Ben | Diabetes Dietitian

Your coffee is a blood sugar bomb and starting your day off wrong if you have diabetes. But your morning coffee is spiking your blood sugar. And I’m not talking about the crazy drinks with all the added sugars and carbs at your local coffee shop. 
I’m talking about plain black coffee. Caffeine can single-handedly spike your blood sugar 30, 40, 50 points… …and I’ve even seen it higher than 100 points (!!!) in certain cases. Why? It mobilizes glucose from the liver and tells the body I need energy now, which is why it gives you that pick me up. However, that glucose goes into your bloodstream and raises your blood sugar. You may need to talk with your care team for a dosing strategy for your morning coffee or your blood sugars may rise and start the day off wrong. Has your care team taught you this? #diabeteseducation #typeonediabetes #t1diabetes #coffeeaddict #type1diabetic #insulindependent

What i’d order at 5 guys as a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, person living with type 1 diabetes. Full transparency, I’ve never eaten here, but here we are and it’s TOUGH: 1. Get the burger, it’s got 18g of protein and consider ditching half the bun to reduce the carbs. 2. Load that burger up with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers…any veggies you can get will definitely help sneak a serving of veggies in there. 3. If you’re really looking to go lower carb, then skip the bun entirely, add bacon and cheese adding up to 30g of protein, which will still have fat and impact you later, but will have minimal impact to your blood sugar compared to the alternative. 4. If you’re going to get the fries, share the small. The small is 72g of carbs - that is a lot of fries for any one individual. 5. If you must do a shake, share it. Unless you are coming off of the world’s longest most intense bout of exercise in which your insulin sensitivity is just fine, then have at it. 
Not a Top 25 choice on my list, but what’s your go to order and which restaurant should I do next? #typeonediabetes #fiveguysburgersandfries #t1diabetes #diabetesdietitian #bloodsugar #diabeteslife #diabeticlife

This is what living with diabetes is like Picture this:  you're going out to dinner with your significant other or your friend.  You go to the restaurant.  It’s a fantastic Italian place.  You’re looking at the menu, you see a pasta dish with a cream sauce that looks incredible, there’s a steak based dish, there’s calamari… …it all looks incredible. Before anything else, you have to think about:
 🍕how many carbs your going to dose for 🍕how much fat your going to have to factor in 🍕when is that fat going to hit your blood sugar later on 🍕is the protein going to have any impact on your blood sugar  But before you can even dose that you realize, “wait, we walked a mile to this restaurant so I need to factor that into the dosing so I don’t crash on the way home”... “were going to go into the hot tub after this too, which can also potentially make my blood sugars get a little wonky from the heat and insulin working faster….” “WAIT, what if we then get spontaneous dessert after the fact, which is only an hour and a half from now, and then…” You start to see how you have to literally have to live in the moment, but also live five minutes, fifty minutes, and 500 minutes into the future. I joke that you don’t understand diabetes unless you live with it or live with someone who has it (even then you kinda get it cause you don’t know what the high and low blood sugars feel like) But if this doesn’t describe diabetes to a T, I don’t know what does. #typeonediabetes #diabetic #t1diabetes #diabeteslife #insulindependent #bloodsugars

If you want better blood sugars. To eat great food.. To physically feel amazing in your body, To live life with zero restrictions from diabetes. WHILE learning the things your care team should've taught you? you're in the right place. I'm Ben, and I'm a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, and I've lived w T1D for over 20 years. Every day, my team of dietitians and I help people just like you to achieve those things. If you want those things, we'd love to help you too. We even take some insurance! #diabetesdietitian #t1diabetes #diabeteslife #insulindependent #diabeteseducation #bloodsugarbalance

4 more target finds for people living with diabetes 🎯 In this edition, we’ve got some interesting finds that you can pick up from your local target store: 1. A low snack that doubles as a fruit serving 2. A hot breakfast grab and go option 3. A staple in any grocery store for protein 4. A unique twist on wraps for sandwiches What did I miss? #targetfind #typeonediabetes #diabetesawareness #diabeteseducation #diabetic #type1diabetes #bloodsugars

Do you need THIS supplement if you live with diabetes? (hint: MAAAAYBE) Ever heard of alpha lipoic acid? Not everyone knows what it does and its possible benefit to your blood sugars if you live with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. What it can do is increase your insulin sensitivity by enhancing glucose uptake by the cells. Basically it makes your cells more efficient at taking up glucose, which can potentially lead to a decrease in A1c and lower average blood sugar, which is awesome. As a bonus, it can even potentially improve pain from diabetic neuropathy if you have it. For a dose, you could consider starting out at about 300mg and see how your body tolerates it, but most studies show doses in the 600-1200mg range, going as high as 1800mg. Recognize that with improved insulin sensitivity comes great responsibility. 
You may need to consider taking with your care team if you are going to include this in your regimen because you may need to make adjustments to your medications and to your dose of alpha lipoic acid because it can make the insulin work way more efficiently. Very rarely, it can cause gastrointestinal upset. Talk with your care team about it if it’s something you’re interested in. I personally don’t take it, but is this something you're would consider to add to your regimen? #diabetesdietitian #bloodsugarmanagement #diabeteseducation #insulinsensitivity #type1diabetes #diabeticlife #diabetesresearch

Is it normal to be exhausted if you have diabetes? #exhausted #diabetes #t1dlookslikeme #diabetic #exhausted

Dating with diabetes can DEFINITELY be a challenge. I’m not gonna lie: during my time dating diabetes was often a difficult subject for me to bring up. I would always question:

😨When should I tell her I have diabetes? 😨Should I even tell her I have diabetes? 😨If she finds out how is she going to react? 😨Am I lovable with diabetes? These were just a few questions in my brain during my time out in the dating world. The video you see is an actual interaction that happened to me at one point in my dating life (just not with Amelia lol). Which makes it THAT much more difficult to feel confident in telling people about your diabetes… ..because when someone responds like this, not only is there lack of education on display, but it makes it hard to know if you can actually trust somebody enough to be vulnerable and share your diabetes with them. I’m super grateful that I found Amelia, and our first date was the POLAR opposite of this.  (She actually dosed my insulin in my pump as we were eating burritos after a baseball game). Many people have experiences like this and dating with diabetes can be a challenge. My thoughts? I would suggest getting this conversation out of the way within the first few dates, because then you’re not wasting your time with someone who doesn’t care… ..but at the same time, you're being open and honest upfront because at some point, they will find out. #type1diabetes #t1dlookslikeme #diabeteslife #highbloodsugar #insulindependent #diabetesawareness

Diabetes flight hack for happy blood sugars #t1diabetes #diabadass #diabeteslife #t1dlookslikeme #diabetes

How people respond to different levels of low blood sugar. For me personally, I am the minimalist and every now and then I’m “give me everything.” *ne-yo voice* Tell me, when you have a low blood sugar, which one are you? #type1diabetes #lowbloodsugar #diabetesproblems #t1dlookslikeme #diabeteslife #insulindependent #hypoglycemia

Diabetes pet peeves Part 2 #petpeeve #diabetes #diabetic #t1d #doctorsappointment

Tell me this ain’t the truth! This is how continuous glucose monitors would respond if they were human beings. Does your CGM behave like this? #dexcom #lowbloodsugar #diabeteslife #t1diabetes #diabeticfriendly #insulindependent