We’re talking about ‘Eating Right, Being Bright’ during the Holidays with musical inspiration from Harry Connick Jr. and his 16-piece big band on this podcast.
The holiday season can present problems for those living with diabetes. Add a global pandemic, and it’s even more challenging. Continuous care and support are essential to staying on track with your diabetes wellness goals throughout the holidays.
Harry Connick, Jr. is among today’s most successful and multi-talented artists and has garnered acclaim in music and acting. He won both Grammy and Emmy awards, as well as received Tony nominations. His album, Harry for the Holidays, features some of Harry’s best Christmas music, including the Bourbon Street-inspired renditions of Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easyis the go-to resource on why, what, and how much to eat for people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Readers find cut-to-the-chase advice in three easy-to-digest sections. Section one is: Nutrition and Health Eating Basics. Section two is: Foods by Group, in-depth detail about each food group, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, sweets and desserts, and convenience foods. Section three is: Putting Healthy Eating for Diabetes Control into Action, covering how to preplan, supermarket shop, read food and nutrition labels, eat healthier restaurant meals, and much more.
This year Harry Connick Jr. released his fourth holiday album, Make It Merry, featuring Harry’s definitive take on Christmas classics, including Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Jingle Bells, as well as newly-recorded versions of his originals and fan favorites like (It Must’ve Been Ol’) Santa Clausand When My Heart Finds Christmas, alongside two brand-new, original songs. Make It Merry is the first of the original songs, along with On This Christmas Morning, set to be featured on the album.
Throughout the podcast, we feature music from Harry For The Holidays album courtesy of SONY Music. Harry Connick, Jr.’s second Christmas album, Harry for The Holidays, is as much a salute to his New Orleans musical roots as it is to the season.
“Usually, my first thought in the morning is what’s my blood sugar?” says our friend Rachel Zinman, who has been living with type 1 diabetes for thirteen years. After that, the Yoga For Diabetes author tells herself, “I have to get up, get my meter and check my blood sugar levels.”
Before she adopted diabetes psychologist Mark HeymanCDCES’s “diabetes might be challenging, but I’ve got this” motto, Rachel viewed the numbers on her meter as judgments. Now, she sees her morning blood sugar levels more or less as just numbers. As a result, she doesn’t take them so personally.
“Working with my diabetes educator taught me to manage my diabetes in terms of a balance beam rather than a tightrope,” she admits.
Now, Rachel shifts her mindset when she experiences high or low blood sugars. “I don’t think I will fall off a tightrope. I’ve learned I’ve got room to change things and open up my range like I’m on a balance beam. That has really changed how I feel. I feel better. I feel like I have a lot more freedom with food and insulin.”
She confesses she’s blown away that she can enjoy her favorite breakfast food, avocado toast with normal blood sugars!
Rachel shares a guided meditation on January’s Divabetic podcast scheduled for Tuesday, January 11, 2022, with music by Teddy Pendergrass, as part of our New Year’s tradition to help center listeners’ minds, bodies, and souls.
Click HEREto read the three things that help Rachel Zinman start her day with a positive mind frame.
Everyone might think that all smoothies are ‘healthy’ but that’s just a bit of wishful drinking. In reality, many of the most readily available smoothies in America also contain the most calories, added sugars and carbohydrates.
We encourage people with diabetes to be mindful of carbohydrate intake in their smoothie, as this is what will directly affect blood sugars, rather than rely on a bunch of fancy terms like ‘superfood’ , ‘green’, and ‘detox’ to quill any suspicions before taking a sip.
Thankfully, our friend, Jill Weisenberger MS, RDN, CDE, CHWC, FAND agreed to share a few quick facts on smoothies for our Divabetic blog readers prior to our zoom outreach event.
Q: Will fruit smoothies spike blood sugars?
Jill Weisenberger (JW): Anything with carbohydrates has the potential to spike blood sugar levels for people with diabetes, Certainly fruit, especially blenderized fruit, can do that. So the key is what else is in your smoothie.
Q: Jill, are smoothies in general as healthy as most people seem to believe?
JW: Smoothies can be an excellent way to get health-boosting, disease-fighting nutrients from fruits and vegetables. However, the wrong kind of smoothie can be a bad choice for people with diabetes, especially when eating out. There’s an infinite number of smoothies you can make, so each person is bound to find several healthy combinations they like.
Are you wondering if smoothies will spike your blood sugars?
The American Diabetes Association recommends checking your blood sugars one to two hours after you start eating and/or drinking to capture the peak level of your blood glucose.
Keep in mind that blood glucose results often trigger emotions. Blood glucose numbers can make you feel angry, frustrated, and/or blue. Knowledge is power: tracking your blood glucose levels is wonderful tool to see how your diabetes care plan is working, and whether you need to adjust your plan with the help of your healthcare professional.
One lucky Divabetic Zoom Party participant will receive their pick of one of Jill Weisenberger’s sensational books (see below) in the random drawing held at the end of our outreach event:
Prediabetes: A Complete Guide leads you through dozens of concrete steps to lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other chronic health problems.
