Kevin: 0:00

Welcome to our podcast. When Life Gives you Lemons, I'm Kevin.

Palmi: 0:06

And I'm Palmi. We consider ourselves disability advocates and intend to spotlight some disability issues and things we find interesting that we frequently encounter when we're out and about. Also some history on disability that we find interesting, Hello.

Kevin: 0:24

Palmi.

Palmi: 0:25

Hey, kevin, welcome back.

Kevin: 0:27

And welcome back listeners.

Palmi: 0:30

It's been a while since we've both been on here.

Kevin: 0:32

Yeah, it is.

Palmi: 0:34

We've changed up our interviewing. We've been adding some interviews instead of just us talking for a while. We wanted to see if we could change up the um, the way we've been doing it. I think people have responded well to it, you think so don't you think?

Kevin: 0:52

well, I know this, that the episodes where you interview Paul, who has a really good voice for this sort of thing, the episode numbers are higher.

Palmi: 1:06

Oh good, and I think the story content was good too. With Maria, people enjoyed the story Right.

Kevin: 1:14

Hers was more entertaining than his was. His was kind of dry material. Yeah, but he speaks really with a good voice.

Palmi: 1:26

For recording. Yeah, yeah it might have been a while since Change for Listners. So what's our subject today?

Kevin: 1:38

Well, we're actually going to spend a little bit talking about diabetes.

Palmi: 1:44

And that kind of comes close to ours. We have several family members that have diabetes in our family.

Kevin: 1:50

I am just to set the record straight. I am pre-diabetic, which is a diabetic condition. If you look up diabetes, it will not be on there. What it means is your levels are above normal, but below type 2.

Palmi: 2:11

But doctors are treating you with diabetic medicines.

Kevin: 2:15

Yes.

Palmi: 2:16

And you do have to watch your diet, and we'll talk later about what you can do to work on your diabetes. One thing they recommend is exercise, but that is in your case. You're not able to do that.

Kevin: 2:32

Yeah, everybody who's listening to this podcast is going to be in a bit of a different situation. There's no one thing for everybody. Some people are going to be in wheelchair a lot more active than people on two feet. So it's hard to say exercise. What that really means when you break it down is weight control. If you're obviously overweight, it's going to contribute to your likelihood for diabetes. So watch what you eat and what you can't. Be as active as you want to be.

Palmi: 3:26

Want to be? Okay, well, let's get down to the nitty gritty. So when you say diabetes, diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body processes blood sugars, which is glucose, and there are several different types. We're familiar with type one, which is the autoimmune condition where the body attacks the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. It often starts in childhood or adolescence. Now my brother-in-law has that and he has type 1, but he did not find out he had type 1 until he was almost in his 30s. So that's not always true, and he is insulin dependent at this point. Now there's also type two diabetes, which is the most common, where the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't produce enough of it. It's often linked to lifestyle, like Kevin said, factors meaning that you're gaining weight or you're not eating properly. The third is gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy and usually resolves itself after childbirth, although it increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later.

Palmi: 4:33

Pre-diabetic is a condition where the blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as the diabetic, but not high enough to be classified as the diabetic. Now, they tested me when I was pregnant with Rose, they tested me for gestational diabetes and it's the worst test in the whole world. You have to take this huge amount of sugar liquid the most disgusting thing you've ever tasted and you have to get it down within a certain amount of time. And then they test your blood after that and I remember being just terrible and I did not have it, but they said I later did because of my weight gain after pregnancy. I did end up with type 2 diabetes, but after I lost the 103 pounds I am no longer diabetic. So there you go. That's that connection between weight loss and diabetes.

Kevin: 5:30

And we have a very unusual situation here where we actually discovered or recategorized a different kind of hard to describe. It's called type 5 diabetes. It's a new addition to the diabetes factor family and it's basically hypoglycemic only. So even though you're diabetic which in the case of type 1 to type 2, you're by your blood sugar numbers being high there are devoid to manage those and type 5 diabetes. Your numbers are low, you don't have enough blood sugar, which is like a different way of managing it.

Palmi: 6:30

That's linked to malnutrition and we'll talk about that later.

Kevin: 6:35

Yeah, I just wanted to throw it out there, so we talked about all the different types. Right, I get it. And if you happen to go on the internet and look up diabetes, depending on when the article is written, that data if it doesn't include type 5, it just was put in there this month, so you just look at something that was last month or earlier.

Palmi: 7:07

Now. The symptoms can include increased thirst frequency, urinating fatigue, blurred vision, and managing diabetes includes a combination of medication, lifestyle changes and regular monitoring of the blood sugar levels. We talked about adapting a balanced diet, so that's one thing we work on for your pre-diabetic is focusing on whole foods.

Kevin: 7:40

And it's very difficult when you're pre-diabetic, because you're not a diabetic per se. You can't get a prescription for what's called a continuous glucose monitor, so you're always forgetting the rumor and guessing, if it's too high, what it was you're eating that caused that.

Palmi: 8:07

Right, you don't get immediate feedback based on the food that you're eating, right, right? So if you focus on whole foods like vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and whole grains, limit the processed foods. Limit your sugary drinks, your high carbon carbohydrate snacks. Eat foods rich in fiber, which helps slow down the sugar absorptions, and so examples of, and increase your fiber, which is a key in this, which includes veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, legumes and grains. And looking, when I was looking up this thing about fiber, because they stressed out that the more fiber you get in your diet, the better you're able to maintain your sugar and it said that less than 10% of Americans get enough fiber Can you guess how much fiber is recommended for the average American?

Kevin: 9:06

No idea.

Palmi: 9:07

They recommended 28 grams of fiber.

Kevin: 9:10

Oh gosh.

Palmi: 9:11

So they took an example of a banana, which is a fruit that they recommended, and you would have to eat 28 bananas to eat to get enough fiber of 28 grams of fiber. Other vegetables I recommended was broccoli Broccoli. You'd have to eat four heads of broccoli. So that's an extreme amount of I mean I don't think it'd be very hard for someone to get that without adding some type of added supplement in there.

Kevin: 9:48

Which is in these days entirely possible.

Palmi: 9:52

Right. So what we've done is we've added Miralax to your coffee in the morning, correct, and that adds 8 to 10, just one scoop of Miralax adds eight to ten grams of fiber in the morning, right away, and then whatever fruits and vegetables and lean meats and stuff like that to your fiber. But they stress that fiber is really what helps reduce those sugars. We talked about staying physically active and they said aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, such as a brisk walk, swim or cycling. But I imagine, like being in a wheelchair, they have those steppers that you could move your legs.

Kevin: 10:41

Yeah, my only problem is I have this weird wonky left hand that is not going to allow me to do a lot of exercises. So it's all going to, like I say, depend on who you are, what the problems you have are, etc. Presently I done exactly zero any exercises that will not hurt my hand.

Palmi: 11:12

Right, we're trying to eliminate any stress that would hurt your hand. Kevin's going to be going here into surgery at the end of May to have his wrist repaired from several falls that he's had, so we're going to try to stay away from any strenuous exercise to keep his hand pretty much immobile until we can get it fixed. They also said to incorporate strength training twice a week to build muscle and improve insulin sensitivity. The way Kevin was able to stay out of his wheelchair for almost 12 years was to stay active, and he did a martial arts class once or twice a week in order to keep those muscles and everything's firing. So that is something that would help, depending on where you are in your recovery disability your situation.

Palmi: 12:06

Yeah, we talked about maintaining a healthy weight. L just five to seven percent of your body weight can significantly reduce the progression of type 2 diabetes and we talked previously. I lost that 103 pounds and I am no longer diabetic. My glucose levels are right in the normal range and I eat the same thing kevin eats pretty much. I eat a little more protein than Kevin does. I had a sleeve and so I can't process as much. I don't absorb as much protein that I digest as he does, so I take supplements and stuff like that to get extra protein. Otherwise my hair falls out and stuff like that and I need it for muscle and I do exercise, so I need that additional protein for those muscle building. Get adequate sleep. Prioritize seven to eight hours of quality sleep per night to support hormone balances and blood sugar regulation. And, of course, always avoid smoking and limit your alcohol. And, of course, always avoid smoking and limit your alcohol. Smoking can inhibit insulin resistance and excess alcohol consumption can disrupt blood sugar control.

Kevin: 13:23

That is because typically a lot of alcoholic drinks have sugar in them as part of their fermentation or flavoring properties. Some alcohol is worse than others, but just like some vegetables are better than others to eat.

Palmi: 13:46

And just so you know where you are at in your sugar levels, you should monitor them. Regular check-ins with your healthcare provider can keep track of that. But there's also Kevin monitors his. Is it two or three times a week? Twice, twice a week.

Kevin: 14:02

Yeah.

Palmi: 14:02

Yeah.

Kevin: 14:03

And just for the record, this year I've been using the video to advertise our upcoming episodes. I'll do a sugar test and all of you guys that are listening will know why and yes, I'm clumsy, I drop things. I throw them in the air by accident. It should be entertaining.

Palmi: 14:31

You don't have to pay extra for that.

Kevin: 14:33

No, that's a freebie.

Palmi: 14:36

So diabetes is linked to several other health conditions. It's often times when you get diabetes it leads to other diseases. It's a complex web of interactions and these are notable correlations for, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes significantly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke due to the impact of blood vessels and cholesterol levels. Kidney disease, of course, because high blood sugar levels can damage kidneys over time and lead to diabetic neuropathy. Eye conditions Diabetes can cause diabetic neuropathy, cataracts, glaucoma and potential lead to vision loss.

Palmi: 15:27

Mental health there is a relationship between diabetes and mental health conditions. Because of depression and anxiety, measuring diabetes can be stressful. Mental health challenges can affect the blood sugar control. Nerve damage Diabetic neuropathy is a common complication, causing pain, numbness and weakness, especially in the extremities. I know there's quite a few people that have had. My mom was one of them. She was diabetic for a very long time and they were always threatening to cut off her toes because she had no feeling in them and that's just horrible to think about. I know there's a lot of people that have their toes removed because of it. Obesity and metabolic syndrome these conditions often coexist with diabetes, creating a cycle of insulin resistance and further health complications.

Palmi: 16:34

A fascinating journey of scientific discovery and medical breakthroughs. In 1889, a researcher, oskar Mineski and Joseph van Meering discovered that removing the pancreas from dogs caused diabetes, linking the pancreas to blood sugar regulations. The discovery of insulin in 1921 from Frederick Banning and Charles Best successfully extracted insulin from a dog's pancreas. This marked a turning point in diabetes treatments. The first human use in 1922 was a 14-year-old boy named Leonard Thomas, who became the first person to receive insulin injections. His blood sugar levels dropped dramatically and saved his life. Mass production shortly after its discovery, pharmaceutical companies began to produce insulin in large scales, making it widely available to patients. Modern advancements over the years insulin has evolved from animal-derived extracts to synthetics and genetically engineered forms, improving its safety and effectiveness. Insulin discovery has saved countless lives and remained one of the most significant medical advancements in the 20th century.

Kevin: 18:00

Fun fact, the two scientists that discovered insulin and saved the boy's life did not patent it. They decided, for the greater good of all men, that they would just give this to the world and not profit from it. The patent was, however, shortly thereafter grabbed by pharmaceutical companies, which is why the price of insulin has been going up over the years, to the point where they profit greatly from it. I think one of the things that President Biden did was allow Medicare to negotiate the price. I think insulin was the first group of drugs they could negotiate for, so it sounds like $35 a month versus like $1,000.

Palmi: 19:09

Medicaid coverage varies by state so it's best to check, if you're in Missouri, the Medicare or Medicaid policies and speak with your local pharmacy or health care provider. I know our local pharmacies provide kits free of charge. In most cases it's at no out-of-pocket expenses as long as the cgm meets the coverage requirement uh, the cgm is something you have to have a prescription for what does cgm stand for?

Kevin: 19:44

continuous glucose monitor oh, I see so for example, if I had, I'd know right away if I ate something that was causing my sugar to go higher than normal.

Palmi: 19:58

Oh. Because it's not like have you looked into the VA to see if they would cover it?

Kevin: 20:05

Medicaid doesn't. Okay in Missouri, so I don't know Medicare does though. But uh, again, I wouldn't have a prescription because I'm pre-diabetic.

Palmi: 20:21

so but you know, I've seen on some uh web facebook pages where they actually you don't have to be a diabetic, you can just it's a lot of fitness. Uh, there's one for like a fitness people that want to know what their blood sugar levels are and stuff like that. I wonder how much that would be.

Kevin: 20:38

You can't do that with continuous glucose monitors like a Dexcom or Freestyle Libre. I think the monitors they're talking about are the ones that are like, not as invasive, and not as accurate, For example, the Fitbits or health-oriented watches you can wear. Some of them have a blood glucose monitor on it.

Palmi: 21:13

Yeah, mine does, my Apple does.

Kevin: 21:15

Yeah, I don't know how accurate it is, though it's just not as accurate as, say, a uh, when you break your figure and you actually get the blood yeah, glucose monitor to check your glucose level so the the newest thing I've been seeing on this um media is the link between diabetes and dementia.

Palmi: 21:39

Have you seen that?

Palmi: 21:41

I have heard about it, but so there are studies that link a strong it has a strong link between diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, and the increase of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, because of the blood vessel damage that diabetes causes and also the damage that it causes increased risk of stroke, which also increases dementia issues. So they're investigating that now. Insolent resistance in the brain can affect brain cell abilities to use the sugar for energy, potentially leading to brain cell dysfunction and damage and increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In most cases, with the diabetes you also have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are also links to the high dementia. Those are all high incidences that increase.

Palmi: 22:44

Because they probably affect your cardiovascular system Correct, which then affects your brain. So same thing. It's recommended a healthier lifestyle engaging in physical activity, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep and managing your stress would help lower the dementia risks. I didn't realize there was a link between that and it's just been being released lately that there is that Now. You were talking at the beginning about the new type 5 diabetes Correct, so you said that it was most recent and it is in the Diabetic Foundation, idf, the World Diabetic Congress in 2025 in Bangkok, thailand. The IDF President, peter Schwartz, announced the launch of a working group to develop a formal diagnostic criteria and therapeutic guidelines for a type of diabetes linked to the malnutrition that was formerly classified as type 5 diabetes during the international meeting of experts in India earlier this year. The working group is also establishing a global research registration and developing educational models to train health care professionals, and that seems to be more linked in third world countries.

Kevin: 24:16

Yeah, I could see why I would imagine that might be a big consideration. Seeing a developing country where part of your diet is interrupted, it's probably really important. There are certain items that go along with the aid you may get to ease your starvation.

Palmi: 24:45

Well, I think a lot of that. It does have protein in it, but a lot of it they depend on is carbs, is a massive amount of carbs to keep them full and their bellies full. It is estimated that between 20 to 25 million people worldwide, primarily in areas such as Asia and Africa, that it's affecting those people. It marks a potential movement in the understanding of diabetes and how the condition affects lean and malnutrition teens and young adults in low or medium income countries. The concept of type 5 diabetes refers to severe insulin deficient diabetes SIDD characterized by elevated levels of insulin deficiency and poor metabolic control. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 5 diabetes, also known as malnutrition-related diabetes, is commonly caused by a chronic undernutrition, especially during childhood or adolescence. Type 1 diabetes is the result of an autoimmune deficiency of insulin-producing cells. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by the body's inability to use the insulin it produces. But type 5 diabetes is distinctive it is believed to stem from the impaired pancreatic development during a long-term nutrition deficiency.

Palmi: 26:22

Although type 5 diabetes has been observed over seven years, it has been largely overlooked in the global health discussion. The condition was first noted in the mid-20th century and often miscategorized as type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Previous prevailed theories suggested the condition developed due to insulin resistance. In the recent years, newly researched new route led by Dr Hawkins confirmed this distance metabolic profile. People with type 5 diabetes are insulin deficient but not insulin resistant. Many may be able to maintain their diabetes with oral medicine rather than the injections of insulin. Given that type 5 diabetes is mostly found in low resource settings, this cost-effective approach can prove important in regions already struggling to tackle the rising number of people living with that condition. The recognition of type 5 diabetes marks a historical shift in how we approach diabetes globally. For too long, the condition has gone unrecognized, affecting millions of people and depriving them of the access to adapted care. With the launch of type 5 diabetes working group, we are talking decisive steps to correct this. This is about equality, science and saving lives.

Kevin: 27:50

It's too bad, we can't get all the people with. Type 1 or UC extra insulin being produced by Type 5 diabetics and problem solved?

Palmi: 28:04

I don't think it works that way, Kevin.

Kevin: 28:06

You're right.

Palmi: 28:08

Good use of resources though. So our plan for you and the other thing, when researching this, we've done a lot of research based because it affects us, so we've done a lot of research on this it us, so we've done a lot of research on this. It also has a lot to do with the water that you drink. I think right now we're fighting numbers. We were down really good to 112, 110, something like that about two months ago.

Palmi: 28:33

A lot is stress-oriented too. His mom is fighting cancer and there's been a lot of stress in your life lately, so I think that has a lot to do with it. But I think you've stopped drinking as much water as you used to. So they say you should drink the many as the ounces should be half your weight, so you weigh.

Kevin: 28:56

What did they say? You weighed your last one 155.

Palmi: 28:58

So you should. So what's half of 150?

Kevin: 29:04

75.

Palmi: 29:05

So you should drink 75 ounces a day. Do you drink 75 ounces a day?

Kevin: 29:10

How big are these water jugs? 30. Close to that, I drink two.

Palmi: 29:17

That's 60.

Kevin: 29:18

At least 2 and change, the way I put it.

Palmi: 29:23

Yeah, so you think you're making your 70?.

Kevin: 29:29

I think I'm probably a little less than 70, but it's darn close.

