The Quick Fix?

During a recent 5-day Stopping Diabetes Workshop, a patient presented me with a packet of material for review and comment.  The information was professional in appearance and design, marketing a product that claimed to be a solution for the chief complaint of most diabetics - fatigue.  According to the material, all one needs to do is consume 1 to 3 servings of their "energy drink" per day, at a cost of $1 per serving, and fatigue will disappear.  What is this amazing product?  Nothing more than an effervescent multivitamin, priced 10 to 20 times higher than standard, and comparable, multivitamin pills.  A multivitamin will not treat the underlying cause of your fatigue, nor will it help your diabetes or weight problem.

Fatigue does commonly accompany diabetes, and can be caused by a variety of factors: being overweight, sedentary, or depressed; and in uncontrolled diabetes it may be due to an inability to efficiently convert blood sugar into energy. 

In my clinical experience, most patients with type 2 diabetes feel a total lack of control over their disease, and with that lack of control comes depression and fatigue.  The ultimate solution is to gain control.  There is a way to do this, but it is not found in a pill, an energy drink, or any other "quick fix."  Gradual weight loss, acheived by eating high-fiber foods as recommended in The Full Plate Diet, combined with becoming more physically active, will cause blood sugars to lower and become stable.  What follows is a sense of control and hope, and you realize "I can do this!"  Energy levels increase as a result.  Making big changes is not required - even taking small steps can lead to big results.

Today this is what you need to do - eat more fiber and take a 15-minute stroll after every meal. 


The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

Today is always the most important day of your life

You can't live in the yesterdays or the tomorrows of time.  You may have good memories of the past, or great anticipation of the future, but today is the day you are living.  It is today that choices will be made, and results obtained.  Because of that reason, it will always be the most important day there is. 

So what does this have to do with your health?  Everything!  You can't change the past.  Likewise, you can't live in the future.  To try to do so is a waste of time and effort.  But the decisions you make today, the most important day of your life, will be the ones that can begin to restore you.  Most decisions we face are not big, however little ones can have big consequences.  The secret is in making the best decision most of the time, when it counts the most - today.  If you do this, every tomorrow you experience will be better than all of the yesterdays.

Stay posted - you will learn how to be an expert decision-maker, and can be on your way to looking and feeling better than ever before.


The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.