Jill Weisenberger’s candid and energetic approach and her sound nutrition and fitness advice has earned her a place as one of 10 Dietitians You Need to Follow on Social Media in US News & World Report. Jill offers healthy and delicious recipe ideas and nutrition strategies that are based in sound nutrition science. Whether you’re looking for disease prevention or management, nutritious meals that people actually want to eat, or truths (and myths!) about the latest food trends, get reasonable and realistic tips from expert Jill Weisenberger.
We’re excited to announce our December edition of Diabetes Late Nite. Sara (Dr. Mandy) Wilson Reece, PharmD, CDE, BC-ADM is Vice-Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and will stop by the studio to talk about HIV and Diabetes while Kelly Clarkson provides musical inspiration. Join us here on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 from 6 – 7:30 PM.
Wrapped In Red, Kelly Clarkson’s holiday album, inspires us to talk about all things ‘red’ such as the iconic red ribbon worn as a symbol for the solidarity of people living with HIV/AIDS. People with HIV are more likely to have type 2 diabetes than people without HIV and some HIV medicines may increase blood glucose levels and lead to type 2 diabetes.
World AIDS Day is December 1, a fitting occasion to speak with Dr. Mandy about the link between HIV medications and diabetes prior to our podcast interview.
Q: I’ve read that some HIV medicines may increase blood glucose levels and lead to type 2 diabetes. Can you explain why could happen?
Dr. Mandy Reece: Some HIV medication cause insulin resistance with insulin deficiency which increases risk for Type 2 diabetes. Specifically, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) (zidovudine, stavudine and didanosine) and protease inhibitors (indinavir and lopinavir/ritonavir) increase risk for Type 2 diabetes.
Q: Do you feel people taking HIV medicines should check their blood glucose? If so, what do you recommend?
Dr. Mandy Reece: Yes, they should check their blood glucose before they start their medication and then every few months as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health.
According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it is recommended to have either fasting blood glucose or hemoglobin A1c when entering into care for HIV, initiating or modifying antiretrovial therapy and annually if glucose or A1c were in target range at least measurement. Target range is < 5.7% for hemoglobin A1c and <126 mg/dL fasting blood glucose.It is advised to have fasting blood glucose or hemoglobin A1c tested every 3 – 6 months if above target range at last measure.
Q:Dealing with two or more chronic conditions could be complicated and time consuming. What medication organizing tips can you recommend to help make life more manageable?
Dr. Mandy Reece: Personally, my favorite tool for organizing medications is a pill box where medication is stored by day and time of day.It is easy to identify visually if medication has been taken.Many pharmacies have medical refill reminder calls which work wonderfully if you get all of your medications from the same pharmacy. Pharmacies can utilize a medication synchronization system which allows for your getting all refills at same time.Additionally, there various apps such as Round Health, Medisafe -Pill & Med Reminder and Pill Reminder – All in One would provide digital reminder system.Services such as PillPack sorts and organizes medication by dose and timing each dose with monthly delivery.
Q: With the holidays quickly approaching what advice can you give to people about managing their medications during this busy time of year?
Dr. Mandy Reece: Taking time to get organized is absolutely key.An easy way to get organized is to using a pill box or service such PillPack to organize your medications, and utilizing reminder system to follow through on taking medications.Ensure that you have at least a 10 day supply of medication on hand at all times is essential.Remember keeping your health a priority hence taking your medication during this busy season is key as it has lasting effects that you will not see or feel in the moment.
Q: Holiday travel can lead to long delays and/or missing luggage. What advice can you give to traveler’s
Dr. Mandy Reece: Always pack all of your medications in your carry bag rather than checked luggage.It is absolutely vital to have your medication available at all times.
Sara (Dr. Mandy) Wilson Reece, PharmD, CDE, CDE, BC-ADM, vice-chair and associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. ‘Dr. Mandy’ shares practical information about medications for people living with diabetes on her blog, Reece’s Pieces. Follow her on Twitter @ReecesPiecesDi and Instagram ReecesPiecesDI
Don’t miss December’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast featuring music from Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped In Red album courtesy of SONY Music on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 6 PM, EST.
Kelly Clarkson’s inspiring us to lend our ‘voice’ to topics such as the link between HIV medications and type 2 diabetes, how the homeless manage diabetes, great gift ideas for loved ones with diabetes, and how you can lose weight during holidays (!). Plus, one lucky listener tries their luck during Mr. Divabetic’s ‘Wrapped In Red’ Health Game challenge. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Kathy Gold RN, MSN, CDE, FAADE, Glucose Delivery Necklace co-creator Kris Maynard, Dr. Sara (Mandy) Reece, PharmD, CDE, BC=ADM, BCACP, FAADE, Maria Sakowitz, MS, RDN, LDN, CLT, Mama Rose Marie and the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach.
Diabetes Late Niteis a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice that encourages listeners to “laugh a little, learn a lot.”
