Diabetes
Introduction
“Matt, what would you do if you were at risk from diabetes?”
– anyone at risk from diabetes
This page contains what I’d do. This is what I’d tell my family and friends. The risk from diabetes could be that you’re already a diabetic or on the path. Watch the video. Use the resources.
The video is a condensed version of the best advice I’ve applied from all these resources. But the resources know this topic better. If you’re motivated to reduce your risk and take action, consume the information directly from the best sources. Watch the video first if you want an overview and pointers to specific resources.
Reduce Risk
Watch the video below or read my current top five ways to reduce diabetes risk whether you’re already a diabetic, pre-diabetic, overweight, or have a family history of diabetes. If you’re motivated to change, implementing these actions will add years to your life, prevent diabetes if you don’t have it, and significantly reduce your risk of complications if you do. With that said, it’s a long video. So don’t watch it for fun. Watch it because you need to learn more and up your diabetes game like I did in the last few years.
Now this is a long video. You won’t want to watch if you’re not motivated. And even if you are you might want to skip around. Go to 8:40 for the overview of the five actions or read the article with direct links to specific actions in the video.
Hearing some of this information is hard so be prepared. I accepted the harsh truth that I would likely live a shorter life and deal with awful complications from diabetes if I wasn’t uber-motivated to avoid them and took action every day to reduce the risk. If you’re not there, you might not like what you find. Come back when you’re ready.
I’ve lived almost twenty-five years free of major diabetes complications. My A1c is down to 5.5% from a 6% lifetime average with less than 3% time low from these actions. And most importantly my glucose is stable and more predictable. I don’t waste as much time high or low. I spend less time thinking about diabetes. I have less headaches. My sleep is better. Life is better.
Resources
This list is big and will get bigger over time. If I were a diabetic, at risk of getting diabetes, or a parent of one of those two wondering where to start, I’d order the Dr. Bernstein book first. Then listen to the Dr. Attia podcast with Dr. Jake Kushner if I’m Type 1 or Dr. Jason Fung if I’m Type 2 or at-risk. And then get one of Fung’s books if you’re Type 2. I’d start with The Diabetes Code.
Dr. Bernstein
- Read book excerpts
- Buy Diabetes Solution book
- Watch Bernstein YouTube videos
- Join Type I Grit Facebook group
Diatribe
- 42 Factors that Affect Blood Glucose
- What’s a Normal A1c? When Is It Misleading?
- Going Beyond A1c – One Outcome Can’t Do it All
- Time in Range
- Standard Deviation et al
- Top Ten Articles of All Time
Peter Attia
Attia does not focus just on diabetes but if you’re interested in living longer and healthier and appreciate the perspective of a doctor-engineer, check out his website and podcast The Drive. Sign up for a membership for a month to access several excellent AMAs (ask me anythings), short-form podcasts, and show notes on diabetes topics.
- Insulin Resistance – This is a collection of articles, short, and long-form podcasts on insulin resistance and how to prevent and mitigate it.
- Dr. Jake Kushner (pediatric endocrinologist) particularly for low-carb benefits for Type 1
- Dr. Jason Fung (The Obesity Code, The Diabetes Code, The Complete Guide to Fasting) on fasting particularly for Type 2
- Dr. Ronesh Sinha on metabolic syndrome which is another great listen
- Dr. Sarah Hallberg on carb restriction for reversing obesity/Type 2, the importance of treating early, fatty acids overview, and metabolic markers
- Kevin Sayer (Dexcom CEO) for continuous glucose monitors (CGM)
- AMA: Deep dive into blood glucose – why A1c might catch diabetes risk too late, why to focus on the lowest average glucose, variability, and number of peaks, glucose dips and/or suppression of fatty acids may predict hunger/energy intake
- AMA: Losing fat and gaining fat, the lessons of fat flux – particularly informative for Type 2s or those at-risk including a point on most patients in this situation needing to fix multiple issues with multiple tactics including sleep, stress, cortisol, thyroid, and other hormonal issues, carb restriction, prolonged fasting, etc
- Buy a premium membership for a month to listen to all the old AMA podcasts with great information on keto, fasting, and diabetes and download the full show notes.
- Check the topics page for more podcasts, articles, and email blogs on fasting, ketosis, sleep and other topics helpful for diabetes management. The disease page has the most on diabetes but includes other diseases too,
- Reverse engineered approach to human longevity – this is not specifically focused on diabetes but has a good overall model for thinking about how to live a healthy life.
Loop
- FAQ and equipment needed
- Setup documentation
- Main code repo
- LoopTips for tuning and education
- Facebook Group
Keto
Dominic D’Agostino
- Attia podcast
- Attia AMA Part I
- Tim Ferriss podcast I
- Tim Ferriss podcast II
- Joe Rogan podcast I
- Joe Rogan podcast II
- Rhona Patrick podcast
Phinney and Volek
Fasting
- Attia fasting podcasts and articles
- Zero fasting app and education
- Dr. Jason Fung Attia podcast and The Complete Guide to Fasting
Research Articles
My Articles
- Five actions to reduce diabetes risk
- Achieve normal blood sugar
- First multi-day fast
- Four ways to battle sugar
- Eat less sugar story
- Eat more fat
- Eat more veg habit
- Eat more veg story
- Older articles
My Habits
Besides the articles above see my habits page for more articles to help with the facets of managing diabetes and life.
- Movement and exercise
- Mental health
- Sleep
Diabetes has a large mental health component. Diabetics are much more likely to have anxiety and depression. Recharging helps. Managing stress helps. Moving more (and thinking less) helps. Good sleep helps.
Speeches
- Rise Above – brief story at the beginning of my diabetes diagnosis
- Create a healthy habit – one way I build habits to improve diabetes or anything
- Five actions to reduce diabetes risk – this is the same video as the top of this page
