GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #36: Indictment of an Insincere Rant I Read In An Old Issue of The Guardian

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

FROM Sunday, December 4, 2022

ANY diet I submit to will be for the remainder of my life. I WILL NOT say I get this whole thing of living with my diabetes yet. I’ve had Culver’s and Dairy Queen treats. I don’t live in a monastery on a mountain top! But I need to control them. I need to substitute FRUITS and vegetables for sauces and rice. Make better menu choices that EMPHASIZE meat and vegetables rather than rice and nacho cheese…(we’re going out tonight, Mexican!)

Like I said, I’m not good at this yet. But I’m working on it. It’s just I have to remind myself that I CAN’T dawdle anymore. This I important. I’ve damaged my body with 65 or so bad habits…

In case you were wondering? This isn’t the last you’ve heard me on the subject of “diet” – and I’m not preaching at you. I’m trying to figure out how to live longer with my diabetes!

ALMOST THREE YEARS LATER…

[As I get a bit ranty in a few paragraphs, I’d like to say that I am NOT a fan of Big Pharma and have been known to rant against THEM at times. But I really, really really dislike insincerity exhibited by people who have a captive and sympathetic audience…]

I now take Ozempic (see LOTS of my previous posts!) and a veritable cornucopia of drugs that help me help me live a happy and productive life.

So, let’s start with the one I’ve had and heard DIRE warnings about. First words from the (OBVIOUSLY EVIL AND ENTIRELY CORRUMPT Pharmaceutical Establishment)

“Metformin-containing medicines are available by prescription only and are used along with diet and exercise help control blood sugar in a number of ways. These include helping the body respond better to the insulin it makes naturally, decreasing the amount of sugar the liver makes, and decreasing the amount of sugar the intestines absorb from food. It is available as a single-ingredient product and also in combination with other medicines used to treat diabetes. See FDA Approved metformin- containing Medicines. Common side effects of metformin include diarrhea, nausea, and upset stomach.”

I’d like to note here that these are ALSO side effects of having children, working a job, eating too much, exercising too much, NOT exercising enough, and tax season.

The deep concerns of others is that metformin will cause Vitamin B12 deficiency, metallic taste, and weight loss (HOW IS THAT A CONCERN??).

The main concern of our fringe friends is “Lactic acidosis, a potentially life-threatening buildup of lactic acid in the blood”. This can make you feel very tired, breathless and faint, so your doctor may check the vitamin B12 level in your blood. If your vitamin B12 levels become too low, vitamin B12 supplements will help.

So, while researching this, I was stunned to read the following in that paragon of British Journalism, THE GUARDIAN: “The American Diabetes Association takes millions from companies that stand to profit from our reliance on drugs. Is that affecting their guidance?”

After several paragraphs of ranting about drug makers and the GLORIES of “just tell people to eat less carbs and no one will need any Type 2 Diabetes drugs ever again!!!!” (That was never written, but constantly and consistently proclaimed)> The closest the author (“Neil Barsky, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and investment manager [and] the founder of The Marshall Project.” (Wikipedia writes: “… a journalism nonprofit intended to shed light on the United States criminal justice system, as well as to promote prison abolition.” How this makes Mr. Barsky an expert on Type 2 Diabetes (he is a Type 2 diabetic), I’m not sure as I’m also a Type 2 Diabetic…) says...in fact stating emphatically is “The ADA is far from the only obstacle to widespread adoption of a low-carb diet. Absent a national health education initiative that links carbohydrates to the diabetes epidemic, low-carb clinicians will be a voice in the wilderness. It can be challenging for many people with diabetes to forgo the breads, sweets, pastas and starches that form the basis of many diets. And given the dearth of healthy eating options on the shelves of many American supermarkets, some clinicians I spoke with, each of whom was dedicated to their patients’ wellbeing, said it was more effective to simply prescribe their patients pharmaceuticals.” (see link below)

So, aside from it being “challenging” to anyone who is Type 2 diabetic; and (really? Where does this man live? He can’t shop at the places I shop – like CUB, Rainbow, Target, and other easily, widely present grocery stores) “the dearth of healthy eating options on the shelves of many American supermarkets”…they’re all there. Even at the corner FASTANDEASY Mart…they OPTIONS are there.

