Megan and Danna discuss the crucial role of diet in managing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Focusing on Diabetes Awareness Month, they explore how different foods impact blood sugar levels, the importance of balanced meals, and provide practical tips on what to eat and what to avoid.

Visit https://sofrickinhealthy.com/episodes/prediabetes-diet more info.

Episodes Referenced

11: The Skinny on FAT, Live Episode

13: The Truth About OLIVE OIL: A Conversation with an Olive Oil Sommelier ft. Elia Fuster Rius, L’Atelier des Saisons

23: The Simple Science of Keto Explained ft. Ben Nordemann

24: Prediabetes 101

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

04:01 Why Blood Sugar Balance Matters

18:11 Building a Prediabetes Friendly Plate

26:12 Snack Ideas

29:48 Mythbusting Minute

32:01 Listner Q&A

Hey, Megan.

Welcome back, everyone, to the so Freaking Healthy podcast.

Hey, Donna.

If you're just joining us, listener, we are in the middle of our Diabetes Awareness Month series where we are breaking down, break it down, break it down.

Pre diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

And today we are going to talk about one of the most important parts of managing these diseases or the precursor to diseased.

And that is what you put in your mouth hole, otherwise known as your diet.

Yes, and I'm super excited for this one because there is so much we can do with food to support our health.

As everyone knows, I'm a total geek for that shit, because food.

So, Megan, you're the expert here.

Tell us why diet is such a big deal when it comes to prediabetes.

Yes, I am an expert in the room because I know more than you, but I am not a doctor.

So I will say that at the beginning of every episode, I should call.

You Dr.

Megan just to fuck with you.

I'm also not a registered dietitian, a registered nutritionist, or a registered nurse, or diabetes educator, none of those things.

I just spent a lot of time in the diabetes industry, so I do know a lot and I am passionate about it.

So to your question, why is diet such a big deal when it comes to pre diabetes?

Well, because this is one of the main things that affects your sugar levels.

There are some other things.

Stress, which is not food related, but stress.

Whether it is a positive or negative stress, it doesn't matter.

Could be if you do a hiit workout, your body's pumping sugar back into your blood to help you do your hiit workout or this high intensity workout.

It's the same as if you get called into the manager's office and get scolded for fucking something up royally.

That's also stress and that's also your body putting more sugar back in your blood so you can get the fuck out of dodge and run away from whatever it is that's stressing you.

But food is the thing that you have the most control over, hopefully.

I mean, there are people who do not have as much control over their diet, but for most people, you do have control what you put into your mouth, AKA food.

And the good news is that if you eat the right foods, and I'm putting right in air quotes now, I did it in air quotes.

You eat the right foods that can help you balance your blood sugar naturally.

I hate using the word right food.

We talked about this before.

Donna and I talked about it, like overgeneralization of right and Wrong things for people.

So I'm using that loosely.

There are certain types of foods that will help you keep your energy and help you prevent pre diabetes from turning into type 2 diabetes.

And if you add more of those into your diet and take away other shit, then you're better for it.

Great.

So today we'll break down which foods can help keep blood sugar balanced and what to avoid.

Plus we'll share some easy meals and snack ideas along the way.

Hold on, Donna.

I do need to preface this with saying that, Donna, you are a fucking amazing health coach and you help a lot of people with food.

So I feel like I'm not the only expert here.

I feel like this is an equally experted conversation and maybe even you more so because you've actually coached more people than I have.

So I do want to make sure to plug you there because you're awesome.

Thank you.

I know, I know.

Keep going.

No, thank you, Megan.

That is true.

It is true.

I do work with quite a few people who deal with diabetes or pre diabetes.

But as Megan mentioned, we're not doctors.

We are just experts in being coaches.

And I love nutrition, so I'll definitely plug in a few things here and there.

But honestly, I just want to hear from you because I'm sitting back relaxing and getting more education, so I'm really enjoying this.

Good, good, good.

Okay, so let's start with the basics.

What is actually happening in our body when we eat something that affects our blood sugar?

Okay, so that's good.

And I really like the way you worded this question, because not all food affects your blood sugar.

So if you eat something that is pure protein or pure fat, your blood sugar is not going to rise.

Do you, Donna, know why protein and fat don't affect your blood sugar?

They don't have carbs.

Yeah, exactly.

My gutta was right.

Now my glucose level went up just because you stressed me.

Right.

Okay.

So her question was originally, what's happening in our bodies when we eat something that affects our blood sugar?

So things that affect your blood sugar are anything with carbs.

And this can be any kind of carb starch, a resistant starch, a good carb, bad carb, who knows what carb.

It doesn't matter because carbs are what break down into glucose.

That's.

That's basically it.

So when we eat anything with a carbohydrate in it, the body takes that carbohydrate with enzymes and it breaks it down into glucose, which is the smallest form of sugar molecule that the body wants you might hear that there's sucrose, fructose, dextrose, all these different oses, and maltose, lactose.

These are all sugars, but they're all different chemical formulas of sugar.

And they all need to be broken down into the format that the body can absorb and use, which is glucose.

Now, normally your pancreas, which is a tiny little organ, releases insulin.

So your body knows, actually, this is a fun fact that some people don't even realize is when you look at food or like when you're looking at the menu and your brain says, I'm gonna eat soon, your body's already producing insulin.

You know, am I not diabetic?

I'm constantly thinking of food, drooling over, just thinking lunch while eating breakfast.

I mean, that's a normal human process.

Like, that's normal.

It doesn't mean anything's wrong with you.

That's.

That is your body priming and pumping the system to do exactly what it's supposed to do.

So insulin is not the enemy.

Carbs are not the enemy.

Right.

There is no enemies here.

It is how we're using carbs that potentially can cause problems with your metabolism or called a metabolic disease.

Insulin resistance.

Those are all the words that you'll hear in conjunction with this.

But it's just like when you think of something good to eat and your mouth starts to saliva, right?

Just the word food, Just the word food does it for me.

I'm like, food like a puddle of effect.

It is.

No, exactly.

So when you eat and you've chewed the food and it goes into your stomach and the body starts to break down into glucose, there's insulin already in the bloodstream to grab it and move it into the cells and use it for energy.

That's what it does.

But when you have prediabetes or on your way to prediabetes, somewhere in that zone.

Not normal anymore.

Uh, if you haven't listened to the first episode, when we talk more about prediabetes 101, go take a listen to that where we talk more about what does prediabetes mean.

So when you're in this zone of prediabetes, your insulin or your body's response to the insulin is not as strong to move the sugar out of your blood.

And this is the beginning of metabolic disease.

This is the beginning of insulin resistance.

Your body is resistant to the insulin it's producing and therefore you have higher sugar in your blood, which causes all kinds of blood related issues.

What are blood related issues?

Well, so for Example, further down the line, when you have type 2 diabetes, and if you don't manage it with either medication or lifestyle, you can have low circulation to the feet and to the finger.

It's basically to your extremities, so you can start to lose sensation, you can have your feet amputated.

Your retina in your eye is, can be damaged because of the blood.

So this is what I mean by a blood illness.

It's actually attacking other parts of your body that you wouldn't think is relevant.

And this is why.

Those are the most common physical symptoms that people have.

And yeah, I think we kind of went down a turn there, but I feel like that's actually pretty important.

That's why it's important that your sugar not stay too high in your blood for too long.

Right?

No, that was super interesting, actually.

I never actually knew why there was that risk of losing a limb.

My dad, who has had diabetes for almost 40 years, if he would get wounded in his foot or something like that, that was like a month in the hospital with antibiotics and, you know, it was just a complete shit show just because of a little cut on his foot that he didn't even feel and got infected.

Okay, so when blood sugar stays up too high over time, that's when issues actually start to creep in.

Is that right?

Right.

Which is why the diagnosis of prediabetes is important, because the body's already exhibiting these signs that the blood sugar's too high for too long, but it's not to the point where it's causing major damage to your body.

Again, that's inflammation, fatigue, damage to your blood vessels, to your nerves because of all the things I just said.

So that's why the goal is to keep your blood sugar steady.

So we want to see like a rolling, undulated hill.

If you're looking at a graph of blood sugar over time, you don't want alpine peaks or roller coaster peaks of, of blood sugar.

And the way we do that as we're talking about the diet is fiber rich foods, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

All three of these things take the body longer to process and therefore keep your blood sugar even if you eat them with carbs, I feel like that's, that's the most important thing to note here.

This does not mean you have to have a low carb diet.

I think we're going to get into that in a minute.

But when you eat those foods in conjunction with carbs or before carbs, then your body will react differently to the carbs because all these Other things are slowing down your digestion.

Okay, so this was super important.

I want to highlight that because I think that's something that a lot of people are not really aware of.

What Megan just mentioned was the order in which you eat the food that is on your plate plays a big role as well as what is on your plate.

So if you're having your vegetables and your protein first, and then when you go for seconds, you add your pasta or rice or potatoes, whatever starch slash carb, you decide to have it.

If you do that can be on your seconds, and.

And you can still enjoy it.

The glucose will not go up like a mountain peak because you had it first, but rather it's now being slowed down from all the fibers and the protein that you've just enjoyed.

Okay, Exactly.

Great.

And we're not saying no carb ever, but rather which carb, Right?

Yeah.

Which carbs and how you eat them.

There's a lot of great evidence out there, anecdotal evidence from people on TikTok who show you their blood glucose because they have a cgm, a continuous glucose monitoring system.

So you can go on TikTok and see all this anecdotal evidence of people eating a meal in one way and showing you their blood sugar curve and then eating the meal in a different order, and then you can see their blood sugar curve.

So you can go out and see a lot of those.

There are also studies, obviously, that also highlight this, which is why it's become kind of a really great first way to begin to tackle the idea of lifestyle change, because you don't actually have to change what you eat.

You just change the order of which you eat it.

I think the.

The easiest thing is, or let's say the most noticeable thing is when you sit down at a restaurant and there is a basket of bread or breadsticks in front of you.

Like, who doesn't want to eat that?

It's bread.

It's wonderful.

But that is exactly the wrong thing to start with.

If you can ask your server to not bring you the bread and say, can we have the bread at the end of the meal?

Right.

So if you still want this wonderfully buttery carby.

Delicious.

Yeah.

You can basically have it as your dessert if you want.

And the other thing that you can easily do is to add a little bit of vinegar in before you start your meal, which is in most vinaigrettes and on a salad.

Right.

So if you start your meal with a small green salad with a vinaigrette, I mean, Bada bing, bada boom.

Like, that's a.

That's a super easy win.

And then you.

It is super easy because you have the fibers, you have the fats, and you have the vinegar in there.

So you're kind of covering all grounds with a nice, happy salad.

Yeah.

And we mentioned it in the last episode.

Don't take things away.

Try to crowd out.

So if you reimagine your dinner, if you start with the salad, then you have your main.

Whatever that is, but make sure it's protein.

Maybe you have some other vegetables.

And then you say, if I'm still hungry, then I have that piece of bread at the end.

Or maybe you no longer want the piece of bread, but maybe you want a piece of cake.

Who cares?

Doesn't matter.

As long as you had it at the end.

And if you've had all these wonderful foods beforehand, whole foods with protein and fat and high fiber, you probably are not going to fit that in anyway at the end.

I mean, you could force it in.

I know.

Yes, of course.

Easily.

You can always sneak it in.

But, you know, maybe you don't need five breadsticks.

Then maybe you just need one breadstick because you just really want the mouthfeel and the wonderful sensation of eating bread.

Great.

Do it right.

You don't have to deny yourself the bread.

Just don't eat it at the beginning of the meal and set your stomach up for instant carb overload.

I actually heard something really interesting lately, which is they actually give us bread in a restaurant at the beginning of the meal.

Because by the time you finish your meal, even if you're not worried about pre diabetes, and even if you're not worried about whatever your sugar levels.

But you do know that maybe after this whole meal, eating a whole cheesecake is a little bit overdoing it, but you're still gonna reach out for it.

Because when you ate the bread and by the time you finished the meal, now your glucose level is dropped again, where you're going, like, I need something sweet.

So the restaurants are kind of tricking us into now wanting the dessert and getting the dessert, because we have had the bread and that the glucose peaked, and now it's kind of crashing.

And now we're like, I need something sweet.

I'm tired, and I need to drive home.

So that is one thing.

And the second thing was you don't have to have dessert with every meal.

But when you feel like having dessert, it is important to think about it right after you're done with your meal, because of your glucose levels rather than going, I'm not going to eat it now, I'm going to eat it in two hours now your stomach is empty and that glucose is going to write up.

Yeah, that's a.

It's a real perfect point.

At least over here in Europe, we can buy CGM from the Internet from our pharmacist.

We don't need a prescription for it.

And there are several apps out there now to help people who just want to optimize their health and realize that blood sugar is a way to optimize their health.

So I'm not even talking about people who have pre diabetes.

They just want people who are just more interested in understanding how what they eat impacts them.

And I did that experiment.

I had a cookie and I was fasting and I had that cookie and immediately my blood sugar goes up.

Right.

And usually you're kind of measuring it from what it.

Where it was to where the peak was to kind of understand how steep that peak was.

And this is going to happen in like the first 30 minutes after you eat your cookie.

Then I had the same cookie, but after eating a meal and it was like no reaction whatsoever.

I was shocked.

I.

Cause I thought it would at least go up a bit.

But no, because I had it right after I got done eating all this other food.

And like you just said, not two.

Hours later, it makes a huge difference.

And it is really important to say, again, we're not saying eat a cookie or eat a cake every single.

After every single meal, but just eat it after the meal because it'll be fine.

No, of course, course you're still putting sugar in your body.

Of course you're still maybe putting things that are not necessarily ideal for your health.

But we're also saying don't never have it.

Right.

If you want to have it, then make sure to have it at the right time where your body is able to deal with it with less damage done.

Yeah.

And to just come on top of that.

Don't beat yourself up about it.

If you go, oh, shoot, I had that piece of bread before my meal.

I didn't do what I was supposed to do.

And now you're going to beat yourself up about it.

Well, that's not good for your mental health either.

I mean.

No.

And you're more likely to go and have emotional.

Now eat emotionally because you're feeling terrible about what.

Which is nonsense.

No, that's true.

So I think it's.

Every meal is an experiment.

Every meal is an opportunity for you to make those Decisions.

And then you're like, listen, today is my birthday.

Screw it.

I don't give a shit how it's going to go.

I just want to eat what I want to eat.

I don't want to think about it.

Do it, you know?

But that's where we come back to like, whatever you do most days matters.

Right.

80, 20.

This was still kind of like why blood sugar balance matters.

And I think we got off the.

Topic a little bit there.

But just to wrap it up, the whole point is that the blood sugar balance matters because your body will digest certain foods more slowly and which helps you avoid those blood sugar spikes.

I feel like that's a good wrap up for this topic.

Perfect.

So I'll edit everything out and I'll.

I'll just leave that.

All of our rambles.

We should change our name, the podcast name, to like two Bitches rambling on.

Okay, I want to talk a little bit more about specifics.

What are some superstar foods for pre diabetes, or rather for like a pre diabetes friendly plate.

That's a good way to say it, too.

So let's start with veggies.

Number one, if you're not eating any veggies, just start eating any vegetable.

Right.

If vegetables are not normally part of your routine.

And I'm also talking to you parents with children because I have so many friends with kids and they don't make their children eat vegetables, which I think is, in the long term, a huge disservice to children.

There are ways of helping your kids enjoy vegetables.

One is helping them.

And you know this, having them help prepare it is one of the ways that they are more likely to eat it.

So I'm not going to say more about that because I don't have.

No, let's do a whole.

We can do a whole episode on that.

Seriously, I can talk about that for seven hours.

Yeah, because you did the whole like kids eating courses and stuff.

That's kind of how you got started in your whole health coaching was kids eating and healthy foods for kids and yeah, let's do that.

Let's have a whole episode.

Okay.

But just start eating some vegetables.

Pick your favorite.

If you have no idea what your favorite is, just buy a little bit of everything, give it a try, go online, try to find the best way to eat it.

But most vegetables, I mean, a lot of them, you just cut them up with a little bit of butter or olive oil in a pan and saute them with some salt and pepper.

You don't need more than that.

Steaming them pretty Healthy, but not the most flavorful.

Little boring.

Roasting.

Roasting best.

I mean, the best.

My favorite and the easiest because you just cut it up again, a little bit of olive oil, a little bit of salt, pepper, and throw it in the oven.

Oh, my God.

But the number one thing that's going to help you the most are leafy green vegetables, which normally you wouldn't necessarily put all of the leafy greens in the oven, but leafy greens, like spinach, you can have them fresh with like a spinach salad or you can cook them down.

Kale is a superstar.

I just got a bunch of kale in my vegetable subscription basket last week and I'm just like, oh, shit, this is a lot of kale.

What am I going to do?

I didn't want to do chips.

I wanted to eat it differently than chips because that would have been a shit ton and I wouldn't have been able to eat them all.

But I found a kale curry recipe that I was very skeptical about, but I did it anyway.

It is so good.

I mean, if you don't know what you do to do with vegetables and you like Indian food, curry it.

I think that's going to be like my new slogan, curry it.

Honestly, I don't think anyone has an excuse nowadays.

There are literally endless recipes online.

Just go on Pinterest, look something up.

You will find millions of recipes for what you're looking for.

Just one disclaimer or one kind of warning.

With cake kale, it really is super fibrous and we're not meant to eat it raw as it is.

If you are looking to make a salad with kale, I recommend massaging it.

But, like, massaging it.

Like, if you would really.

You're really angry at your husband and he's asking for like a neck massage.

That's the massage you want to do.

Like, really kind of kill it with salt and lemon juice and that breaks it down.

It helps the enzymes break down and actually make it a lot more digestible.

I did that with the kale even before I cooked it, because even cooking it wasn't enough.

So I recommend massaging it regardless of what you're doing.

So cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, also super good.

If you don't like it, think about putting it in, like, a soup format.

This is how I get my husband to eat broccoli, sweet potatoes.

You could also, you know, stuff like potatoes.

A lot of people try to stay away from potatoes, but if you boil some potatoes and then cool them down and then eat them.

Like it's got a different impact on your blood sugar.

So greens, I mean, that's the bottom line.

If you don't have any greens, get some greens.

Awesome.

Okay, so load up on veggies, load up on greens.

You're not gonna hear me complaining about that.

What about proteins?

Right?

So not all proteins are created equally.

So animal proteins, you're gonna wanna stick with some lean ones like chicken and fish and eggs.

But be careful when it comes to any kind of processed meat.

Most of them have some kind of glucose or corn syrup added to them, which is shocking.

And I, I'm just like, all I want is a piece of sausage without glucose in it.

Please, can I just.

It's near impossible to find.

It is near impossible.

So like a whole chicken, usually they don't add any glucose to a chicken.

Usually it's more pork and beef related products that they add glucose to.

So chicken is usually pretty safe.

Fish, you're not going to find glucose added to fish.

So that makes it pretty safe.

And eggs, you have plant based proteins like beans and lentils, super great for protein.

And remember, the reason we want protein is because it just takes longer for you to digest that which helps with your blood sugar.

And then healthy fats, which are things like avocados, nuts, olives, seeds, olive oil, are all considered healthy fats.

That doesn't mean you need to go bonkers on the fat.

It just means that if you're going to choose a fat, try to choose one that's not inflammatory like sunflower or canola oil or high processed.

Even olive oil that says it's for high heat.

Do not do that.

That shit is worse for you than all the other oils because it's super high processed.

Go listen to our fat episode.

In our early days, we did a whole episode on fats and the olive oil episode.

Do the olive oil episode.

Do.

Yeah, I was going to say just, just listen to all of our episodes, guys.

Like what the hell?

Why are you listening to us now?

Just go back.

Okay, so we're saying again, loads of greens, loads of veggies.

We're talking about really good proteins, really good fats.

That to me already sounds like an ideal plate.

What about carbs?

Yeah, I mean, do carbs do them?

Why not?

I mean, so we should say you're, you don't need carbs in your plate like you do protein and fat.

Your body does not make fat and protein.

Like it can make carbohydrates for you to use.

And we have A another episode on keto by Ben Nordeman, who's our keto guy.

And he explains a lot more about what your body needs and what your body doesn't need.

But no, I mean, if you want to eat carbs, eat carbs, but eat the right kind.

That's going.

The right kind again in quotes.

Eat, let's say eat the kind of carbs that are going to do better for your body.

So these are whole grains.

I love whole brown rice.

You just have to cook it a lot longer.

But it's gorgeous.

It's so chewy and wonderful oats, quinoa.

These are things.

By the way, couscous is not.

Couscous is just pasta.

That's tiny, tiny pasta.

But again, balance them right.

If you have a large piece of meat, chicken breast or something, some vegetables, maybe you have a half a cup of quinoa, you don't need a lot to give kind of that chewy texture that you might want to get from eating carbs.

And try to make sure you focus on those complex carbs, which means again, digesting slowly.

And they don't spike your blood sugar like refined carbs do.

Like a piece of white bread or cookie or anything with sugar in it.

Right.

I mean, and it is important to say that lentils, legumes are also a carb.

Right.

They're high in protein, but they are also a carb.

