Hello, My name is Alessandria La Rosa.
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This presentation will focus on crucial information about one of the most prevalent diseases in
Canada, which is diabetes. The following information will tackle Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes,
which were discussed by individuals who have personal experience with this diseases. Here,
we’ll know the challenges of living with diabetes, its impact on different individuals, as well as
nutrition therapy.
We will begin with the three panel members:
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First is Lori: Nurse educator at Health Sciences Centre, and she is also part of the
diabetes and clinical research team at University of Manitoba
 With almost 27 years of working with individuals with diabetes: she has gained
great deal of information about managing the disease, how to help patients use
the resources available to them, and the connection of nutrition to diabetes.
 She admits that this information is constantly changing, therefore,
making it crucial to educate the public more about it.
 One of the most important topic she talks about is the financial stress
that comes with being diagnosed with Diabetes. Lori states that
diabetes is an expensive disease—with an insulin pump already costing
$7,000! To top it all off, maintenance medication ranges from 200-600
dollars a month, especially if not covered by insurance.
 Now, someone Ewho has just been recently diagnosed with Diabetes
may already be feeling stressed –and then these expenses can add on to
that. Like Lori said, seek assistance from dietitians and other specialists
to find proper resources.
o Seeking help from these professional will assist them in
managing signs and symptoms: such as knowing what type of
food to consume when having hypoglcyemia.
o These individuals will learn more about the proper portion
cpntrol: such as avoiding strict elimination of sugars
o They will be educated that diabetes does not completely root
from consumption of carbohydrates.
 This type of education definitely benefits individuals like, Lilian.
Lilian is a 64 year old woman who had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes over 6
years ago
 Her diabetes is managed through frequent exercise, such as walking her dog,
and eating plain and home cooked meals. She states that she is managing
without any medications.
 Like many individuals, though, Lilian initially believed that being diagnosed with
Type 2 diabetes means completely eliminating all sugary food, which is one of
the many misconception about this disease.
 This highlights the importance of getting proper information from
physicians and other professionals.
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There should be more frequent discussion about the importance of
carbohydrates on one’s diet, which is why completely eliminating it is
not a great idea.
 Even Lori informed Lilian that, “Food is food and one can eat anything as
long as it is in moderation, as well as with understanding on how that
food affects blood sugar”
 If this is more emphasized during every visit to the doctor or during the
early diagnosis, many people will not be trying to eliminate an essential
nutrient from their diet.
Kelly, on the other hand, has been living with Type 1 diabetes for over 40 years, and he
was diagnosed at 9 years of age.
 One of the things I learned from this discussion is that even if you have had
diabetes for a long time, there is always something new to know.
 In this case, Kelly shared about having hypoglycemia and eating chocolate bar to
get their blood sugar back to the normal level
 During this discussion, he finds out from Lori that chocolate has fats and
cannot be absorbed directly—therefore consuming it during a
hypoglycemic episode can raise the blood sugar level higher than
intended.
 As a substitute, Lori suggested to take Lifesavers, skittles, granola bar, or
dextrose tablets.
 In addition to this, Kelly lives a normal life. He does not let his diagnosis rule his
life, because he has full control of it.
Diabetes affect each individual differently. Even if two people are living with Diabetes, it does not
necessarily that their journey are the same. Some may feel that being diagnosed with Diabetes is a scary
journey full of what-ifs, “such as what if become blind, lose a limb, or cant afforf my medications” while
some may view it as something that they can manage while going on about their normal lives. Either
way, both are completely normal outlooks in life. It is okay to be afraid, as long as there is a support
network who will guide and help you find ways to feel better. Developing a positive outlook inspires one
to work on getting better.
A great example is Lilian. She was relieved to be diagnosed with Diabetes rather than cancer. She saw
this as an opportunity to improve their diet and live a healthy lifestyle through exercise.
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Another one is Kelly. He believes that having Type 1 diabetes is not an issue to his personal life.
He believes that as long as he is able to manage and plan all his activities, then he will be just go
on about his life.
Another thing that I learned is how genetics play an important role in diabetes. According to Lori, having
a family hx of diabetes places a person at risk of developing it in the future.
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Knowing this info can encourage one to develop early prevention techniques such as eating
healthy and being active.
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Individuals can also encourage their family members to follow the same healthy lifestyle to
prevent early onset of diabetes.
Lastly, there was an example in the discussion panel in which a man was confronted by his supervisor for
checking his blood sugar at work. This is an example of lack of education about diabetes. This can lead to
limiting someone from doing their job properly or even lead to an emergency. Emergenecies can be
teaching basic education on how to help individuals with diabetes as work, even as simple as knowing
the signs of hypoglycmeia, knowing to respect individuals when thyey’re checking their blood glucpse/
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Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are two different diseases. As Lori mentioned, it does not
crossover and does became one or the other.
Both deal with glucose problems
 Kelly and Lilian both experie
It did not let their diagnosis rule their life
 Kelly explains that he lives each day normally with careful planning of his meals
 Whereas Lilian controls her diet as she is not only dealing with diabetes but also
has
But they have to take control of factors that would affect their sugar
 Meds
 Exercise
 Food
Lori:
 Talks about the prevalence of diabetes
 Despite its prevalence, medicines and supplies are still costly
 And she talks about it being an expensive disease.
 She emphasizes on avoiding the “you cannot or you will not do or eat these”
advice to her patients.
 The diet during a hypoglycemiua:
 Take
Kelly:
 Living with diabetes should not be treated as something “detrimental”
 It should not limit a person from living their normal lives—as he talks about
being able to manage his own meds at 15 years old
 The importance of diabetes advancements
Lilian:
 Famuly impact
 Food
 Exercise
 Adapting
2. Managing diabetes is costly:
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Buying the insulin pump or other supplies will cost an individual a huge sum of money if they do
not have insurance—and sometimes the province do not cover the costs for them.
o This can take a toll on individual’s stress level and family life
It is also crucial to seek information and further education:
o Find great resources that would help you
o Like Lilian, sometimes exercise and portion control while still getting the right amount of
nutrients are needed
Understand how to help your fiend
o Educate yourself on how to help during emergency such as simply recognizing that they
are having hypoglycemia
Better work policy for individuals with diabetes
o Allowing them to check their sugars
3. Nutrition Therapy and Diabetes Management:
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P.3 Diabetes and Diet: Diabetes is not only influenced by genetics, it is also strongly
influenced by food choices and lifestyle.
 One of the ways to modulate one’s diabetes is to learn about how nutrition
plays a great role in blood sugar. This includes learning how consumption of
essential nutrients, such as carbs, fats, proteins, should be balanced as well as
taken in moderation.
 Let’s talk about carbohydrates:
o Carbohydrates: is an essential nutrient that helps generate body
energy. We get this from eating grains +starches
 However, many believe that consuming this is bad for
their weight, causing many people to popular
magazines or book that encourage no-carb diet
o When being active and eating healthy: still ensure get the right
amt of carbs, while still being mindful of carb-rich food that can
elevate blood sugar:
 One way to find out is to check the glycemic index (p.
138)
 Foods that are high in glucose are baked potato,
cornflakes, sports drinks, pumpkin, donut
 Whole grain
 Make sure that you’re not eliminating one nutrient—Moderation, not
total abstinence—therefore, avoid excess of fat, salt, and sugar
 Portion control:
 Fibre rich—little to no fay
 Aids in the regulation of cholesterol, blood glucose, insulin levels, as
well as hesalthy body weight—when trying to eat healthy and staying fit
to manage Diabetes—this is good for the blood sugar.---apples, barley
Common misconception: do not eat sugar
 But importance of carbs is neglected
Macronutrintes: Carbs and fats
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Key nutrients linked to diabetes
4. One day meal:
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Breakfast
Grain/Starches
Fruit
Milk and Milk
Products
- Protein
Lunch
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Food
cold cereal
banana
Milk
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eggs
Portion size
½ cup
½ medium
1 cup
1 egg
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Total: 45 g
Food
Grains and
starches
Fruits
Milk aand Milk
products
Proteins
Cooked rice
1/3 cup
15 g
Mango
Plain non fat
yogurt
Cooked fish
1/2 medium
¾ cup
15 g
15 g
75 g
0g
Fars and oils
Veggies
Canola oil
Eggplants
1 tsp
3 servings
0g
0g
Dinner
Grains
Fruit
M&M
Protein
Fats and oils
veggies
Snacks
Grains and starches
Milk
Veggies
Carb Value
15 g
15 g
15 g
Pasta
Melon
Diet pudding
Cooked lean meat
Margarine (nonhyrdogenated)
mushrooms
½ cup cooked
1 cup
½ cup
75 g
1 tsp
15 g
15 g
15 g
0g
0g
1 tbsp
0g
muffin
Chocolate milk
Cucumber
½
½ cup
1 tbsp
15 g
15 g
0g