Palmi: 29:35

So that should be. Our goal is to work towards the full 75. Yeah, I know that's. The hardest thing for me to do is drink water. I don't like water. Before I got onto this weight, my weight thing I don't think I ever drank a glass of water on its own. I didn't like soda, but I would drink iced tea or not sweetened. Because I'm not a southerner, I drink my tea like it should be drank, not sweet iced tea or not sweetened because I'm not a southerner.

Kevin: 30:06

I drink my tea like it should be drank, sweet, it should be drank sweet dear. No, it shouldn't, yes it should.

Palmi: 30:10

You can't taste the taste of tea.

Kevin: 30:12

Listeners, don't let anybody tell you you shouldn't drink sweet tea.

Palmi: 30:17

Come on, northerners, let's go. Let's vote for unsweet tea with a little lemon. Anyways, that's our struggles. If life gives you lemon, make lemonade. We'll go with lemonade, let's do lemonade.

Kevin: 30:32

Unfortunately, lemonade has a lot of sugar in it too.

Palmi: 30:36

We're using monk fruit.

Kevin: 30:39

Yeah, I read somewhere that using artificial sweeteners is bad for you, but I didn't read the article. Monk fruit is all natural and it doesn't. Well, I think, what does? Stevia gets bitter when you cook with it.

Palmi: 31:00

Yeah, I don't like stevia, but you know I grow that. I grow it in my garden and when I use it straight, when I just pick it a leaf and I eat the leaf or I put it in my drink, straight into the drink it is not bitter. But if I process it, grind it up or let it dry out and grind it up, then it does get bitter.

Palmi: 31:21

I don't understand the correlation there, but I don't know why it gets bitter, but it does. But if I eat it straight out of the garden it's not bitter. Must be the processing that makes it bitter. I don't know.

Kevin: 31:35

I really couldn't tell you that much. I've had stevia with monk fruit stuff. It's fun. Yeah, I just tried to think of what.

Palmi: 31:50

It's really hard to find monk fruit that doesn't have other stuff in it, though what it's hard to find just monk fruit without. They've always add different sweeteners in there.

Kevin: 32:03

Yeah, I'm guessing that again, this is a wild guess, so don't crucify me over this. But you see, diet sodas are supposed to be saccharin-free and Sucrose no, what's the other one? Artificial sweetener. They're supposed to be saccharin-free and Sucrose no, what's the other one? Artificial sweetener Saccharin, and they replace saccharin with this other one.

Palmi: 32:29

Yeah, I forget what it's called. It starts with an X. Nutra-sweet, yeah the X.

Kevin: 32:35

But they would I imagine these stevia now.

Palmi: 32:44

No, there's very few that have stevia in it. There is one brand that does have stevia in it, but it didn't taste good. I tried it and didn't taste good. But you, you do the probiotic sodas poppy and that has a few that does have real sugar in it, but a very few amounts, like under five grams. It's kind of like flavored soda water.

Kevin: 33:07

Really Right If you're expecting the grape flavored poppies to taste like grape soda, grape feta, whatever you call it, it's just not going to be the same, it's got, not gonna be the same. But it has no sugar in it either, because they don't add a whole lot of flavoring to it.

Palmi: 33:33

And it's probiotic, so it helps your gut too. Alright, are we done for this week?

Kevin: 33:42

Well, we need to do a little bit of housekeeping. Fan mail, if you live in the US, should be free. If you live elsewhere, send us an email. Email is free. If you're going to use shoutOut, give us a name, otherwise we don't know who you are. If you're sending us email, again send us a name, otherwise we don't know who you are and don't be concerned about sending us email. We don't have email marketing, so it's not going to like, we're not going to flood your spam folder with a bunch of crap you don't want. If you want to contribute to our show financially and help us be for equipment, instructions etc. You can do so on our webpage, which is www.

Palmi: 34:50

When Life Gives you Lemons, it's www.

Kevin: 34:56

Wwwwhenlifegivesyoulemonsnet. Wwwwhenlifegivesyoulemonsnet.

Palmi: 35:00

And you also have a Facebook page now. Yeah, but I don't know the URL.

Kevin: 35:06

You can go from my page to that page if you want, but I'll make sure to get a scrap of paper from me with that next time so I can let you know what the URL is.

Palmi: 35:21

Okay, see you next time.

Kevin: 35:23

Bye, everybody, and remember to make lemonade out of all those lemons you have to deal with.

Palmi: 35:32

Hey y'all it's Kevin.

Kevin: 35:34

I want to ask you for a favor. Palmi's out in the backyard so I can talk without her interrupting me. I have a super secret slash homework assignment for you Sweet tea or unsweet tea. Thanks, till next episode. Take those lemons and make your own lemonade.