out a message that's like, you know, I don't know why your blood sugar.
Scott Benner 8:58
Mary, why don't you just figure it out yourself? I paid this lady to help me with my blood sugar. And she yelled at me. Yeah, that wouldn't be great. No, but but I want people to understand that whether and I think they do. But if I do, I think they do understand that a higher blood sugar could be an issue. But the problem is, again, that you don't walk around as a person with diabetes with your blood sugar across your forehead. So what I come up to you, you're just Jenny to me. I don't know if your blood sugar's to Swanee, and you have a headache. And so how, what I guess what should those people be looking for so that they can back up and go, Oh, you know what, this could be that because even if I understand that your budget, say I come up to you, you react oddly. And I immediately understand it's your blood sugar that's high. If I say to you, oh, your blood sugar is high. I'm sorry. That's just gonna make it worse. Right? That's the, that's the diabetes equivalent of me saying, Oh, you have your period. I won't bring up the car payment right now. Right. Okay. Okay.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:58
Yeah, yeah, kind of and I think it does bring up a good. A good point, though, especially for I think this is goes more for adults who have a spouse or a significant other or partner or whatever. Because like Nathan, he follows he's got Dexcom follow, you know if it's got my stuff, but I mean, he doesn't keep it open and follow me all day, he's got the alarm set, and all of that for like, high and low. But other than that, I mean, he just, he lets me alone, honestly, which I'm very thankful for outside of counting carbs for me if he's like done dinner or something, you know, which is awesome. But in that regard, I think it also means that as the person with diabetes, you kind of also have to share more at times. Because as I do more often with my kids, I share with them, you know, this is what I feel like right now and go color in your color book for like 10 minutes while mommy changes her bad pod, or whatever it is, no, but I think it means that you have to express a little bit in order to decrease the chance that somebody is going to interpret your reaction to something in the wrong way. Because certainly, I mean, that's happened if the married a long time. And there's definitely been like blood sugar reasons for reactions that didn't really come out as response that I meant it to come out kind of sounding like. So I think sometimes you have to be open enough to be able to say, Hey, you know, I need this, like 15 minutes to manage around this, come back and like, ask me in a bit, but that's
Scott Benner 11:38
gonna come out as I wish I would have dated your brother and said, there you go. So I have a little context around this, which I've mentioned off and on in the podcast over like, the last year or so. And it's just that my, my iron level got really low. And I completely understand what you're saying, like saying words, not having the intention behind them that the words have, and also not being able to see that it's happening. Like, that's the interesting thing, like when you're saying something to somebody, even if it's a tone, you know, just the wrong tone. And you don't know what's the wrong tone, while you're saying it. Like when you're being sarcastic with somebody when you're, you know, when you're in an argument, you're like, I'm gonna ramp this up, right now, you're aware, you're going to do like, I'm going to say something now that's going to make you upset, but it's happening. And not only do you not know what's happening, but you don't think it's happening. And that's the that's the real fascinating part like is that you're doing this, it feels like it's you're doing it but it's just that there's a level of a trace element or something in your body. For me, it was iron, you know, for you, it's gonna be not enough insulin, and you're just you're not yourself. And it's, um, it's tough, because you're asking, you're getting you're an adult who's ultra where their blood sugar's, like really like your, you know, you do an amazing job for yourself. So maybe you can see it. We're all trying, right, one way or the other. But, but my point is that maybe you've been able to teach yourself over time to go my numbers up, like I won't get involved in an important conversation right now. Or I'll send my kids off the color for a second so that I don't tell them I wish I didn't have children. But But you know, when your kids 16, or you're 24, and you've had diabetes for a year and a half, and you're at work, you don't you're not gonna see that comment like that.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:38
No. And mine's more so in terms of like, like, spit out of things that I don't even know that I've like said the way that I've said is more so even when I'm low,
Unknown Speaker 13:50
honestly, yeah,
Scott Benner 13:51
let's switch to that idea. Now.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:52
It's, there's much more like the it's like a fragment of like thought in your brain. You're trying to manage how you're feeling with this low while you're probably waiting for the low to not be low anymore. And in that come the things of life. I mean, unless you're a single person and not interacting with kids or adults or other people around you. There's always someone you're interacting with. And that interaction, then in that time period where your brain isn't really firing off, right away. It doesn't you don't interpret it coming out in sort of the jagad way that it does. And then Aftermath is often Well, I'm really sorry, or, you know, I didn't mean that or I've Whoa, I felt like crap. And does it bother me?
Scott Benner 14:45
Does it feel like that afterwards, like after it's over and you're okay. Do you have the guilt that you did something wrong? Because it's not true. Right, you know,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 14:57
right. I mean, I'm only in the scenario that You know, we may have been potentially discussing something or whatnot. And that was the case during that discussion. Yeah, I mean that obviously every time by any means do I feel bad about, you know? Yeah. But yeah, it's a hard, it's a hard thing. And sometimes even with Lowe's, I think that I will have responded to something. And it's been in my head that I've actually and my husband will be like, Did you hear what I asked you? And I'll be like, I told you, whatever. And he's like, No, really,
Unknown Speaker 15:34
he didn't say it out loud.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:39
It's just like that muddiness that I think commented about before when I feel like I'm like, sort of like,
Scott Benner 15:45
that's the real low. There's a slide in there. There in the beginning, right. And numbers wise, doesn't really matter. But you know, if you're, the way I think of it with Arden is maybe between, I would say at 65, Arden maintains herself. Hey, Dad, I feel dizzy. You know, like, she's just like that. She's a little kind of jokey about it right there. It's almost like you could be like, hey, let's not do anything and see if you die. And she'd be like, Okay. Yeah. Yeah, right. She's elated for some reason, right there. Okay. And then it goes down and her energy drops away. But if you were to catch her there, somehow she got past the elated part into that part. And that's where you first intersected her. She'd be snappy, like L'Oreal short and nasty, right? And then I think after the nasty is what you were just talking about where the last, the last fragments or thoughts are, right? Yeah. Okay. It's almost like a and then there's, you know, falling over and not being able to help yourself. But as it's happening, are you able to consciously think, hey, my brain is trying to shut off and I'm the only one who's going to stop it. Right? Or does it turn into just a physical like, eat something feeling?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:02
I think it's probably a little bit of both. I mean, in my I can remember a specific time. Soon after my first was born, we had gone. I think it was to Kohl's, actually. And I was standing in, and I was nursing obvious at that point. So all the fluxes that can kind of come with blood sugar, and whatnot, mostly like lows, and my husband had gone off looking for something in like the men's department and I was standing like, in the toy department, we are looking for something specific for our little guy. And I can remember feeling low. And like, you can determine like those dropping lows. I was dropping. And so I sat down with my baby on the floor,
Unknown Speaker 17:48
the baby.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:50
And I get out, you know, my glucose tablets, and I'm eating my glucose tablets. And I, I had my husband found me, I mean, I was fine. But I was sitting there just like waiting for the load to fix itself, because I knew that I had taken care of it. But in that I had also gotten my phone out. And I was texting him to come to the kids department. Because I was low. Only I never hit send. Okay, I was just like, that's kind of that like, broken, like thought kind of that can happen. Well, do
Scott Benner 18:25
you ever get in a moment like that? is are you Cognizant enough to think don't fall forward on the baby? Like, do you? Like do you have those feelings? Like all the reason
Jennifer Smith, CDE 18:33
that I sat down? I mean, from my back thought to what I was doing, I would have thought, you know, I need to sit down. I've got a baby who clearly can't stand on his own yet, you know, I mean, it was I think he was probably like six months old or something. Yeah. And it's a sit down, treat your low blood sugar. I mean, I've always been able to treat so I've never had an issue with not being able to help myself. Outside of like, when I was a teen with my parents. So yeah, but it's, it is I mean, in those instances, sometimes there's not enough to like even like, be angry, you just can't even communicate
Scott Benner 19:10
quite right. It's interesting. It's super interesting to me the way that first of all, the way your body handles falling blood sugar, it's, it's when you start losing faculties, your it's your body shutting down, it's basically services. It's like, Oh, we don't need that one, like and it just, it just it has this finite amount of sugar in your blood. And its goal is to keep your brain running. Correct, right. And so it starts shutting. Right, stop sending sugar to this idea and this idea and so you're like, going down and it's your body going like, it really is it's like let's try to see how long we can stay alive until something intervenes. But you describe the, the actual actions you take very similarly. Like are like okay, I'm not okay, I'll sit down. I'll start taking these things down. It's more important than telling someone right now it's important to tell like you're doing the same thing. You're making these like,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 20:06
it's just that you're not like consciously. It's almost like your brain like those, like files in the back that were like, do this now, right? They take over, even though you're not really like, consciously aware that you're like sitting down and like drinking your juice box or whatever it is you do it because it's a habit. And you know what, that that's what you need to do with with the symptom?
Scott Benner 20:31
would, would you looking back on it a scenario like that, if that if the Jeeva hypo pan existed, then would you being with your baby, would that have been enough for you to be like, I'm not going to take tablets, I'm going to hit myself with glucagon. Or no, you still would have handled it that way.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 20:50
You know, possibly, with, with what I remember about that being such a quick drop in my blood sugar, I mean, it's not like we're running around the story. It's just like, I'd probably nurse before we went in the store to keep him happy. And like, there was enough to feed into the store. But,
Unknown Speaker 21:11
I mean, maybe,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 21:12
I mean, I certainly I've got like an extra bag Sydney, that I typically take out, especially when we're like traipsing around the neighborhood to the parks, and whatever. I mean, my eight year old knows about it. So I possibly I might have done that.
Scott Benner 21:29
Just because me with the back semi and like fit g vote now being like ready to go. But prior to that I only ever thought of glucagon is like, You passed out and somebody came upon you and gave it to you. Like that's how it felt. But now all of a sudden, like it's there, and it's easy to use. And like, I wondered about that, like how you would think about it?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 21:49
Yeah, yeah, you could, I mean, it's certainly not a bad thought by any means. Especially I've worked with a couple of women post well through pregnancy, and then postpartum who have had spouses who've been military. And so they have after a certain amount of time, postpartum, you know, their spouse goes back, you know, might be deployed again, someplace completely away from where they are, they're pretty much on their own. With a baby, they might have the support of friends or family coming in once in a while, but that's not at two o'clock in the morning. So you know, in a case like that, where you're dropping a really low and you're really worried about it not sure. That's what a product like that is therefore it's also the benefit potentially, of, you know, like mini dosing that age old red Lily glucagon.
Scott Benner 22:38
So, here's the question then, because I came at this from the idea of the people who are going to interact with a person who's either too high or too low. I have to be honest, when Arden in the past has been too low, where she's refusing I just go with like, a forceful because I think like, I've tried talking or like, you know, I've gone with the Come on Sweetie, drink it. It's really important. Like that stuff. That doesn't go it's almost like you're not talking to the complete her. Now, you know, and so you just you make these declarative, forceful statement, drink the juice, drink it, drink the juice, drink the juice drink, and I'm talking I remember I know, people say to me all the time, you know, you must know what it's like to raise a little kid with diabetes back before all the technology and I don't talk about it very much, but it's really bad. And so you know, like back before CGM and all that. There's, it's three o'clock in the morning. You're there with a six year old and you're like art and drink the juice, like drink the goddamn juice right now, you know, and because there also was no CGM, like at some point. So what's happening? Yeah, I'm like, you know, and you don't, you're not yelling, you're gonna die. But you're, it's how it feels in your head when you're talking to them. And I think that's much easier to figure out with a low blood sugar, right? Like, that's obvious to people, but it's the, it's always the high ones that make me I feel badly, like, I feel badly when I hear I've used this example over and over again, but it sticks with me, like right in the center of my heart so much that a woman found the podcast, it helped her daughter. And when she sent me a note, months later to thank me, she said, I really just thought my daughter was a bitch her words, and that we weren't going to get along for our whole life. And it turns out, my daughter's a lovely person. And I didn't know because her blood sugar was always high. And that makes me want to cry. And, you know, and and the, the idea that that could happen. Either at the beginning, right, you'll hear people say, Oh, I didn't realize you know, that that stuff happened, or I helped somebody recently with a baby, a young kid who has autism. And he end up talking, I said, Hey, you might see a difference in you know, just how reality personally and stuff. And that person was so sure that that wasn't going to happen. And then three days later said to me, you know, he is happier. And I said, Yeah, like you don't, you don't know. And then that's a sadder situation, because then the poor kid couldn't tell, you know, isn't right verbal to begin with very much. And but I just think about that for everybody else. Like, if you're running around with blood sugars that are 170, all the time your body gets used to it. So physically, you think you're okay, but you're not like you're not the person, you were going to be. Right without diabetes, you know. And so, there's just
Jennifer Smith, CDE 25:35
not even from a mental standpoint to even from performance, right? You may not be, you may not be putting out everything you possibly could putting things together, whether it's in school, or college, or job or whatever. Because your brain is really not working at the level of glucose that is healthy for it to work at
Scott Benner 26:02
this conversation is at the core, why I initially years ago, brusque, so hard at the idea of better high than low. I was like, I don't think that's right. Yeah. You know, like, I think that that that does not seem right to me, I've known people who through a lifetime, we're not who they were supposed to be, I just know it and it, you lose your you know, it's it every day you lose, it's gone, every hour you lose is gone. And then days turn into months to turn into yours. And before you know what people just think you're a prick. And you know, and that's just not,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 26:35
and you may not be at all.
Scott Benner 26:38
Yeah, maybe with another two units of basil all day long, you would have been an absolutely delightful person. And that, and, and then I think about the people on the other side who have to deal with you who love you. And then think, Oh, I love a guy who's just a jerk, but maybe isn't, or you know, vice versa, or your kids or I don't know, I just I want people to be very aware that outside of a normal range, that the lack of or addition of sugar in your blood is having a real big impact on your personality and your ability to live and make decisions and everything right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 27:11
I mean, I've even had parents who have asked me, you know, how do you? How do you discipline your child with diabetes? When you're like, Do you always refer back to the blood sugar to begin with? Or, you know, do you just discipline them as if they don't have diabetes? And quite honestly, think if they require discipline, because they threw the stone through the front window? Because they were aiming and wanted to do it? I mean, really, unless their blood sugar's like 12 really loud are really high. Obviously, that was a that was like a decision on their part. They deserve to be punished right? away that your, if your blood
Scott Benner 27:52
sugar is 150, and you're breaking windows, you're just get Yeah, but but but I mean, but if you're a bunch of just been to 20 for your whole life, and you can't do well in math. It might not be because you're not good at math. Right. And you got to make that decision. Yeah, I mean, listen, I there are times there's been one or two times that Arden's been so low, that she has said horrible things to me. And I just I bear down and I think that's the blood sugar, and I just let it go. But you really have to be ready for it like because it's hard not to react. You know, I mean, Jenny, I'll bleep this out later. But when an eight year old calls your mother, you're, you know, you're like, whoa, hold on. Please drink the juice. I wasn't looking for this. I did. And, you know, I've heard adults talk about it too, in a married situation where one person is physically stronger than the other person. And you know, can get low and then get, you know, right, violent, like, not on purpose, right. And now you're, you know, a much different situation. Yeah,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 29:05
I actually had that when I was working in DC, a couple, an older couple had actually come into our diabetes clinic. And the man was complaining, he's like, sometimes I'm scared. I think she had gone to the bathroom or something. And they were just chatting. And I think it was on the topic of like, hypose. And he brought up he's like, sometimes I'm kind of scared of her. He's like, one day she threw a coffee cup and Okay, well, that wasn't really your wife. That was a low blood sugar.
Scott Benner 29:38
So I will tell you for blood sugars every 95 and she throws something at you. I don't think she likes you.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 29:44
Then there was something you did really nasty wrong
Scott Benner 29:46
to her so well. That's okay. I appreciate you talking about me. That was really good.
Could you just not talk to Jenny every day? I know I could. I wish I could actually just doesn't work out like that. Anyway, Jenny does this for a living it integrated diabetes comm and you can check her out there, there's a link in the show notes. What comes next is about the T one D exchange. If you heard it in the last episode with Johnny, and you haven't done it, let's get to it. But if you haven't, the T one D exchange needs your help. And the help they need is super simple to give. You just go to T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. That's my link, use that link. And then when you get there, click on join our registering now. And after that you complete this simple, quick survey. It's for us residents only. But it's so easy. Like right now, if you did it right now look at your watch. Or you probably want to watch to pick up your phone, touch the face of it. If you did it right now, you'd be done in less than 10 minutes. It took me three hours to bring you this episode. And this is all I'm asking in return. One day exchange.org forward slash juice box. I mean, seriously, I the book Jenny, record the thing, edited it. I mean, you notice how there's no like pops and clicks and noises and nothing distracting while you're listening. You're welcome. That was me. Scott, click click click with the mouse. I fixed the whole thing for you. hours it took like you're just like, Oh, it was a quick 25 minute episode. It was nice. God said insulins important, blah, blah, no, no, there's more than that. It's deep. It's deep. It's building a narrative in your life about type one diabetes, giving you the tools and the access to information for the free. And all I ask is that you go to T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. I only need 6000 of you to do it. I mean, there were hundreds of 1000s of downloads last month, I just need six of you. And I'm saying of the hundreds of 1000s of downloads. I need 6000 I'm tired of saying it too. I know you're tired of hearing it. I'm tired of saying it. But I mean, at some point one of us has got to pick up the manual and do their part. I can only do this I filled out the survey is easy. Alright, I'm gonna stop. I apologize. That was I that was too much, too much. I should just say T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. You need to be a US resident who has type one or is the caregiver of someone with type one. Please go fill it out if you have the chance. I mean, that's that's how I should say it. But I mean, come on this podcast is amazing. And it's free. Free. And what do I say to you? You know, if you want to try out an omni pod, go to Omni pod comm forward slash juice box I say if you want to check out a Dexcom go to dexcom.com forward slash juice box I say want to get a great meter Contour. Next One comm forward slash juice box I say hey, my daughter's got this G Volk. hypo pen, you should check it out. That's it. I mean, you don't have to check it out. I'm not telling you to buy an ami. But it's not like if you don't buy an ami pad and I love to listen anymore. I'm just saying if you're going to go check it out. But this T one D exchange thing. I mean, you're on the internet constantly. I see the people in my life. I know you don't put the phone down. And I'm not judging you. I'm just saying while you're doing it. You don't I mean, p one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. Help a guy out a little bit. Make me beg you. It's embarrassing. I'll tell you what, if the T one D exchange contacts me at the end of the month, next month, the end of June and says we've added 1000 new people to the registry. Thanks to you. If they say that. What will I do? I will do an online talk about using insulin. Once a week, in July, once a week. Okay, I'll come on. I'll do it on zoom. It'll be free, obviously, because you helped me out with the D one D exchange thing. And I will answer everyone's questions as long as I can. If we reach 1000. Now if we reach 1500 I'll get Jenny on one of those calls. If you do 2000 I'll do the call. Right? Every day every what I say every week in July, Jenny wants and what else will I do? I'll do something else. That's cool. I don't know what yet, but trust me, I'll come through T one d exchange.org. forward slash juicebox. Use the link. complete the survey. That's it.
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#484 The More Bella Knows
Bella thinks of type 1 diabetes differently then she once did.
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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to Episode 484 of the Juicebox Podcast.
I want to try that again. I don't like how like affected my voice was Hello friends and welcome to Episode 484 of the Juicebox Podcast. On today's show, Bella Bella was diagnosed as a small child, she's more of an adult now, and she wanted to share with you what it was like growing up with Type One Diabetes. She's gonna tell you know, how seriously she took it. And how seriously she takes it now. So there's a difference between then and now. You're about to find out. Please remember, while you're listening that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. If you're looking for those diabetes pro tip episodes, the defining diabetes episodes what else how we eat after dark, there's a lot to choose from, you can get a juice box, wow it just like bit my lip or something, you can go to Juicebox podcast.com. You can also go to diabetes pro tip calm for the pro tips and the defining stuff. And now this has gotten confusing.
This show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries g vo hypo Penn Find out more at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juicebox. The episode is also sponsored by the Contour Next One blood glucose meter. It is simply the easiest, brightest and most accurate blood glucose meter I've ever used. That's it. That's that's I mean that's the sound man. Contour. Next One forward slash juice box. If you find something that's more important than bright light, easy to read, easy to use Second Chance test strips and fits nicely in your pocket your purse your bag. I mean, what do you need? We need like be flashing lights or colors? Or? Actually I think it has that too. Let me think of something even more ridiculous. What do you need like bells and whistles. You don't need bells and whistles you need accuracy, ease, etc, etc. Oh, by the way, and reasonably priced to go check it out.
Bella 2:34
So hi, my name is Bella. I am 23 years old. And I live in Indiana in the US, of course. And I have been a type one diabetic going on 14 years now. So this December, it'll be 14 years. So I was diagnosed when I was nine years old. I was in the fourth grade. I wanted to come on the podcast originally I remember I sent you an email. And I was like during the peak of quarantine. And I was listening to your podcast on a walk I think and I was just like, you know, I think I'm gonna email him because I finally had the balls to just be like, let's thank him for the podcast and then throw in there, you know if you ever want me to be on it. Um, but yeah, I originally wanted to come on, I think just to give my perspective on growing up without taking care of your diabetes, I was very uncontrolled. Um, and now I am really controlled. Like, I'm very proud of how far I've came. And it's great. And I feel really healthy. And I think that's, yeah, no, it's really good. And that was originally why we wanted to come on. But it's been a couple months now. So I was thinking about yesterday, I was like, Well, what would I even say? So it's kind of just like whatever we talk about, we talk about.
Scott Benner 3:59
I already have questions. So a couple things. First of all, I'm from Indiana, in the United States, of course. So I'm not certain if you meant Obviously, I'm from the United States or obviously you all know that Indiana is in the United States. And now that I'm saying it I'm not sure why I said it told me that first
Bella 4:14
obviously us like after Indiana is of course in the US. Sorry. Not like of course I'm from the US because your podcast which is pretty far and wide. doesn't hate
Scott Benner 4:23
does. It was just it was it was the it was I don't know what it was like the balance of the words that came out. I was like, is she apologizing for having told people that it's in the US? I'm not 100%?
Bella 4:32
Oh, no, I'm not apologizing. Sometimes I should. We should probably collectively apologize but no.
Scott Benner 4:42
So and in fourth grade. I endured the entire the entirety of I think the worst teacher I had in the in the whole time. I was really I was your fourth grade experience.
Bella 4:56
Oh my gosh. So I had the best teacher. She was Sweet, so nice. She was like straight out of college. And I remember she was so kind to me. And she was just so sweet and I loved her so much. But fourth grade, getting diagnosed, that on the other hand was really hard for me. I remember, while I remember, my diagnosis was pretty weird. Well, it's not weird. I'm sure it's fairly common. But at the time, it felt weird. So I was, I was peeing the bed for like, a couple nights in a row. And my mom was like, obviously, like, something's wrong. You're in fourth grade, like, you shouldn't be peeing the bed. And it was like, I don't know what, two or three nights in a row. So she made me a doctor's appointment. I went to the doctor, all that good stuff happened, which I could go into detail on if you're curious.
Scott Benner 5:49
Well, but I want to know, if something if there was good stuff in details, tell me a little bit about it.
Bella 5:55
I remember going to the doctor. It was like halfway through the school day. So I left school early. And I don't really remember that much from the time period. Like, I feel like I've subconsciously blocked out a lot of my childhood diabetic years. What I do remember, I've like very vivid flashes of memory from that day. So I went to the doctor, like the local pediatrician office in the town nearby, and they I think I like peed in a cup. And then I think they tested my blood sugar. And I was like crazy high in the five hundreds. And I just remember them. The doctor, she was a female and she, I just remember her being like, Okay, I think like you have diabetes, you're going to have to go home and pack your bags and go to the hospital. And I just remember crying because my mom was upset, but I like I had no clue what that meant. So I wasn't able to really like fathom why I was upset or what was going on. And I remember I remember like the sweater I was wearing. I was wearing this like green and purple sweater with little balls on it. Very, like, early 2000s was adorable. And I remember being like, I'm so hungry. Can I eat something? And then the doctor was just like, you can go like, you should get some chicken nuggets. That should be okay. So I went to Wendy's got some chicken nuggets, which probably wasn't great for my blood sugar because they're breaded. But whatever.
Scott Benner 7:29
We're also not 100% sure they're chicken. But I digress. Yeah,
Bella 7:31
yeah, probably not. But they were Wendy's. And like to us, as far as chicken nuggets go. I feel like I don't eat meat at the moment. But I remember them being pretty good. So, yeah, when I went home, and I remember my sister was there with my grandma, and they were upset. And I feel like I was just like, Why is everyone upset? Like, what does this mean? And I went to the hospital. And I was there for like five days.
Scott Benner 7:57
And I have to tell you, though, I grew up so broke, I would imagine everybody was crying because of how much mattress cost?
Bella 8:04
Oh, my gosh. I had no clue about the reality of pricing and medical systems. And obviously, I mean, I was nine. I just
Scott Benner 8:13
had so many times I'm figuring you needed a new mattress.
Bella 8:18
I did. I assume I did. I mean better hope. I Yeah, right. You would hope so I, man, I'm trying to think about it. And I have missed
Unknown Speaker 8:29
your whole childhood just like what is that?
Bella 8:33
I literally, I had to have gotten a new mattress
Scott Benner 8:37
that with your mom and we'll put it at the end of the episode. I expect an email a couple days from now it says I've talked to my mom and mattress was not or was replaced.
Bella 8:45
I will definitely ask her. I'll ask her after I get off with you because I'm really curious now.
Scott Benner 8:52
Well, we sit fourth, fourth grades. Interesting, I think because obviously you have like real memories from the time so we're old enough to retain memories from it. young enough to not know the details. Yeah. But that's Um, I think that makes sense. I think if you were a few years younger, it would make sense. I have to tell you, I was joking earlier, but my fourth grade teacher made me hate math. So much. I'm going to admit this something. Do you mind if I admit to something? No, no, of course not. So we were learning multiplication in fourth grade. And I know that in a modern society people like yeah, I learned multiplication when I was like, you know, six, but it was the 70s and they were taking us slow. So every Friday, we'd show up, and he'd give us 100 quick multiplication, things like, you know, four times six and two times three. And you had I'm going to forget but I think it was five minutes to do 100 of them. Now the indication as I'm saying them is that these you know should be to you that these multiplication tables We're just the ones that everyone knows like three times six, and everyone listening just thought 18 except I was a little behind. And every one you got wrong. He sent you home on Friday, you had to write out each one you got wrong 10 times, what the heck, I freeze up and panic and start thinking about how it was going to lead to a weekend of writing multiplication tables. My dad yelling at me, my mom seeming disappointed my parents who were not great like, parents, they were, I don't know how to put it. They weren't good at fixing problems, I guess. And so I just would get to that test in the morning, I'd freeze up there were times I'd get 70 of them wrong, and spend every waking hour of the weekend writing out these multiplication tables. Well, he turned me off to it so much that I'm going to tell you now and people listening, I think imagine I'm a reasonably bright person, right? I used I did not know. I did not know how to do those basic multiplication tables for two and a half more years. Until, until I failed a math class in sixth grade, sixth grade, I was an algebra. And I couldn't do it. I failed it. I had to go to summer school. And that summer, sitting in my grandmother's house where I had to live so that I could be closer to the summer school. I thought to myself, This is ridiculous. And I sat at a table and taught myself all of those multiplication tables in like two hours.
Bella 11:31
That's amazing, though, that the end of the story. That's amazing. But honestly, I feel like that's really traumatizing. So I completely understand that.
Scott Benner 11:38
I mean, I'm 48 you guys here. I might be 48 or 49. I'm having trouble this year knowing how old I am. But that's funny happened to me a few years ago. But I I absolutely still like obviously you hear me joke about it. Like I'm worried that I'm not good at math. Because of that. And yeah, and it's not. It just was I think it was that exact time like I ran to the wrong guy at the wrong time was my point.
Bella 12:01
Yeah, I do get that. I definitely understand that.
Scott Benner 12:04
So what happened to you that you, you know, how was your management in those early years? Because you're really you want to talk about having not done well for yourself for a long time. So how did it begin?
Bella 12:15
Yeah, so I remember and I was actually telling my mom this morning, I was like, because I live with my mom right now. Because COVID is COVID is really making things great in the real world. But I told him that I was coming on this podcast, and she was like, well make sure you tell him that. You were sent to the hospital for a couple days. And they just had different doctors in and out every day. And none of them were specialists. None of them were endocrinologists there was like their pediatric team. And none of them taught us how like they didn't get like they didn't teach us anything I remember, like sticking things with syringes. Um, and I remember the first bit of being diagnosed, I would we would call the doctor like, I would be home and they would have us call the doctor to get like information on how to give myself injections, like how to correctly give the correct amount. And I just remember one of the doctors was so mean. And I remember he was like yelling at my mom. Or in my memory, he was yelling at my mom, who knows. I could have fabricated like that memory, in my mind. But he was mean and they were like not really helping us. But I think that in the early years, probably like the first two years, I was really resistant. I remember I didn't want to have shots. My mom said she would have to like hold me down sometimes just to inject me. And I think those first couple years my I mean, I didn't really do anything when I was nine years old. But I think that my so my dad wasn't really around much. So he was never really involved in my diabetes care. But I think my mom was completely overwhelmed. And she didn't,
Scott Benner 14:04
like, wasn't doing well. And then she got yelled at on top of that. This is my story about multiplication. Go ahead. I must Yeah,
Bella 14:12
pretty much and I don't think she she didn't have the resources to to learn how to take care of me or to teach me to take care of myself. And that's something that I've really had to come to terms with. Recently, since I started taking care of myself. It's something that I've really had to work on, not not letting myself resent her for because it's really easy for me to look back and be like man, like for all those years like I was slowly killing myself. And like you didn't know any better to help me not do that. But like I said she didn't know any better. So I think those first couple years. We were just doing what we could with the resources we had and I think that's why it's so great. So sometimes listen to your podcast and hear all these parents who take care of their kids so well, and it just gives me so much joy. But until I really listened to your podcast, I like I didn't really think that my situation was abnormal. Like, I didn't think that I didn't really think anything about how my mom didn't really know what she was doing. And it was kind of just like flying by the seat of I don't know that saying, but
Scott Benner 15:26
it's flying. fly by the seat of your pants. How old are you? I'm 23. There's an episode that went up yesterday with Julia, who's you know, a little older than you and I needed her to say like a test sentence and I said, Hey, say, I don't I forget what it was like. Susie sells seashells by the seashore or the rain. Oh, yeah. The rain falls mainly on the plane. And she's like, what I'm like the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains. And she's like, what is that?
Bella 15:53
Yeah, no, I know that Susie Selden sees seashells by the seashore. That's a hard one. Nice
Unknown Speaker 15:59
try, Bella.
Scott Benner 16:01
Well, listen, I think that your story is why I am really proud of the podcast.
Bella 16:10
Yeah, I would be too. And that's why like, I like I don't want to be like, Oh, your podcast saved me. Because it didn't. I mean, like, I saved my self. Like I learned everything on my own technically, but your podcast has been just so helpful. And like, I know that I'm not the only one out there who like, learned how to Pre-Bolus and I'm just learned all these helpful tools. And yeah, it's something to be really proud of. for you. I hope that you're so proud of it.
Scott Benner 16:40
Well, I am but not as proud as I am of this fly by the seat of your pants is parlance from the early days of aviation aircraft initially had few navigational aids and flying was accomplished by means of the pilots judgment. The tip of the term emerged in the 30s and was first widely used in reports of Douglas Corrigan's flight from the US to Ireland in 1938. I guess he was flying by the seat of his pants.
Unknown Speaker 17:06
Okay,
Unknown Speaker 17:07
there we go.
Unknown Speaker 17:07
Moreno.
Scott Benner 17:09
Oh, yeah, I wish we could had like license for that in that music. That'd be right. I'd be like doing that right now. Anyway, do you even know what the see there's an interesting thing. Do you even know where the more you know comes from?
Bella 17:21
No, I don't where does it come from?
Scott Benner 17:25
Love this. It was a it was a thing on NBC. And besides the television, I wonder how far you have to go with people your age, like NBC, like Netflix, but you don't pay for it. It's
Unknown Speaker 17:37
I know what NBC
Scott Benner 17:39
they used to have these public service announcements. And on like the whole NBC thing in the United States, and they put out these educational messages. And at the end of it, there'd be this little music Hold on, let me see if I can play it.
Could you hear that? No. All right, well, I'll put it in what I'm making, what I'm making the podcast. But it was this like kind of star flying through space. And it had the words The more you know, and it played this little like, piano music behind it.
Bella 18:10
Wow, this has been so like, I'm really learning. I appreciate that learning
Scott Benner 18:15
and culturing, please, if this is culture, you're in trouble, Bella. But I'm just saying that. It's super interesting that you, you use phrases
Unknown Speaker 18:25
that you don't know or that I don't know, all of
Scott Benner 18:26
us that you you're using them properly, but you don't know where they came from or why they exist. That's so
Bella 18:31
yeah, that's really interesting. I've never thought about that. But that's a really good point. And I probably use so many that I honestly have no clue what the heck they actually like. Yeah, what you know where they're from?
Scott Benner 18:42
Well, you have to wonder too, right? How many people managing their diabetes or doing things? Because they heard it or heard enough of it to know that it's a rule in this one situation, but don't know why don't have the background information around it?
Bella 18:59
Yeah, and probably so many. I mean, like, I mean, so many, I mean, I didn't even fully understand until like, probably a year ago, how fat and protein affect the blood sugar and I still sometimes struggle with like really high fat meals. Um, but that's besides the point they're not
Scott Benner 19:23
it's not really know what I'm telling you is that my silly little stories and diabetes all are basically the same thing. It's, it's you just said the more you know, like you understood what that was, and you did enough, but not completely. So your, your mom's at home, she's got the needle, she's got the insulin, she understands a bit of it, but not enough. Like she gets to like when and the maybe the why, but not the how. And she has no context for what she's doing. And she's trying to make her way through this incredible difficult thing. Meanwhile, you're running around the house, like, being like, you're not putting a needle in me. Yeah. And, and, and it sounds like and not that I'm digging, but your dad might have been a spy or something because you said he wasn't around very much. She's doing it by yourself. And that's a lot of stuff for a person. How old? Was she at that time? Do you know?
Bella 20:19
Um, so she had me when she was 40. So she was an older lady birth older. So she was probably what, like 49, almost 50
Scott Benner 20:27
years she was done with you already in her hip her?
Unknown Speaker 20:31
Yeah.
Bella 20:34
Yeah, it was. I think that also, it's been really easy for me to focus myself in that story of like, this was so hard on me, like, this is my life. Like, how could you not have known better, but like, we've had some brief conversations about it here and there. And I know that she's really good at talking about her feelings. I mean, I'm not that great at talking about my feelings, either. Vulnerability was not something that I saw modeled in the household as a kid, which is something that I really strive to be better at, and more vulnerable. But so the small conversations that we have had about it, I can tell that it was hard on her. But I don't think she fully knows how to talk about it and like, unleash those emotions with me. So I can't really say much of how she like was actually thinking and what was actually going through her mind.
Scott Benner 21:30
That's called for your mom. Yeah. Is that cultural for your mom? Is she Irish? Oh,
Bella 21:37
I have no clue what it is. And I have tried to think about it. I don't know what it is, Neither of my parents really modeled vulnerability. I assume that neither of their parents did either, like the generational trauma that just goes down and down. But
Scott Benner 21:56
how we deal with it? Because it sounds like you're aware of it, or do you break through? Or do you I'm
Bella 22:01
trying, I'm trying so hard? Yes, I am aware of it. And I really want to be better at the things that my parents missed out, on or could have improved on. And I know that if I ever have kids, I'll have my own, you know, own stuff, that is gonna be my stuff. And then they'll probably want to be better than me at that stuff. But yeah, with emotions and vulnerability, that's something that I really have been trying to work on. And I think that also, it comes back to diabetes. So largely for me, because I remember that I was so overwhelmed when I was younger. Because I was pretty, I was like, once I was in like, sixth grade, I was practically managing everything on my own, like, my mom would take me to doctor's appointments. And she would call insurance, and she would go get my prescriptions and pay for everything. But I, you know, I was the person who was giving the shots. I was testing my blood sugar, and I just wasn't doing it like, and I wasn't doing a good job. Well, that's what I was trying,
Scott Benner 23:10
were you not doing it willfully? Were you not doing it? Well, because you didn't know how and did you just give up at some point?
Bella 23:18
Yeah, I didn't know how. And then. So I feel like diabetes is like, I don't know, it's I feel like it's like, you're told that you have to write a book in a different language, but you don't know this language. And you're given a dictionary in the other language, it's like, you're not like, I unless you have this information, you're not able to do it. And I didn't have the information. My mom didn't have the information. Um, and so I was just doing what I thought was normal, which was really not doing anything. And I remember I would like go to the nurse to check my blood sugar every day at lunch, you know, it would be in like the two hundreds and I would be so ashamed because I didn't think that it should be that. But I didn't know how to like, I didn't know why it was that high, or I didn't really know how to get it normal or what tools to use to get it normal. And well, yeah,
Scott Benner 24:13
you know, the evolution is, first I'm gonna go back for a second. Do you see you're describing, you know, things that your parents didn't have, that their parents probably didn't give them? And how you're trying to break free of that. Do you see why human evolution takes so long?
Bella 24:30
Yeah, there's really no I understand that. And I understand it's just a lot.
Scott Benner 24:36
Well, yeah, because you're also living at the same time. But if I if I took you and you know, I set you out in a nice field and put you in a small cabin and gave you all the things you needed to eat and said Bella, hey, we're here's all your you know, your your human failings and shortcomings work on them right now. You'd still struggle with it. But yeah, you got to go to school and get a job and have personal relationships. You're building a life, again, with incomplete tools, just like you're trying to manage your diabetes with incomplete tools.
Bella 25:10
I completely agree with that. Yeah.
Scott Benner 25:12
Well, it's just, it's the obvious nature of figuring out something complicated.
Bella 25:19
Yes, and complicated. It is.
Scott Benner 25:23
I'm sorry, you broke up for a second.
Bella 25:25
complicated it is like, it's definitely complicated.
Scott Benner 25:29
Everything's complicated, but when. So you can break it down as far as you want, and say, you know, the doctors didn't give you good tools. But the doctors are also people who were raised by people. And they're working through their stuff as they go to their job, which happens to be the most important thing in your world. At the moment, you've just been diagnosed with diabetes, you're counting on the doctor that came in, that doctor could be fighting with his spouse could have been raised by terrible people, like you have no idea like what leads somebody into their profession, maybe they're there in that room struggling with your demons, maybe your mom got on the phone with a doctor. And your mom reminded the doctor of his mother, who was who was helpless in her relationship with her husband, and he wishes subconsciously that she would have stood up there was like, who knows why he was mad. You don't mean like, it's, it's crazy. So at some point, we all have to take control and responsibility and say to ourselves, I don't read the words in this dictionary. I can't understand what they are. But I have to write this book. And then forget everything that anyone's told you in the past and approach it from a common sense nature, which I think is what I tried to do here. And it sounds like you did it on your own at some point. So So how long did you struggle and when did you start figuring it out?
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Bella 30:02
I struggled until, I mean, I still struggle. Of course we have our days, but I struggled all the time, I think, until I was about 20. So it hasn't been that long. And I would have some good periods where my blood sugar would be fairly stable in those periods. But like, my a one sees, well, first of all, I think this is important to tell you I didn't know what an AE one c meant, until I was like 20 years old. So that's like, what, like 11 years of diabetes without knowing what an AE one C was. I just have a hard time fathoming that at this point,
Scott Benner 30:49
yep, that a one C. And you'd be like, and they would tell you, there's a number you're shooting for basically, you'd be under it or over it, meaning, you know, I guess they'd be like, Oh, you missed or you're doing great. And then that was it. No one ever told you what the agency was or what it did. And you didn't take any steps to figure out what it was. And by the way, I find I'm not coming down on you. I think this is incredibly common. So
Bella 31:11
I think it is too. I think it's easy to feel like it's not common, because like we hear the podcast and, you know, you see all these people on Instagram who seemed like they have everything figured out. But I think the reality of diabetes is that I'm a more common story than Well, now I have not everything together. But now I'm pretty well controlled. And I'm really proud. But I think that my past is actually way more common than people like me with agencies that are good now, because even now I'll go to my doctor, and she's like, you are doing perfect. In my head. I'm like, are you serious, like, I'm not doing perfect at all. But to her, when she sees people all day, that you know, the air agencies are in the eights, nines, 10s, whatever they are, when she gets me coming in, my agency is in the fives. And it's been in the fives for over a year. So I'm really proud of that. Yeah, but when she sees that, I bet she's like, holy crap. This girl like she's got it like, I don't even need to. I don't need to do anything.
Scott Benner 32:11
I know. That's how they treat us. That is,
Unknown Speaker 32:13
yeah,
Scott Benner 32:14
and I'm standing there. I'm like, now you have no idea. There are things I don't get about this. And I don't even bother asking them because I think that their norm is keeping people in the seats. And I think they turn into cheerleaders for people. Like I think so. You know, um, it's, you know, you said that everyone on Instagram looks like they have it figured out. I would say that, you know, remove diabetes from that sentiment for a moment. And remember that Instagram is all about making you look like you have everything right.
Unknown Speaker 32:44
Yeah. You know, yeah,
Scott Benner 32:46
right. It's just is it is that it's pictures. And by the way, I don't come down in those I know, it's a systemic problem at this point that everyone is showing their best moment. And therefore the people who are looking in feel like oh, everybody's doing better than me. But at the same time, if you start a social media platform with photos, did you expect people were going to put up like ratty looking pictures of themselves? Yeah,
Bella 33:10
that's true. Like, it's not like I wake up, and I my hair isn't something you know?
Scott Benner 33:15
Like, my friends?
Bella 33:18
Yeah, no, that's a really great point. But also with Instagram. Like, I don't know how I, this was a couple this, I was like 20, like I said, so I don't know how but I started following someone that did yoga. And they were also a diabetic. And I don't know how I found them. But I remember seeing like that this person can take care of themselves, because they would share about their diabetes sometimes. And I remember seeing that and seeing that they could do all these things and have normal blood sugar. And that really motivated me that was kind of like a wake not a wake up call. But I was seeing it modeled for really the first time that it is possible to control yourself. And so that was actually a huge push for me to get my shit together and to learn and to start trying. So even though Instagram is something that can be so negative, and just not always great in that context. It was very, I don't know, it was helpful. And it's weird to think back and think that Instagram was helpful in that way. But it's pretty cool at the same time that it was,
Scott Benner 34:27
I 100% believe, but I also think it's interesting that you think of it as negative because the people you're following and the things they're sharing aren't negative. It's people's responses that are negative.
Bella 34:39
Yeah. And it's how we use it. That makes it negative.
Scott Benner 34:43
Yeah. And meanwhile, you can even understand those people's responses. Like imagine this. Imagine you instead of living for 10 years with diabetes and not doing great with it, you were 30 years into it, and now you're at home and your health is as you know, pours 30 years worth a really Bad management leads you to, and then you open up Instagram because you know, you're like, oh, maybe I can find some community here some light. And the first thing is, is somebody who comes along and they're just like, look at me, I do yoga, I perfect my body's tone, I can bend my leg back behind my head, and my eight one C is, you know, 5.1 a lot of people do not have the, the emotional maturity, some of them to blood sugars might be swinging all over the place as well. So they could be in their head kind of all over the place. And you would understand if their response was, you. You don't I mean, like I'm dying over here, literally and figuratively, and and, you know, you want to lash out at somebody, I don't even know if that's luck. I don't even know if that's negative, or if it's just a reasonable response. Some people have better responses, there's a person who will stick in my head forever, who was on Facebook, I don't know, were on some group, begging for help for people with her diabetes. And she was an adult who had had type one for I think, like 30 years and a bunch of kids. And she had come to this realization that she was going to die sooner than she wanted to, and that her children were going to be alone. And so she's helped asking people for help. And some of them came in and said, you should you should ask this guy Scott and tagged me in it. So I had her call me on the phone. And I gave her like, basically like, you know, the our primer on the way I think about blood sugars. And a couple of days later, like no lie, like two days later, she sent me this. This graph, and she had never been over 125 or 120. And she wasn't under 70 for like a whole day. Wow, super excited. Asked the sugar callback calls me back. She's crying. And I think these are gratitude tears allow the and then I realized No, that's not what this is. She was angry. Super, super, super angry, by the way that for 30 years, no one could get across to her what only really took an hour to understand, oh,
Bella 37:06
I completely understand that. I completely get that. And it's such a hard thing to come to terms with. And that's something that I personally have had a another hard time accepting. I have had periods where I'm just so angry at myself for how horribly I was controlling myself. And I guess not controlling my blood sugar's
Scott Benner 37:34
though you know that that's unreasonable, right?
Bella 37:37
Oh, yes, of course. I know that. That's something and I feel like it like I said, it's a process. So it's something that I've worked on. But yeah, I used to have those periods where I was just angry about, well, holy crap, like, Look, look at how I treated myself. And I think that also what that comes back to with me is fear for the future, which is also unreasonable. So I know that as well. I know, these things are unreasonable. But still, they persist. And they're hard. Because I think, with diabetes we hear all day long. Well, not all day long. But it's constantly being spouted in the media, and in all these things, that diabetes, you know, kills you complications, yada, yada. And so I think something that I've had to have a hard time with is trying to accept that how I treated myself in the past doesn't necessarily equate to how my future health will be.
Scott Benner 38:34
Well, do you think you who you are right now, the person Bella is today would have done that to herself, then? Like would have done like, if you could go back in time, and relive your life with your thoughts and knowledge that you have now? You wouldn't have done that to your viewer?
Bella 38:51
Oh, no, of course not. Right. Yeah.
Scott Benner 38:53
But you didn't know the things you know now.
Bella 38:56
Exactly. And that's why it's something that is accepted. Like, I can't be angry, but you can't be angry about the past, you don't know any better. Everyone's just doing the best that they can with what they have available. And that's what I was doing at the time. So a lot of wisdom, though. No, thanks. I try.
Scott Benner 39:18
I'm really impressed. Because usually your generation goes one way or the other. It's very, it's really interesting. It's either it's either very much like, Hey, did you see this thing on Twitter? Or, like these very deep thoughts? Um, I'm hoping more people have deeper thoughts.
Bella 39:34
I hope so too. I do agree with that, though. It's funny, because I'll connect with people my age, and sometimes I'm just like, I don't care. what you're talking about. This is silly. And then, but then also, like, I don't think I'm one of those people who has very deep thoughts like I have some friends that I'm just so intelligent and they'll say stuff and I'm just like, Man, I wish that I had an ounce of your ability to formulate words in such an intelligent manner, don't you think?
Scott Benner 40:00
The desire for that is what leads to it. Honestly, like, don't you think 10 years from now you'll listen back to this. And you'll think, Wow, I didn't know what I was talking about back then. But now I really do.
Bella 40:11
Oh, yeah. Oh, definitely. And I hope so like, I hope that in 10 years from now, I listen to this. And I'm like, This girl is a girl, like, I'm still a child. But also, I feel like 10 years from now, I'm still gonna feel like a kid because I feel like something that I've thought about a lot lately is how we're all just kind of big children just trying to do the best that we can. Like, even a seven year old, you're just a, you're essentially a child in an adult's body.
Scott Benner 40:39
It's funny, you said that because yesterday afternoon, I said to my wife, I'm gonna go to Costco to pick up like bulk like paper towels and toilet paper, like these kinds of things that we need, like in you know, a bunch of it. And I was just gonna go in and grab a few things and leave, I got a, I think I got a case of water and paper towels and stuff. And I'm all the way to the back of the store. And I'm walking to the front and I'm on a side aisle, this is really wide aisle, and there's no one in it. And I just took a few fast steps, and then jumped up on the back of the cart and rode the cart all the way down the aisle. Oh, that's
Unknown Speaker 41:12
so fun. It was just,
Scott Benner 41:14
I didn't when I got done. I did think like, I wonder what, what somebody would have like thought like is the security guy right now going look at this old guy riding the cart up the thing and what he would have thought and I wish I would be able to tell him in that moment if he had that thought. I feel like I'm 12 in my head.
Bella 41:33
Yes, exactly. You know, I completely understand that. That's all. Well, listen,
Scott Benner 41:37
I think first of all, you're doing terrific. And you're having a ton of realizations that are building your life up and your health. I I can't see where you'd be doing any better. Unless you're like, you know, breaking laws in your free time.
Bella 41:50
No, I am not breaking laws that I know of.
Scott Benner 41:56
I know. Yeah. Like you could wake up one day and go, Oh, my God, I had no idea that was a good.
Bella 42:02
Oh, man. That would be that would be something but no, I'm doing well. And diabetes is something that I've come to really welcome in my life. I used to be very not ashamed of it, I would say but I was just, I think I was so angry that I had diabetes, but I was trying to pretend like it was all okay, because I didn't know how to ask for help. And now I try to really just accept that diabetes is with me, and live with it and embrace it. And yeah, I still have days where I'm like, screw you, you're, you're in, you're making me mad. But for the most part, I've tried to use it as something to really grow from, because it's not going anywhere. So
Scott Benner 42:50
don't think it's just gonna get bored to you and go somewhere else.
Bella 42:53
That would be great. If it wanted to leave, it could I would be so I would love for it to go. But also, I thought about this recently, I have lived more of my life with diabetes than without it. And I can't imagine not having it. Like, I can't imagine what a normal brain thinks of who doesn't have diabetes at this point.
Scott Benner 43:13
Here's the question for you. You and I are in a room together. No one's ever gonna know. I bring in a complete stranger, your age, a girl your age? And I say, Bella, I have a magic wand here. I can give her your diabetes? Would you let me do it?
Unknown Speaker 43:34
Um,
Bella 43:37
I don't think so. Well. You know, it depends if this person I knew would be capable of managing but then I don't know. No, I don't I don't. I don't know if I think someone deserves to
Scott Benner 43:52
know the struggle in your voice is the answer.
Unknown Speaker 43:55
Yeah.
Scott Benner 43:56
There's no real answer. It's, you know, it's not, you know, it's not Hey, you, me and your mom are on a boat, and it's sinking. And one of us has to get thrown off, or the boats gonna say which one should go? Which I'm assuming you'd throw me off. But maybe you wouldn't.
Bella 44:12
Oh, man. Also unfair question. Right?
Scott Benner 44:15
They're all fair questions. The reason that they're fucking fun to ask is because your struggle in answering was the was the answer, which is, I can do this. I don't need to give it to somebody else and burden them, but oh my god, I love this to go away. And I don't know them. So if I suddenly make that girl, a friend of yours or your cousin, your answer becomes what?
Bella 44:41
No, of course not. And I've thought about that. I've thought about well, like, what if my sister would have been diagnosed or someone else? And I think that, I mean, given the circumstances you never know because I'm the one with it. But I think that I, I mean, I i've I can handle it. And I've had the strength to handle it and I I've used it to really help me. But you don't know how someone's gonna, gonna react to that, and you don't know how they're gonna come out of it. And for all, you know, they could be like me, they could be a lot better than me and have it figured out. Or essentially like, you know, fake figure it out from day one. Or they could be like me in the beginning and never get it figured out and just, you know, slowly killed themselves every day, which is not the way to live. And I wouldn't wish that on anyone, you know? Oh, do
Scott Benner 45:29
you know that you just made me feel very emotional with your answer. I thought that was incredibly insightful. Oh, thank you. That was wonderful. He was thrown together quite a little good episode of this podcast. I don't know if you realize yet or not. I'm able to judge them on the fly. Because I've done so many. This is very good.
Bella 45:48
Looks, I'm so nice to hear. I was honestly thinking about and I was like, man, I wonder if this is gonna be this is gonna be a bad one.
Scott Benner 45:55
Wait, are there bad ones?
Unknown Speaker 45:56
Well, no, but
Bella 45:59
I meant like, if you were gonna listen to this and be like, Oh, I don't know if I want to put this out there.
Scott Benner 46:04
Do people have that expectation that there are episodes that have been recorded that nobody hears? Because I think they're bad?
Bella 46:11
Um, I don't think so. I would assume that you put them all out there. Because I feel like that'd be a really awkward conversation if someone emailed you. And they were like, hey, like, just checking in? Are you gonna put that like, what are you putting the episode out? And you're just like, Oh, well, actually,
Scott Benner 46:25
less than a while ago, because there were two that I was 100% sure, were terrible. I kept pushing off using them and pushing off using them. And then I got stuck one day, I was like, Oh, I need an episode. And I put it out. And then the response I get back is so overwhelmingly positive. That I think, Okay, this episode might not have been right for me, or right for someone, but it was right for enough people that I got emails about it. Oh, yeah. Even the other day, we put one up. By the way, when I do that, it freaks me out. Because I don't know who we is. Because I do this myself. I'm like,
Bella 47:05
Oh, that's so funny. I understand that. I sometimes do that, too. And I'm like, so we need this. And I'm like, wait, no, yeah. But
Scott Benner 47:12
so I put one up the other day, it was like this very long conversation with this with this guy, and I thought it was an important conversation is around insulin pricing. And
Bella 47:23
oh, I just listened to that. I thought that was great. I really liked that.
Scott Benner 47:26
Okay, great. I'm glad you did. I immediately woke up the next morning to an instant to a message somewhere on the internet. That was like, hey, Scott, listen, that's the worst episode you've ever done.
Unknown Speaker 47:37
Are you serious?
Scott Benner 47:38
And you talked way too much. And I thought I did talk a lot. But I was really jacked up and like, passionate about what we were talking about. And I also thought the entirety of the episode was different than most of them. It wasn't his back and forth. It was more of like, Hey, here's what I think about something for a few minutes. Here's what he thought about something for a few minutes. It wasn't as back and forth. I just thought it was kind of an episode unto itself. And so the message of I didn't like that was the first one I got of the day, which, by the way, to all of you listening. It's lovely to wake up in the morning, work so hard at something and hear somebody be like, that sucks. Like,
Bella 48:15
oh, man, but I'm okay. That's a day. ruiner
Scott Benner 48:19
No, no, no, not anymore. I know how to. I just I wrote her. I was like, Alright, it's his opinion. He didn't like it. And then I started wondering, I wonder if I'll hear back from anybody else. And then I started getting other messages from people. That was great. A guy on Instagram goes, best episode you've ever put out. And I was like, Boy, that's the interesting thing right there. Because this was neither neither of the best or worst episode I've ever made. But for them, it was.
Bella 48:45
Yeah. And I understand that completely. And it's so interesting, because you never know how someone's going to take it. So like you said, for someone that was absolutely horrible, which I don't think that I don't get how that would that one was a bad episode. Because if anything, it was informative, if someone didn't really understand what's going on with insulin pricing. And the other thing he was talking about, give me
Scott Benner 49:09
give me a sec. So interesting. You, you do know how, because we talked about it earlier, because I spoke a lot. And he probably didn't feel like I was given the other guy room to talk, which I feel like I did, probably grew
Bella 49:23
i guess i get that
Scott Benner 49:24
he probably got that probably grew up with a parent who dominated the other one and didn't let the other one speak. Or he works for a guy who dominates people and doesn't let them speak. Or, or or or there's some sensitivity. He had to that thing, and I don't begrudge him that I think that's completely reasonable. You know what I mean? But but also in fairness, it wasn't like he was like, and I'm never listening again. He was just like, I loved the podcast, but you know, I didn't think this was good.
Bella 49:53
Interesting, but you know, that does make sense and instead of just, you know, taking that situation and You know, asking himself why it bothered him, he decided to tell you that it bothered him. And I also
Scott Benner 50:06
don't want to. This is a two step statement. I don't want to hear everyone's thoughts because that would overwhelm me. But I do like getting feedback. And it was Yeah. You know what I mean? It was helpful, because when I got done when I was finished with the Edit, I was like, Yeah, I did talk a lot here. But I felt like that the content overwhelmed the pacing. So I was just like, I'm gonna let it go out just like this.
Bella 50:31
Yeah. And I also think, I mean, in that situation, specifically, like, that was a long episode. And I think it also could have been even longer. Because I think with a subject like that both of you guys probably could have talked and talked and talked.
Scott Benner 50:44
Yeah, no, I think Cameron, I probably. So here's the other thing Cameron's amazing. But he's also. And this was the first time I had ever spoken to him. But he struck me as a little reserved. And so when people are a little more reserved, they don't they have a hard time projecting, they want someone to I don't know, like, I don't know what I mean, right. They're like, there's one of these things where I have a sense about something while I'm recording the podcast that I can't put into words, but some people, some people start out nervous, and they need to be, you know, relaxed, and then they find their groove. Some people will fumble for words forever and can't find them, but they know what they're saying. So you just have to give them time and let them go. And some people are just polite, and they don't play people sometimes don't initiate.
Bella 51:33
I do get that and you have to coax it out of them kind of
Scott Benner 51:36
Yeah, or I have to get you know, in that case, I found myself getting real worked up. And then when I got worked up, Cameron said something. I was like, God, I agree with that guy. And then so he liked it. And so it would go back and forth. And I don't know, I felt like it went well. And I'm not apologizing for i thought was a good episode.
Bella 51:52
Yeah, you shouldn't apologize for what you put out. That's great.
Scott Benner 51:55
That's not good. Do you know,
Bella 51:56
unless you do actually have something worth apologizing for, then of course, I would hope that you apologize.
Scott Benner 52:01
I have so far I think avoided that. I don't have a lot of thoughts that I believe that if you heard I would have to apologize for so that's that's why they're not slipping out. Because I'm not holding. It's not like I'm talking right now and about to say something horrible. But I'm stopping myself. You know,
Bella 52:16
I would hope so that would be I would not be ideal,
Scott Benner 52:18
where you'd be upset. You'd be like, I like podcasts. I like that guys, actually.
Bella 52:22
Yeah, I know exactly. I would leave this conversation and be like, man, I don't think that Oh, that really didn't live up to my expectation. Imagine
Scott Benner 52:30
if like after the recording, I shut it off. And I was like, so. I don't know. I pick some like, you know, some group of people and I was like, how bad are they? Hmm. Wait, what? No, you can't have my episode.
Unknown Speaker 52:45
Exactly. People.
Scott Benner 52:47
Well, well, what do you like today? How do you manage your blood sugar's today? Like you said your blood your even season the fives.
Bella 52:55
Yeah, my ANC has been in the fives for over a year. Now. My, I just got it done a couple weeks ago when I was 5.4, which I was kind of. I wasn't frustrated, but I was a little frustrated because it was 5.1 previously, so I was like, man, it went up. But honestly, I should not be sweating a point three increase. That's ridiculous.
Scott Benner 53:17
But I'm not a doctor, but 5154 I think you're okay.
Bella 53:21
Yeah, exactly. But so I managed. So right now I'm on Medtronic. And I'm currently switching over. I just got my Dexcom a couple days ago, but I'm not using it yet, because I'm getting the T slim. Um, and I don't want to use the sensors until I have this T slim because I don't know, I just don't want to waste them. But I yeah, I'm on Medtronic. Right now I have the 670 G. And so I first got on that 2018. And my mom wanted me to get it for auto mode, because I was going I was studying in New Zealand for a semester. So she was like, I think this will be helpful for you. yada yada. And so I got that I used auto mode for the entirety. I was in New Zealand for like six months, and it sucks. And I would be I would just it was horrible. Like I would wake up in the sensor would tell me that I was like 130 and I checked my blood sugar and I'd actually be like, 170 and I'm like sweet because that's really gonna do some good for my health in the long run. Um,
Scott Benner 54:21
so I imagine that Medtronic has like designated a person to listen to this podcast, everyone comes out and says stuff like that. I always feel like bad a little,
Bella 54:33
honestly. Okay, I do appreciate Medtronic because they have a very good financial assistance program. So they really helped me out with that. But then their sensor just could use some work. And I'm also interested though, so when I start using the Dexcom I really hope that I don't have things to say about it like I do with Medtronic, because if that's the case, I'm just going to be I'm just going to throw up my arms and say okay, I guess you can't win.
Scott Benner 55:01
Here's what I can tell you about Dexcom my daughter's a one c matches my expectations based on our readings.
Unknown Speaker 55:07
Okay,
Scott Benner 55:08
that's good. That's how I that's how I judge anything.
Bella 55:11
Yeah. And that's a really good point. Yeah.
Scott Benner 55:13
So I get what I expect. And if it's telling me this, and that's what's happening at the end. I mean, listen, can Arden's blood sugar be 110? When it's really 95? Or it's gonna say it's 95? When it's really 110? I'm sure that happens. Oh, yeah. But in the end, Arden has a stable steady a one C in the fives for I think we're coming up on six or seven years, I've
Unknown Speaker 55:38
lost track. So great.
Scott Benner 55:39
Yeah. So it works well for us. And I listen, I don't doubt there are people whose body chemistry doesn't jive with it. Like I'm sure those people exist as well, you know?
Bella 55:50
Yeah. But I'm excited to switch over I am. I yeah, I just think it'll be good for a switch. I've been on a Medtronic pump since I was in sixth grade. So it's been a while, but I wasn't using a sensor until I was like, until 2000, like 16. So I went a long time without using a sensor.
Scott Benner 56:12
Wow, that's I listen. That's how that's how things go. You know, stuff gets better. And people come online slowly. And eventually, everyone who can afford it, who wants it? I will have it. I think as long as they know about it.
Bella 56:28
Having a sensor is just so important. Like if I I really hope that like I can't imagine being on injections, I think that would be really overwhelming for me. But I also, if I had to choose between a pump or a sensor, I think I would have to choose a sensor because I can see what's going on. Like, I don't want to test my blood sugar's 20 times a day, just so I can see what's going on.
Scott Benner 56:52
Yeah, no, I listen to if you know, it's sort of like a false choice, because you don't have to choose between a CGM and a pump. But if you did, I I'd have trouble disagreeing with that. I'd go I go Dexcom before I would have a pump.
Unknown Speaker 57:07
Yeah,
Scott Benner 57:08
yeah, I think it just, you know, it makes sense. Hey, earlier. Earlier, you said something that I want to remember, and I didn't write it down. And now I'm like, I'm sitting here thinking like, what was it? I'm so sorry. Um, give me a second. I'll make that noise that makes people think of things. Ah, I think I think you said already, but I want to make sure that I'm right. Okay, what was the value of the podcast for you?
Bella 57:37
Oh, okay. So this podcast has been great on to two levels of initially, it gave me the tools to, you know, be bold with insulin, but to really give myself insulin in a smarter way, in a way that works with my body in a way that works with my food. So it was immensely helpful for that. And I will always be grateful for that. But I think that it's also given me this weird sense of community that I don't really have. And everyone talks about how it's so important for diabetics to have community within the diet with other diabetics. And in person in real life, I don't really know many diabetics. But I, it's so comforting to listen to your show. And especially when it's people, you know, my age a little bit younger, into, you know, like people into their 30s to like, the younger generation. And it's also it's nice to hear, so like some of the parents talking about their kids, but I really connect with one or two people just talking about themselves and their own experiences with it. And it gives me a sense of community. And I think that is, that's just so valuable. And I really appreciate that i'm
Scott Benner 58:53
glad i 100% believe that community in any way that it manifests itself for you is very important. I also really appreciate that people listen to the show, because it allows me to do something that I don't think most of you listening would imagine is difficult to accomplish. But Bella just said, I like to hear from kids a little younger than me a little older than me people my age. But I also like to listen to parents, but you hesitated on that a little bit. Like maybe that's not as good for you as it is hearing like people living with diabetes.
Unknown Speaker 59:27
Yeah,
Scott Benner 59:28
if you guess if everyone didn't listen with the veracity that they do, I'd get penned in. And I'd have to make a decision. Like this is just going to be a podcast for the parents of kids with diabetes. This is just going to be a podcast for the for adults living with diabetes, because because stuff like this dies quickly. And if I if I put four episodes out in a row that nobody is willing to listen to. I can't keep making the podcast.
Unknown Speaker 59:55
Yeah, well, that's
Bella 59:56
actually really funny that you say because I remember This summer, I was talking to a co worker. And I was like, Yeah, like, what kind of podcast do you listen to? And he was like, yada, yada. What do you like to listen to? And I was like, Oh, I listened to this diabetes podcast on top of other podcasts. But I obviously mentioned this one. And he was like, What doesn't that get old? Like, don't you run out of things to talk about? And I was just like, I felt offended. I was like, Well, you know, when you have an illness that doesn't go away, you'd be surprised at how much there really is to talk about?
Scott Benner 1:00:28
Yeah. Oh, I listen. I was, excuse me, I, I've said it on here a couple of times. But I spoke to somebody as I was doing this. And so before podcasts exist, there was something called like, blog talk radio. And it was like, the audio was bad. Like it was coming over a phone line. And but it was it was interesting. And I talked to this guy who had a blog talk radio show about diabetes have to clear my throat. Wow, I'm so sorry. And he, he was like, Oh, I think you'd be great at this. I'd been a guest on his show. While I was selling my book. And he, he's like, Oh, I think you'd be great at it. But his one piece of advice ended up being I don't know, it wasn't it didn't ring true in the end is like you'll run out of things to talk about eventually. That's what happened to me. And, and so I began this journey, thinking that it had a finite end. I think you can even hear it. I'll say it. Like in earlier episodes, I don't know how long you can keep this going. And now I don't believe that at all. Now, I believe exactly what you just said, I think I could make this podcast forever. And I think it would be just as popular if not more popular than it is right now. Because people think so always need to have conversations. And and I hope that I make this more than just about diabetes. I feel like I do.
Bella 1:01:51
I think you do, I think, yeah, I definitely do. And I think that that's good, too. Because I listen to it. And you know, I get to hear about people's experiences that live. I mean, you get some people from all over the place that come on here. Yeah. And you have different experiences and who different things who do different things. And I definitely think you make about more than diabetes, which is also great, because living with diabetes, you can't let it be the all consuming thing, like you're so much more like I'm so much more than just a person with diabetes, like diabetes affects how I do everything. Yeah, but I mean, I'm still I mean, I'm diabetes is just one thing, but I am so it can't be all that you talk about.
Scott Benner 1:02:33
I think that I agree. And I appreciate you saying that I just recorded the other day with a woman in Israel, who was just just diagnosed recently as an adult. A cellist you know, who is a classically trained musician. You know, and you and I think you all have equally valuable things to bring to the show.
Bella 1:02:55
Yeah, I think so. You were really well, so thing I don't think it'll ever end because people are you gonna keep wanting to come on and talk to you.
Scott Benner 1:03:02
I just have to make enough money that I can hire I you know, I say this, like, I was gonna say an editor, but that's not true. Like, because then I don't know how to teach somebody my sensibility. Oh, yeah, I understand that, you know, you mean, but there are days like I am. There are days that I sit in this chair all day to bring the podcast to you guys. And it's like, oh, my gosh, like, I got one of the things I should go for a walk, I keep thinking about how the podcast is gonna end I'm gonna have a heart attack from not moving around. That's funny. So is there anything that we didn't talk about that you wanted to?
Unknown Speaker 1:03:36
Um,
Bella 1:03:40
I don't think so. But I? No, I don't think so. Because the thing is, like, the people that listen to this podcast care, they care about either someone with diabetes, or they care about their diabetes. And I think the only thing I would want to say is to actually no, I do if you're a parent, to someone with diabetes, or your you love someone's diabetes, I think that you should definitely encourage them to talk about how they feel about it. Ask them if they're okay. And don't just take Yeah, I'm fine for an answer. Because I know personally with me, I would be asked if I was okay as the kid. Um, and I would just be like, Yeah, I'm fine. Like, it's not cancer, but in my head, I was like, screaming, I'm not okay. So I think that's just what I want to put out there. You know, definitely ask those with diabetes, especially the younger ones, you know, how are you feeling? How can I help you?
Scott Benner 1:04:42
I just yeah, I wonder if I wonder how far that goes. Meaning if how far could your mom have pressed you before you would have told her how you felt? I mean, I
Unknown Speaker 1:04:54
you might not know, right? Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:04:56
I I'm here's how I do it. I like hugging. I like to Stop people in the middle of the day and just give them a hug and linger for a minute. You don't even like I'll hug Arden or my son, my wife and people are having, you know, stressful days. And, and of course we all live in the same house out right now in this house. There are four people doing four completely different things in four different rooms. Yeah, because of COVID.
Unknown Speaker 1:05:18
COVID. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:05:19
so everyone's a little like, I don't know, we're all vibrating a little bit, you know, and I think somebody has to hug sometimes just kind of like settles down a little bit. And I do I completely agree with you said. And at the same time, I don't know, like, I've pressed people who I know are struggling with things in my life, and they are not gonna budge over it.
Bella 1:05:40
Yeah, that's a really good point. And I do get what you're saying. Like, as a kid, if I would have been asked and asked again and asked repeatedly what I have said that I wasn't okay. Probably not like it probably would have taken a lot of pushing. And
Scott Benner 1:05:57
build. You know what you never hear on this podcast, you never hear me bring on a quote unquote, expert to answer questions about how we should do things, because I think those are just nice. They're nice concepts. You don't mean like, like, here's one never lie. We should all be kind to each other. treat other people the way you want to be treated. These things are obvious, right? 100% obvious. But people don't do them. Why is that? Yeah. Cuz they don't know. They know Do unto others, right? Like, everybody knows that phrase, you even know, the more you know, even though you don't know why you know it. And so, but how many people actually spend their days just treating people the way they want to be treated?
Bella 1:06:38
Very few? Well, not very few. But less, you know, not everyone. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:06:42
right. It's fewer than you think. And I just think that it's it's a little disingenuous to say, this is how you should run your life. And look, I told them now. So they'll be okay. If you have to have, everyone's got to have some sort of an awakening around everything. Whether it's how you treat people or how you treat yourself, how you manage your insulin, you have to come to it on your own. I've had, I've had people come to me privately. And they're like, I heard you help people sometimes. Can you give me a hand? I helped a woman last week, she was easy. She asked questions, got answers, took the answers, put them in the practice in three days, we were gone. She's amazing. I've also had people fight me every step of the way. And I'll try for a day or two. And then I'm like, Look, you're not ready for this. So I and then I feel terrible. Because I've seen their graphs. And I'm like, now I'm walking away from them. It feels like but I'm not, they're not ready for it. I could stay with them forever. They weren't ready to listen. And one day they either will be or they won't be. And that's not under my control or anyone else's. That's true. That's what I've learned in this podcast so far. Plus, how do we use this? Like editing software? But no, I just think that I think what's obvious, and what you're ready to do two completely different things.
Bella 1:08:09
No, that's really true. That is a great point.
Scott Benner 1:08:12
I don't know. We'll see. So the best you can do. You've already said the answer is model. Gandhi said it right. What did Gandhi say? How do they say? You said you wish your parents would model? What would you talk vulnerability? And you think if they would have you may have picked that up, right? Uh huh. Right. And what do you got to say Be the change you want to see in the world?
Bella 1:08:37
Yes. Yes. Be the change you wish to see. I want to see yes.
Scott Benner 1:08:39
Yeah. So
Bella 1:08:41
yeah, all I can do is be is I want to be
Unknown Speaker 1:08:46
modeling vulnerability. Yeah. And hope people take that from you. Right,
Bella 1:08:51
definitely don't go. Yeah, I agree with that.
Unknown Speaker 1:08:54
Life Cz.
Unknown Speaker 1:08:56
Oh, yeah. Right. Super simple.
Scott Benner 1:08:58
Just seriously, it really is, by the way, just, you know, good intentions. Do the best you can. I honestly run my life on like, a couple of basic ideas. I don't lie if I can help it. And I treat people the way I want to be treated as often as I can.
Bella 1:09:17
Yeah, and those are two very powerful things.
Scott Benner 1:09:20
truly the best I can do. Because otherwise, I've got other things going on too. And sometimes my needs come before your needs. But every, every time I can put you before me. That's my intention. I don't always get it right.
Bella 1:09:34
Yeah, but but we're human. So of course not. I'm just
Scott Benner 1:09:37
shooting for the best. That's all I'll fall short most times, but at least I'm trying. I think yes.
Bella 1:09:42
Trying is the big thing.
Scott Benner 1:09:45
Yeah, I think it resonates with people. And then eventually they grow up and hopefully they'll do the same. I have a little example is that when I leave the house, which I don't do as much anymore Or even when I leave a setting in the house to go to something else, I tell the people around me. And it's not like I'm asking permission or checking in, I'll just be like, Hey, I'm going to go to the store. I expect to be back pretty quickly. Yeah, where I'm going to go to the store, but I got to make a couple stops, I'll be a little longer. I'm going to go upstairs now and work. I don't know why. I think that lends comfort to people. The idea of like, I know where the people I love are. And I think that's kind of important. My son. He's 20. Every time he leaves the house, he's like, Hey, I'm, I'm just hanging out. He doesn't feel like he has to tell me I've never once made him feel like he has to tell me I've never once in my life said to my son, you have to tell me where you're going before you leave the house. But he always does. He just sort of makes his intentions clear as he's moving around. And I think he got that for me. And he doesn't even realize,
Bella 1:10:49
Oh, yeah, most definitely. That makes complete sense. You can do that with other stuff. Yes, you can. Oh, I love that. That's a good. I mean, I I feel like that's something that I know already. But I don't think about and that's very true. You can't do that with other stuff.
Scott Benner 1:11:03
Well, once you make a baby ballot, and your intention is to not screw it up royally. You'll start having the thoughts more consciously.
Bella 1:11:10
Oh, man. Yeah. We'll see though. We'll see if that. I got a while.
Scott Benner 1:11:13
Yeah. Oh, please, man. Good advice. Your mom waited a 40 I might have been too long. But early 30s.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:22
Nothing wrong with that. Oh, yeah, definitely.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:25
I'm not I'm not thinking about my Russian.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:30
Is there a boy?
Bella 1:11:31
Oh, sorry. I didn't hear that. No, no, there's not. Okay. Good, but that would be great, too. So but one thing before the other. Of course, I don't
Scott Benner 1:11:39
even know how people in your generation are gonna end up pregnant.
Bella 1:11:42
Oh, man. I don't know parent. I mean, especially with everyone uses dating websites. I hate that.
Scott Benner 1:11:49
Yeah, I mean, listen, as far as I know, you can't get pregnant through tic tocs. You guys are screwed.
Bella 1:11:53
Oh, no. Okay, so I think tic tocs a little earlier. Well, I think tic tocs earlier than my generation. But I do have think like I have friends that use it. But I don't. I'm not on the TIC Tock.
Scott Benner 1:12:03
Yeah, you know, when some guy slides up in your DMS, he can't actually slide up to where the babies get made. You understand? That doesn't work, though. Yeah, I'm
Bella 1:12:10
very well aware of that for you. Yeah, social media. That's,
Scott Benner 1:12:15
I'll tell you, if I could do one thing. I, if you put me in charge of something you're like, just make some blanket decision that you think will help the world. I think I would take social media away.
Bella 1:12:27
Honestly, I think that would be so interesting, because I think that we would be forced, especially my generation younger, we'd be forced to do things in person. And we'd be so much more personable. And we wouldn't have so much phone anxiety. And I think that would be great. But then also, like we've talked about social media has so many benefits. And there's a lot of glide. I think the costs sometimes outweigh those benefits. Sometimes the popularity
Scott Benner 1:12:55
of the podcast is because people have the ability to tell each other about it.
Unknown Speaker 1:12:59
Yeah.
Bella 1:13:00
So I mean, I wouldn't have found it if someone hadn't posted about it most likely, because it's not like I was searching the internet for like, diabetes podcast.
Scott Benner 1:13:09
Okay. All right. Obviously, I can't take social media while hurt the podcast, but I maybe I would say like, you know, let's not spend so many the scrolling and double tapping on Instagram is maddening to me. I'm always like, Did you see the picture? What? What are you doing? Just giving out likes? It's weird. You know,
Bella 1:13:27
I agree. It's an odd thing. Yeah.
Scott Benner 1:13:30
I don't know. Y'all are listening. And I gotta tell you one thing, you don't realize it's gonna go away. Yeah, there, there have been social media platforms in the past that have been incredibly popular and have
Bella 1:13:42
Oh, yeah, like my space. My Space was my jam as a kid as a kid, but kind of as a kid. No, no one uses my space anymore.
Scott Benner 1:13:50
No, your little animated GIFs and your sparklies and stuff. Like that was exciting, I would imagine. Yep. Yeah, there'll be something else. There will be. Alright, golly, you are really great. I appreciate you doing this. I'm going to go now and eat some breakfast and prepare for recording at one o'clock with Dr. Paul salad. Dini Sala I should figure out how to say his name before Saladino. Okay. He is an MD, who has a book about eating carnivore. And I think I'm going to use it to his recording to add to the how we eat ideas. I've got a few recorded now and I want to add nice.
Bella 1:14:36
I'm excited for those. I think those will be interesting.
Scott Benner 1:14:38
I have a good one that's plant based. That's recorded already. I have a keto one that's recorded already. This one will be you know, carnivore, he doesn't have type one. But I'm making an exception here because he's a sort of an expert in the fields. Want to hear if that makes sense. Yeah, but I'm dying. I leave I'm leaving this in your episode. Because if if you have a specific way of eating that you can really Talk about the highs and lows and the benefits of please let me know because I want I want more of that on the show.
Bella 1:15:07
Yeah, I mean, I am a vegetarian, but I don't think my diets that special.
Scott Benner 1:15:14
Are you like a vegetarian? Like you really eat vegetables? Are you a vegetarian? Like you're gonna have like a pop tart now when you get done?
Bella 1:15:21
No, I eat I go through phases, but I eat pretty good, generally speaking, like, I had an apple and a banana, and some peanut butter for breakfast, but I and I read the mastering diabetes book. And I thought that was great. Cool. But also, it's hard to cut out fat completely. So, you know,
Scott Benner 1:15:44
I think it's hard to do anything completely. Yeah. And I think that there are a lot of people who have like, there's a way to eat, there's a way to eat, it seems to me like it would be very difficult to keep that going forever. And maybe I think so maybe it wouldn't be for some people. But, you know, I listen, I made a decision. On today's Thursday, I made a decision last Friday that I was going to cut carbs out for a week, just to kind of reset myself because my body begins to hold, retain water. If I have Yeah, I have too many carbs. I'm seven pounds lighter today than I was last Friday.
Bella 1:16:20
That's wild. But carbs are so thick. We need carbs. I don't know
Scott Benner 1:16:25
if we need them or not Bella, because I'm not like, like the knower of everything. But what I can tell you is I want a piece of bread so badly.
Bella 1:16:33
Oh, I know. I bet I had I had garlic bread last night with my dinner. So I understand that I had
Scott Benner 1:16:41
a cheeseburger last night without a roll. And as horrible I was like, this is like I'm gonna beat this out. But I was like, this is like having, right No, I'm not gonna be no.
Bella 1:16:50
Yeah, no, that's disgusting. It's so
Scott Benner 1:16:53
like, just I'm just gonna do this, but I'm not nothing about it was enjoyable.
Bella 1:16:58
Yeah, I can't imagine eating a burger without a bun. Well, mine would be a fake hamburger, which is also horrible for you. But I don't eat those all the time.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:08
All right, well,
Scott Benner 1:17:09
I'll get a vegetarian on at some point. I thought I had one that I missed. But
Bella 1:17:12
well, if you ever need one, I do. Like I could talk about it. But I don't know what I would. I don't know, I would have to think about what I actually know. Yeah, I have
Scott Benner 1:17:20
been a vegetarian for like four years. So I have some time. You know, I had someone come on and record a whole episode about being low carb and and called me or sent me a message four days later and said, don't run that episode. I did not do justice to the idea of low carb eating. Oh, so I am gonna be very careful to make sure that I have people that really feel like they can can articulate the position. You know what I mean? Yeah,
Bella 1:17:42
I don't know what I would say. Oh, I'd have to think it over.
Scott Benner 1:17:45
No more. Don't know what I'm gonna say. Bella, if you want to be back on again. Okay. Okay. All right. Good. So I go enjoy your day. And thank you so much for doing this.
Bella 1:17:54
Thank you. Thank you for your time. I really appreciate it.
Scott Benner 1:17:56
I appreciate it. Take care.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:58
Okay, well have a great day. You too.
Scott Benner 1:18:05
A huge thank you to one of today's sponsors. Je Vogue glucagon, find out more about chivo Kibo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juice box, you spell that GVOKEGL Uc ag o n.com. forward slash juicebox. I'd also like to thank the Contour Next One blood glucose meter for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at Contour Next one.com forward slash juice box. There are links to these and all the sponsors at Juicebox Podcast comm or if you're listening in a podcast app in the show notes of your app, they're right there. Thanks for listening. Thanks for subscribing, where you're listening. Thanks for telling friends about the podcast. Thanks for leaving great reviews where you listen, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it. And that's pretty much it. All right. Thank you, I guess Bella? Yeah, I did everything I meant to do. I'll see in the next one.
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