The real problem is that the Human Species has EVOLVED to find the EASIEST way to get their calories. This writer, in order to BLAME OTHERS for his own condition, finds it easier to PREACH the idea of “BLAME OTHERS” for the choices most Americans make all the time, every time, and if you check the annual profits of MacDonald’s and any other restaurant on Earth, available to the fabulously NOT wealthy. According to him, “The losers are the millions of people with diabetes who suffer amputations, blindness, neuropathy, often daily shoot themselves with insulin and eat carbohydrate-rich foods because they simply are not informed about their healthier options. It is not too late for the ADA to, loudly and in no uncertain terms, tell people with diabetes the truth.”

I’m unsure what conclave of Humans entirely insulated from First World societies this writer lives in, but writing this, he provided a MASSIVE boost to the millions of First Worlders searching for someone to blame – instead of choosing not to stuff their faces with fattening, truly horrible foods rather than saying to themselves, “Nah, I don’t need to order two triple-burgers with the works, and a quadruple order of fries with cheese sauce, and my favorite flavored sugar syrup water! I sure wish someone told me that there were sensible alternatives! No one ANYWHERE HAS EVER MENTIONED THAT I DON’T HAVE TO EAT SO MUCH THAT I FEELING LIKE PUKING…or fall into a FOOD COMA the moment I sit down in my overstuffed recliner…”

And as always, I’ll remind readers (and Mr. B though it won't matter, because I don't have his audience or probably even his attention..) that when I point a finger at anyone, I’m firmly aware that the other three fingers are pointing directly back at me…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/17/ada-american-diabetes-association-big-pharma
Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-/diabetes.jpg

DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #33: THE Sure Cure For TYPE 2 Diabetes DISCOVERED!!!!!

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: THE SURE CURE FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES DISCOVERED!!!!

A recent article at CNN Science read, “The development of blockbuster type-2 diabetes and weight-loss drugs that mimic a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, has shaken up the world of health care.”

“SGLT2 inhibitors, which include empagliflozin (the active ingredient in JARDIANCE), as a treatment option for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, with or without metformin.”

“One in 8 people in the world live with obesity — a figure that has more than doubled since 1990 — and the medication, which lowers blood sugar and curbs appetite, has the potential to usher in a new era for obesity treatment and related conditions such as type 2 diabetes.”

As a beneficiary of that research and the development of drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Metformin, manufactured insulin (“…using recombinant DNA technology, where the human insulin gene is inserted into bacteria (like E. coli) or yeast cells. These genetically modified microorganisms then ferment and produce human insulin, which is extracted, purified, and prepared for use in people with diabetes.”)

What caught my attention today was the phrase, “…people in the world live with obesity – a figure that has more than doubled since 1990.”

In 35 years, the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes has DOUBLED???? THE HECK?!?!?!?! So, I started to DIG…

“To our knowledge, this study is the first global analysis of trends in both diabetes prevalence and treatment coverage that covers all countries. We reanalyzed and pooled hundreds of population-representative studies with measurements of glycemic biomarkers and data on diabetes treatment. We used a diabetes definition that included both FPG and HbA1c, thus closing a major gap between global health statistics and clinical practice and guidelines.”

After I read several summaries of different reports, I ran into THIS gobbledygook: “The number of people with untreated diabetes increased…from 1990 to 2022 (figure 5). The largest contributor to this rise was the increase in the size and age of population, because diabetes is more prevalent in older age groups…In other places, population change accounted for 61–83% of the increase in untreated diabetes cases, and rise in diabetes prevalence accounted for 15–42% of the increase in untreated diabetes cases. In high-income western countries, followed by central and eastern Europe, Latin America, and east Asia and the Pacific, the rise in the number of people with diabetes was countered to some extent by the improvement in treatment…”

That’s great data, BUT WHY? People getting older is the sole cause of the sky-rocketing number of people diagnosed with Type 2? Really?

