Diabetes: How to Prevent & Manage
We all know how important good nutrition is for all us but it's especially important for people with diabetes. Brenna St. John discusses diabetes and nutrition, when someone with diabetes should seek out a diabetes educator, who is at the greatest risk for diabetes, and more.
Featuring:
Brenna St. John, RD, CD, CDCES
Brenna completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Human Nutrition at Washington State University. She has been practicing as a Dietitian for the last 11 years and especially enjoys helping patients find a positive, peaceful and enjoyable relationship with food and movement. Brenna is also Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist and is passionate about helping patients find sustainable, fulfilling self-management practices. Transcription:
Announcer: With a relentless focus on excellence in healthcare, Pullman Regional Hospital presents The Health Podcast.
Deborah Howell: Well, we all know how important good nutrition is for all of us, but it's especially important for people with diabetes. So to talk about diabetes and nutrition today, we'd like to welcome Brenna St. John, a registered dietician and certified diabetes care and education specialist here at Fullman regional welcome Brenna.
Brenna St.John: Hi. Thank you.
Deborah Howell: Great to have you on today. Now you're a diabetes educator as well as a registered nutritionist. So I'm very curious what sparked your passion for diabetes education and manage?
Brenna St.John: Well, I've always had an interest in diabetes, especially after watching several family members, not only struggle with nutrition and weight management, but also managing their diabetes. I wanted to learn what I could do to help them, but also be someone to help others that struggle, like they did, or maybe so they don't have to struggle as much. I spent as much time as I could, during my internship in the diabetes education field, I volunteered summers for a local diabetes camp for kids. And then eventually I was able to become an educator myself during my first dietician job for a tribal health community.
Deborah Howell: Wow. That's a wonderful journey. Now, when would someone with diabetes seek out the services of a diabetes educator?
Brenna St.John: Well, I would love to say that everyone with a diagnosis of diabetes, whether it's type one, type two or gestational would get a referral to see a diabetes educator. While diabetes is a very manageable condition, it can be a lot of information to learn in the beginning. We also. Live in a world with a lot of misinformation about nutrition and diabetes. And that can cause a lot of confusion for people which complicates their ability to manage their diabetes and live their lives.
Deborah Howell: Yeah. A lot of people going online and getting misinformation. Right.
Brenna St.John: Correct. A lot.
Deborah Howell: So what can patients expect during an appointment with a real diabetes educator?
Brenna St.John: Patients can expect to feel like they have gained a support person in their healthcare team. We would spend lots of time getting to know them, their health history, their lifestyle, their goals, their struggles, and start building a plan that works for them. A first appointment might also include some general diabetes education, such as high blood sugars, low blood sugar, signs and symptoms. What to do when those things happen. Educate on a use of glucose testing, if needed, medication use and safety.
Discuss the the Importance of general health checkups, such as eye exams, dental exams, preventative care visits, labs, blood pressure, checking your feet, wearing good shoes. And I can't speak for all educators, but I can tell you that our team at Pullman Regional won't tell you that you can't have a certain food that you enjoy. And usually won't give you a structured meal plan. We would provide a guide for meal planning, ideas, recipes. We believe that all foods can fit in a healthy diet and structured meal plans usually don't leave enough flexibility for real life.
Our goal would be to help patients find sustainable, positive, and enjoyable changes that don't take up all of their time to manage and make it easier to manage, leaving more time to focus their attention on whatever else is important to them in life.
Deborah Howell: Well, that sounds like a win-win.
Brenna St.John: I would hope so.
Deborah Howell: So what groups are at greatest risk for diabetes?
Brenna St.John: Groups that have a higher risk of developing diabetes are those with a family history of diabetes, especially if you are African American, Hispanic, or Latino American, Indian, or Alaskan native person. Other risk factors, might include having a history of gestational diabetes and just having a sedentary life.
Deborah Howell: Can you define for those who don't know what gestational diabetes is ?
Brenna St.John: Of course gestational diabetes is during pregnancy when blood triggers are higher than we want them to be.
Deborah Howell: Okay, fair enough. Now, can you tell us a couple of things that people can do, if anything, to prevent diabetes?
Brenna St.John: Of course, I love this question. I worked with a national diabetes prevention program quite a few years. And they have done tons and years of research on just that question. And it comes down to two primary things that people can do. If you are overweight, losing just 5% of your body weight, and then increasing your physical activity to 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, which comes down to about 30 minutes, five days a week.
Deborah Howell: When you say moderate exercise, are you talking about walking? What other things?
Brenna St.John: Walking is a great example. It's simple, it's easy. It's free. So that's my best example to get started is just walking.
Deborah Howell: Okay, so it doesn't have to be a heavy regimen of strength training or, you know, in right?
Brenna St.John: No we would recommend maybe strength training twice a week if people can But to get started walking is a great start. I always joke telling people that you don't have to train for an iron man. We just have to start moving our bodies.
Deborah Howell: Yeah. Somebody once told me every muscle every day. Just give it a little love, is there anything else you'd like to add to our conversation, maybe, particularly talking about children and diabetes?
Brenna St.John: Sure. I would like to make sure that if you're concerned about Having prediabetes or, type one diabetes type two diabetes, I'd encourage you to go online to the CDCs online risk factor quiz. But also speak with your healthcare provider. Some signs and symptoms of a diabetes diagnosis might be things like increased thirst, increased urination, being very fatigued, having some unintentional weight loss, feeling more hungry, but also just extremely tired.
If you're having those symptoms, I would encourage you to speak with your healthcare provider. And then if you're interested in learning more about your health, nutrition, diabetes management, I would encourage you to ask your provider for a referral to see a dietician or diabetes educator, especially those of us here at Pullman Regional.
Deborah Howell: Well, Brenna we so appreciate your time in everything you do to help our patients. Thank you so much for being with us.
Brenna St.John: Of course, happy to be here.
Deborah Howell: You can learn more about this subject provider and services at Pullman Regional Hospital online at pullmanregional.org/nutrition. This has been the Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I'm your host, Deborah Howell thanks for listening and have yourself a terrific day.
Announcer: With a relentless focus on excellence in healthcare, Pullman Regional Hospital presents The Health Podcast.
Deborah Howell: Well, we all know how important good nutrition is for all of us, but it's especially important for people with diabetes. So to talk about diabetes and nutrition today, we'd like to welcome Brenna St. John, a registered dietician and certified diabetes care and education specialist here at Fullman regional welcome Brenna.
Brenna St.John: Hi. Thank you.
Deborah Howell: Great to have you on today. