I was born and raised in Jamaican households. Everything we ate was freshly prepared for every meal. That’s why being diagnosed with prediabetes in 2013 was such a shock: I never even considered that I could be on the verge of having diabetes, since I was such a healthy eater.
But when I told people in my family about the diagnosis, a common response was, “Oh yeah, so-and-so had diabetes.” I had no idea diabetes ran in my family, specifically on my mother’s side. Nobody talked about it.
What’s worse, my primary care doctor didn’t talk about prediabetes, either—which was particularly troubling, given that I later discovered my A1C (a blood-sugar metric) had been elevated for three years.
I’m getting ahead of myself, though.
A struggle to lose weight
Before my diagnosis, all I knew is that I was having a hard time losing weight. During my annual visit, my gynecologist simply told me, “I know you eat healthy and exercise, but our bodies change as we get older.” I ate what I thought were healthy foods—limiting things that came in a box, bag, or bottle. My doctors told me I was doing all the right things, so I doubled down and focused on the “prescribed” 10,000 steps a day, Bikram yoga, swimming, weight training and logging my foods in MyFitnessPal (MFP). In two months, I lost 10 pounds. But then I plateaued, unable to lose more weight for an entire year. I was at my wits’ end.
Then I went to naturopath Dr. Jill Monster at Naturomedica, and my life changed.
She diagnosed me as prediabetic, with body fat of 42%. She told me my A1C was 6.0%—normal is 5.7% or below, anything between 5.8% and 6.4% is prediabetic, above 6.5% is Type 2 diabetes. And she explained that if I didn’t make certain lifestyle changes, I’d eventually be in that last group.
Finally, someone was talking about it. Her prescription was as follows:
1. Eliminate all high-sugar fruits and vegetables, like apples, bananas, carrots, squash, etc. This meant eating lots of berries and green leafy vegetables.
2. Do heavy weight training to build muscle.
3. Increase my protein levels to at least 100g per day—I was barely at 50g.
4. Make each meal a combination of protein, carbs, and fats.
Ups and downs (and ups and downs)
Six months later, I got my A1C down to 5.7%. But over the next two years, even after losing 38 pounds and lowering my body fat to 28%, I couldn’t get my level to stick at “normal.” Dr. Monster reminded me of my family history, the risks of developing Type 2 diabetes, and most importantly, said my body would heal itself—if I was diligent.
Was I diligent? Yes, but I wasn’t perfect. For the most part, I stayed away from high-sugar fruits, but every time after I did my bloodwork, I would splurge with something like a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich, buckets of freshly popped popcorn, or an entire bag of Trader Joe’s plantain chips. And if I was anywhere near a Caribbean restaurant, I would be eating something atop rice and beans.
It went on this way for several years. I gradually picked up weight after getting a new job, after a car accident, after getting laid off from my job. My body plateaued at a familiar weight from the past, one about 15 pounds higher than my most recent low. My A1C never got back up to that original 6.0%, but it didn’t always stay below 5.7%, either. The yo-yo continued, and I felt defeated.
New tools in the fight
Finally, in 2019, I had a breakthrough: Reading “Body Love: Live in Balance, Weigh What You Want, and Free Yourself from Food Drama Forever” by Kelly LeVeque, I learned about this thing called a glucometer, where I could prick my finger and know what my blood sugar was in the moment. In addition to tracking my meals in MyFitnessPal, and with a newly purchased glucometer, I tracked my blood sugar before, one hour after and two hours after each meal.
With three months of data in hand, I went to a nutritionist. She said I was doing all the right things, but that I should have a meal before exercising in the morning. This was contradictory to what I had read about the benefits of fasting before workouts, but I experimented. I didn’t see much success weight-wise, but managed to keep my A1C at 5.7% or below—so this was progress!
In 2020, a dear friend had her own struggle with diabetes, one that was just as unexpected as mine but far more serious: She ended up in the emergency room with an A1C of 12.0%. When she went home, she was given something called a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), something that sounded intriguing to me. What if I didn’t have to prick my finger to find out my glucose level, and what if I had access to this data anytime I wanted?
Typically, to get a CGM, you need a prescription and you need to be diabetic. But fortunately, I discovered a startup called Levels Health that provided monitors to anyone—the company believes that arming everyone with this knowledge can help with prevention. After going through a medical consultation with Levels, I put on my CGM for the first time in January 2021.
A wealth of information
You can learn a lot about your body in one month wearing a CGM. That was my intention. But I got hooked on the accountability—eating and seeing how my body responded in real time. So I kept going.
Here’s what I have learned after wearing the CGM throughout 2021:
1. My “go-to” morning smoothie was spiking my blood glucose upwards of 31+ points. With a change in the ratio of protein, fats, and carbs in my smoothie (same ingredients), the spike is now between +9 and +15 points.
2. A spike in my blood glucose in the mornings sets up a roller coaster of a day with my food and energy.
3. I have a ridiculous amount of energy when I keep my blood glucose level between 72 and 110mg/dL throughout the day.
4. Eating my proteins and fats before carbs blunts the effect of the carbs turning into glucose in my system.
5. There are some foods (for example, sweet potatoes) that spike my blood sugar no matter how and when I eat them.
6. I can fast before my morning workouts and feel AMAZING! And I do them combined with intermittent fasting, such as 16 hours between dinner and breakfast five days a week.
7. When I feel hungry, I check my CGM; if my blood glucose is above 90, it’s not really hunger—it’s boredom or emotional eating creeping in.
The best news? Every quarter my A1C has dropped. I’ve gone from 5.6% to 5.5% to 5.4% (remember, “normal” is below 5.7%).
As great as it is, the CGM isn’t a magic bullet; it provides me with vital data, but I still have to do the work based on that data. Still, it has been a game-changer for me—and if you’re looking for individualized guidance on what’s best for your body, it could be for you, too.
Things to think about
I hope you can learn from my journey and avoid some of the pitfalls and frustrations I went through. Here are four things to consider, whether or not you think you are at risk for diabetes:
· Know your family history. While about 85% of the story is environmental when it comes to chronic diseases, genetics still plays a vital role.
· Get the right blood work. Ask your doctor to include A1C, fasting insulin, fasting glucose in your tests.
· Research a glucometer. They’re a good start to understanding your glucose levels, and they start as low as $20 on Amazon.
· Consider a continuous glucose monitor. If you’d like to get one from Levels Health, contact me—there are over 150,000 people on the wait list, but I can help you move ahead in line. The first month costs $399, including a medical assessment and two CGM units (each is good for two weeks); should you decide to continue receiving CGMs, it’s $199 per month afterward.
What’s ahead
In an upcoming post, I’ll talk about where my A1C is now, and also my journey into fasting and ketones—which is a focus for me as we start 2022. I’m expanding my repertoire of foods, exploring the world of micronutrients, and I can’t wait to see the results!
Ready to continue the conversation?
I’d love to hear about your own journey—and how I might be able to help you achieve better wellness. Feel free to get in touch for a complimentary consultation by emailing me at natalie@natalievanderpump.com.