I am, to say the least, skeptical.

The Mayo Clinic headquartered here in my home state of Minnesota, has a very neat and clinical explanation: “Type 2 diabetes…is caused mainly by cells in muscle, fat and the liver [that] don't respond to insulin as they should. As a result, the cells don't take in enough sugar. The gland that makes insulin, called the pancreas, can't make enough to keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range.” OK – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20351193

So, WHY are blood sugars so high that the pancreas can’t make enough insulin to control the level of sugar (to be clear, it’s NOT like…Cinnamon Toast Crunch sugar! That’s SUCROSE. It can’t control the level of GLUCOSE…) But again, WHAT? Where does the glucose come from that overwhelms an organ that EVOLVED (or was created) a very, very long time ago and seemed perfectly adequate for that very, very long time IN THE PAST 32 YEARS???

My spiffy little AI summarized ALL pertinent internet information and came up with the following: “Widespread obesity: Excess body fat, particularly around the abdomen, is the strongest risk factor for Type 2 diabetes and directly contributes to insulin resistance. The epidemic of obesity mirrors the rise in diabetes cases globally. Sedentary lifestyle: Lack of physical activity is a major contributor, as regular exercise improves insulin sensitivity, helps control weight, and encourages cells to use glucose for energy. Unhealthy diet: Diets high in processed foods, refined grains, and sugar-sweetened beverages contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance, and inflammation.”

Lemme see if I can translate this: “people are fat”; “people are lazy”; “people eat shit (aka, too much white sugar)”

Shocking, eh? If you are like me, you probably responded by saying, "Duh!"

Let me be clear: THE FINGER I’M POINTING AT Y’ALL HAS THREE FINGERS POINTING RIGHT BACK AT ME.

So with my succinct diagnosis, what do I (we) need to do: “Stop overeating, MOVE enough to make you tired, cut out most of the sugar you eat.”

KNOW that most of the sugar is hidden by big words and methods of cooking and baking. Know also, JUST FROM MINNESOTA: “2.278 million Short Tons Raw Value, which corresponds to a stocks-to-use ratio of 18.0 percent, up 1.8 percentage points from last month and edges 2012/13 to be the highest in 20 years.”

And so, I am proud to announce the CURE FOR Type 2 Diabetes!

Stop eating too much ALL THE TIME; move MORE (notice I avoid using the “E-word”, oh, fine!) I HAVE TO exercise more!; and I NEED TO STOP EATING SO MUCH SUGAR. OK -- let's get to work!

Links: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/04/science/nobel-prize-worthy-scientific-discoveries , https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/fromdnatobeer/exhibition-interactive/recombinant-DNA/recombinant-dna-technology-alternative.html, https://patient.boehringer-ingelheim.com/us/products/jardiance/type-2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-and-your-heart?s_kwcid=AL!6545!3!738671423413!p!!g!!manage%20type%202%20diabetes&cid=cpc:GoogleAds:EA_JAR-T2D_DTC_GADS_US_EN_NONBRAND_GENERIC_TRAFFIC_DISCOVERY_g::T2D_Manage_%26_Avoid_p_kwd-manage%20type%202%20diabetes&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=13541658712&gbraid=0AAAAADEx4vCmVl9_t-RD4Fh7lHvxsQGgS&gclid=CjwKCAjwi4PHBhA-EiwAnjTHuQ7NfP9LFg39oalhGVIndNkh_R478JmUyI0Wu98W3kQh8KkwsLqZGRoCfkIQAvD_BwE, https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/diabetes-lancet-1.7383245 , https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02317-1/fulltext

Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg