When my diabetic patients ask me what they should eat for optimal health, my advice is stop eating ‘plant’ food. Of course the plant food, I’m referring to is the pre-packaged food made in processing plants; factory food. Mankind has been eating food for a million years. We’re making healthy eating harder than it has to be. In his book “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual”, Michael Pollan offers this advice: “If it comes from a plant eat it, if it’s made at a plant, don’t”. Your most important tool then for staying healthy is your fork. You truly are what you eat.
Living with a chronic condition is difficult. Depression is twice as common in diabetic patients as in the general population. Every day, they face challenges that can wear them down. It’s easy for them to become discouraged or feel overwhelmed, struggling to take action, leading to Diabetes Burnout. Helping patients find and maintain their motivation is the foundation of any successful self-care action plan.
Last month I introduced the 5Ms, a diabetes self-care model designed to empower patients by introducing tools that support their efforts to better manage blood sugars.
In last month’s blog I described the importance of early intervention when dealing with chronic conditions like diabetes. Early intervention at the point of diagnosis will set the stage and help your patient understand that a positive clinical outcome is a shared responsibility. Of course, to take advantage of this “Teachable Moment” you’ll need a common sense plan that’s as easy to explain as it is to understand and follow.
As clinicians we face the unenviable task of delivering distressful diagnoses to patients. When the diagnosis involves a chronic condition such as diabetes, it’s important to take the time to go beyond simple explanations of the disease process, and offer the patient an understandable, workable roadmap for successful management of their disease.
