{"id":428,"date":"2019-03-05T13:10:49","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T18:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/?p=428"},"modified":"2019-03-05T13:10:49","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T18:10:49","slug":"the-acceptance-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/2019\/03\/05\/the-acceptance-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"The Acceptance Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was recently diagnosed as Diabetic. I’m still processing that news. I guess at some point in everyone’s life, bad news about one’s health is inevitable. After all, no one lives forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My surprise came at the fact that I do not fit the profile of a Type-2 diabetic; I’m not overweight (5’10”, 147 lbs. a BMI of 21.1 – smack dab in the middle of “normal”), I don’t drink alcohol, sugary beverages, smoke, dine at fast-food restaurants, am relatively active, and feel great! But there it was: blood tests showed my hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c, also referred to simply as A1C) level at 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to WebMD<\/a>, a normal A1C reading is below 5.6. 5.7 to 6.4 suggests a pre-diabetes condition, and anything over is 100% diabetic. My test at 13 showed I had over twice the level of glycolated hemoglobin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HbA1c Readings<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So, in the face of immediate denial, I thought back on my behaviors over the past year. Sure, I don’t drink soda pop or eat greasy fast food, but I have been gorging on Starburst candies, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and lots of ice cream. Add pasta, rice and potato dishes more often than not, and there was certainly a recipe for disaster!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Starburst Candies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The “mini” size<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A wake-up call, for sure! Here I am, a former marathon runner, getting old, sedentary and careless about my diet. My second thought, post-denial, is that diabetes is one condition that is managed by self-care. There are some, like Joel Fuhrman, MD<\/a>, who believe that Type-2 diabetes is completely reversible!<\/em> This is accomplished by adopting a new way of eating — a “nutritarian” approach, that focuses not on macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates), but on food that are dense with nutrients, phytochemicals, vitamins, etc. He has a simple formula: H = N \/ C, where H is health, N is nutrients and C is calories. Focusing on macronutrients means counting calories. Focusing on micronutrients automatically reduces calorie intake and feeds (literally) the body what it needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a lot of (often contradictory) information and advice online. While I’ve been researching, I’ve also started building a healthcare “team.” I now have a primary care physician, a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), an endocrinologist, and a dietician. In addition, I include my dentist, eyecare doctor and dermatologist. I will likely add a podiatrist to the list. But the “boss” of my health care is ME<\/strong><\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in running, this battle will not be a sprint, but a marathon. I may experience setbacks, but I’m determined to lick this condition!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was recently diagnosed as Diabetic. I’m still processing that news. I guess at some point in everyone’s life, bad news about one’s health is inevitable. After all, no one lives forever. My surprise came at the fact that I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,20,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dining","category-health","category-running"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":431,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfna.org\/rfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}