So adding a bit more, as you said, a little bit of quinoa just to pimp it up, you're still going to get a good amount of carbs, but you're getting more fibers and more protein in the mix because quinoa is also a perfect protein.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, you know, you're going to get this question from me because I'm always thinking about food as we already covered and especially I think of food.

And you know this because you've met me outside the house.

I'm thinking about it when I'm out and about, have a whole backpack full of food.

What are your favorite quick blood sugar friendly snacks ideas?

Super easy Greek yogurt is a good one.

Even if you have a Greek yogurt with a little bit of sugar added, like a honey or figs or something like that, the amount of protein and fat is in there.

Again, you're kind of, you know, combining it with a little bit of sweetness.

But even just plain Greek yogurt, a little bit of berries or if you have some chia seeds.

Now, I'm not sure if you'd have that hanging around.

However, the to go.

Food industry is hearing all of this and whenever I go to the States, I see little packets of cheese and meat with no crackers.

The food industry is listening to what the trends are and you are going to find more options to have stuff on the go back to this like a protein bar.

So let's say you're really hungry.

You're like, oh, Megan told me I should eat protein.

This is going to be helpful.

So a really easy way to understand if it's really truly high protein and reasonable amount of calories is to look at the grams of protein.

And this is easier in, in Europe because our nutrition labels are all based off 100 grams or 100 milliliters.

So it's very, very clear.

So I do know that in the States where you can have all kinds of different serving sizes, this might not be as clear cut effectively if you take the grams of protein.

So let's say it says, oh, this is 20 grams protein.

Sounds like a lot of protein, which it is.

But let's say that that bar is actually 350 calories.

For that 20 grams of protein, you add a zero at the end of the protein and if the the protein value is close to or higher than the calorie value, then you know that that snack is a reasonable amount of calories and also really actually high protein and not so many carbs.

You'll see it very clearly on cottage cheese.

So cottage cheese is a great example of being high protein and low calorie.

That's why a lot of people eat cottage cheese when they go on a diet because there is a lot of protein in it.

The other thing I've seen is of course hummus and sliced vegetables.

This is a great snack because hummus is just beans, beans and olive oil, which is great.

And of course apple slices with maybe almond butter, peanut butter, whatever kind of nut butter you like.

Apples have fiber.

If you are a sweet snack person, then just make sure that you're eating whole fruits, maybe potentially with like an avocado or some nuts or something like that.

This is going to add that little bit of extra fiber, a little bit of extra fat.

And that's easy to do when you're on the go.

If you're out and about need to grab something, grab it.

But have an idea.

What's the best thing for you to grab.

But also just try to take something with you.

Do you always have snacks with you?

I always have stuff with me and I love a good apple and almond butter combo with some cinnamon on top.

Geez, Louise.

And honestly, don't get this Israeli started on hummus and veg.

That shit runs through my veins.

I'm pretty sure, like, tap out.

Hummus coming out of your Swear.

I swear.

They tried to take blood from me, you know, because I'm O negative, but they're like, what the hell is this?

It's super thick and it's brown.

So, Megan, the time.

It is time for our myth busting minute.

Okay.

Are you ready?

Yeah, I'm ready.

This is one that I hear a lot.

If I have prediabetes, I need to cut all carbs out.

True or false?

I mean, that's a big false because as soon as you cut all carbs out, you're doing some drastic changes and that are not going to be sustainable, period.

You did not get into the situation by drastically changing your diet.

Your diet probably got worse over time.

You're not going to get out of the situation by drastically changing your diet.

So I definitely don't think that cutting out all carbs is the way to go.

There are people that do that.

There are unicorns out there that have the willpower to just say, I'm going to be living keto lifestyle for the rest of my life because it works for me.

Good.

Good for them.

But even then, it's.

It's healthier to kind of get yourself into a point where you're having good carbs, and then if you still want to reduce them, you can go down further.

Don't be afraid of carbs, but be mindful of which ones you choose and try new ones that you haven't tried yet that are better for you.

Experiment with different slower carbs like beans and lentils and things like that.

So carb lovers unite.

We're happy.

Another one.

Only people who are overweight get prediabetes.

You know, this is also false.

I am overweight, and I was nervous.

I wanted to pay attention to my numbers to make sure I wasn't getting prediabetes.

So, no, I think it's false.

Categorically.

You can be overweight and not have prediabetes.

You can be diagnosed as pre diabetic and not be overweight, because there are other factors that go into that, like your family hereditary nest.

So if your mother had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with you, you're actually more likely to get type 2 diabetes as she is as well, also more likely to get type 2 diabetes.

So there's a lot of things that are out of your control, but being overweight does not mean that you will have prediabetes.

And it also is not indicative of you'll never have prediabetes if you're not overweight.

I think this is important enough to repeat.

It's not just about the weight.

There's a lot of factors at play.

Next section, one of my favorites, we're jumping into some listener questions.

Okay, so here's one from Imaginary Sarah.

Thank you, Sarah.

We love getting questions from you.

Sarah says, I've been diagnosed with pre diabetes and I want to improve my diet, but I don't have much time to cook.

Any advice?

Yeah, I mean, if you eat out a lot, a lot of Indian food is quite healthy because they use a lot of beans and lentils in their dishes and they also a lot of the spices that they use, ginger, garlic, turmeric, these are all natural anti inflammatories that are also really healthy for you.

If you don't cook at home and you eat out a lot, just try not to eat out with so many fried foods, things that are a little bit healthier.

If you don't have time to cook because you're too busy or because you're not home very much, take a little bit extra time to think about where you could eat out that would support your pre diabetic diet.

If you are at home and you just don't like to cook, then there are meal services that cater also to pre diabetics and type 2 diabetics with very balanced meal plans.

So either a, you get a box with all the ingredients to cook it.

So you don't have to think, you don't have to shop, you can just cook.

So that's one way.

But there are also companies out there that are just, here is a meal, here you go.

And it is specifically made to help balance your blood sugar.

Those are actually more expensive ways than just going to the grocery store and buying your own food.

But everybody's got different lifestyles.

Okay, thanks Megan.

That's awesome advice.

Here's another question from John the Ghost.

I have a family history of diabetes.

Does that mean I'll automatically get it?

So family history does increase your risk, definitely.

But it doesn't mean there's a guarantee that you're going to get it.

This is why again, it's so important for parents to have their kids on a balanced diet, not just rice and white pasta when they're young.

Because what you're eating at those pivotal ages in your life can also impact later on what you like to eat and therefore impact your likelihood you are not necessarily predestined, but if you have the same lifestyle and unfortunately, if you are raised in a family where your parents have type 2 diabetes because of their lifestyle choices, that's how you were raised to eat.

And so I think it's more about breaking your hereditary habits versus the hereditary genetics because you can outperform your genetics with environmental things.

Awesome, Megan.

I think we covered a shit ton today.

Yeah.

For everyone listening, remember, small changes like adding more fiber or swapping in whole.

Grains can go a long way in.

Managing blood sugar and even reversing prediabetes.

And there's nothing more empowering than reversing your own prediabetes.

Come on, let's be real here.

Yeah.

So absolutely.

And if you have prediabetes and you are ready to start doing something about it, which is great.

I have A program, Prevent T2 program, that was launched just before November.

It's a podcast, so it is free.

You can go and listen to it.

It is the CDC's curriculum.

It's not my curriculum, so I did not develop it.

I am just basically formatting this from a instructor led program where you'd have to go somewhere to a clinic or to a hospital to take this program.

It is now in a format where you can listen to it while you go for your walk, after you have dinner.

And that is all about lifestyle changes to help specifically designed for people with pre diabetes to help them Prevent developing type 2 diabetes.

So make sure you check that out.

The podcast is called Prevent T2 and we'll have a link to that in the show notes as well.

That sounds amazing, Megan.

So listeners, if you want to learn more or sign up, head to mybestself fit and this could be a perfect next step if you're ready to make some lasting changes.

Megan, you seriously slated with the Prevent T2 program.

How frickin awesome are you?

I'm totally frickin awesome.

But I'm also freaking awesome.

You know, you could tell I actually do love myself.

I am not a.

I'm not shy of saying that I feel pretty good about myself.

But for everybody who's listening, we'll say it once, we'll say it a hundred times.

Small steps can lead to big results over time.

So take it one meal at a time, take it one snack at a time, one day at a time.

Every choice you have is a new opportunity.

Thanks for tuning in today, everyone.

Next week we'll dive into medications and treatments for managing type 2 diabetes.

So if you or someone you know is living with diabetes.

Be sure to listen in.

Thanks, everyone.

Bye.