Last night, after a lovely dinner with a couple of diabetes mates, I rushed home to watch Insight on SBS. The topic was type 2 diabetes and diet, specifically, a very calorie-restrictive diet being promoted by Dr Michael Mosley.
I was particularly interested because the CEO of Diabetes Australia (my boss) was one of the guests on the show.
I don’t really want to write about the diet being presented on the show. I am not a healthcare professional and have no qualifications in dietetics, so I am not going to remark on the ins and outs of the diet being discussed or the claims that it ‘reverses’ type 2 diabetes.
What I am going to comment on is the Twitter commentary that accompanied the show. You can go back and have a read at #InsightSBS and see that some of the armchair discussion was pretty well-balanced, (special kudos to Warrnambool DNE, Ann Morris for her balanced tweets), but unfortunately, a lot of it wasn’t.
A couple of very well-known celebrity trainers* were tweeting along to the show. (*When I say ‘well-known’, I knew of one of them – Michelle Bridges – but had to be told who the other one was. I’d never heard of Commando Steve before last night. Apparently he is Michelle Bridges partner, so I like to think they were sitting together on the couch, tweeting and judging people. Birds of a feather…!)
On the program were a number of people either living with type 2 diabetes or who had been identified at risk of developing diabetes. So, so much credit to these people for going on a national television program to speak about living with a condition that so many know so little about.
I listened to their stories and heard how they were living with a complex and confusing chronic condition. I heard about how some had made changes that they felt they could manage, and others who clearly had so much else going on, that they simply were unable to make the recommended changes that may have positively impacted on their health.
Diabetes Australia CEO, Professor Greg Johnson (again – my boss, so consider the bias when reading this) said the following: ‘We don’t want to put people in positions of failure. Already they are in positions of failure in diabetes.’
And this is where the celebrity trainers jumped in. Firstly, this from Michelle Bridges:
And then this from Commando Steve (who I assume has a proper name?):
Their complete and utter lack of understanding of living with a chronic health condition shouldn’t astound me. Who really knows unless you are living it every day?
But surely they could show a little empathy, or acknowledge how tough dealing with a lifelong condition might me.
I would like them to suggest how we remove the ‘emotion’ from diabetes. It permeates every single facet of life some days, so tell me how we cast aside any feelings or emotion?
Commando Steve tweeted that ‘people will come up with all the excuses in the world not to take responsibility for their own health’ which does nothing other than lay blame, stigmatise and judge.
The simplistic approach offered by people like Bridges and Commando Steve will never address the real issues of diabetes. In fact, all they do is add to the stigma, which is one of the reasons that so many living with diabetes find it difficult to make changes. Way to go, guys. Your lack of ‘insight’ is shocking.
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March 2, 2016 at 10:47 pm
Jeann
People like that leave me speechless….with steam coming out of my ears! Let them walk a mile in the shoes of anyone with a chronic condition – 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, year after year after year.
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March 3, 2016 at 4:25 am
easylocarb
I have type 2. I don’t consider my diagnosis a failure, it’s a blessing.
It means that I now know that I have had compensatory hyperinsulinemia for a decade and I can do something about it.
Pity instead the 75% of people who pass an oral glucose tolerance test, but would fail a Kraft insulin assay (have diabetes in situ) if they were lucky enough to have a Doctor that would order them one. Their first symptom may be cardiovascular disease from decades of high levels of insulin causing atherosclerosis.
For people with T2DM managing the disease is as simple as limiting glucose to just that made by our livers, and not eating any.
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March 3, 2016 at 9:48 am
Diana
As a fitness prifessional myself I countless personal struggles individuals encounter daily with weight. To blame it souly on making e causes as mentioned by commando steve is a very simplistic an I feel uneducated response .i treat each client case by case story by story and exercise them and goal set with them accordingly. It’s not always about the burpee ! Love your article . Kind regards diana
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March 3, 2016 at 11:31 am
easylocarb
Also it’s worth pointing out that the two trainers were responding initially to the comments by prof Roy Taylor to NOT Exercise for weight loss, and the comments my Michael Mosely that exercise is bad for weight loss, good for keeping weight off.
Those comments are an existential threat to the business model of these two “Biggest Loser” trainers. Of course they have to respond to that or get a new job.
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March 3, 2016 at 8:18 pm
blackjarva1
Maybe you are the one who need to gain insight, these comments are spot on, i am not a failure, how about you come out of your Diabetes Australia Ivory tower, get real, and get over telling from narrow perspective how it is for us int the real world. Responsibility and resilience, two traits very much lacking in this emotional gravy train called the diabetes industry of the 21st Century. Enjoy the perks, enjoy your boss and all the perks of working in the diabetes industry cause your real demigod status is obvious.
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March 3, 2016 at 9:20 pm
RenzaS
Hi and thanks for your comment. I am going to ignore the unnecessary remarks about where I work, but I do want to address the comment you made about not being a failure.
I think you may have misunderstood the comment made on the program. No one thinks people with diabetes are failures. What Greg Johnson said was that when people find they cannot achieve impossible-to-meet expectations (in the case of this program it was eight weeks on an 800 calorie a day diet) often they themselves feel as though they have failed.
Thanks for reading. All opinions and thoughts are welcome on Diabetogenic as long as they are respectful.
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March 3, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Ann Morris RN CDE
That is exactly right. There are some who will find 800 cals for 8 weeks ok. There are others who can do Ketogenic for longer and find a degree of success. But – there are the majority who are wanting to succeed and who will not find this sustainable and as a health professional working with many prople with diabetes and with 40 years experience – I can assure you that i have helped many to achieve their goals keeping their mental health in mind and achieving glycamic success. Holistic person centred…Eithout the use of extreme measures.
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March 3, 2016 at 10:05 pm
blackjarva1
Well the tweet certainly does not reflect that, but i will accept it is a misprint. It is just my view but i do think we have gone to far in the enabling of diabetics to relinquish responsibility. i am certainly not advocating any attributed blame or guilt in reference to diabetes but there is room for some further resilience building both emotionally and physically.
As for my “nasty and unnecessary” remark, point taken, it was not personal, just it would seem the loudest voices are from those who work in the industry, believe me, after close to 50 years of T1D, the level of intolerance and discrimination is worse now then it was 50 years ago, just not sure if society has changed or the predatory monsters out there are understanding our vulnerabilities more and we are becoming easy prey.
Anyway i don’t know you and i am sure you are a lovely person, i hope you appreciate your privileged position of working in a supportive environment, it is just not like that in the real world, take it from one who endured bullying and harassment regarding my pump alarming “too much in meetings………..”, etc, i won my case of discrimination, bullying and harassment regarding my diabetes, so i have my reasons for being hard line and hard core.
Anyway thanks for taking the time to get back to me, have a lovely evening.
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March 3, 2016 at 10:20 pm
Ann Morris RN CDE
Well done for your further general remarks. It is not easy living w T1. My husband has had for 60 years and yes in some quarters, there seems like more stigma than years ago but the stigma today has social media to facilitate it’s journey so more visible. Last night’s program seemed to set up some in the audience and extreme regimes can create a greater sense oof failure. Diabetes is a relentless condition that demands everything from those living with it. It easy to judge. Let them walk a mile in your shoes
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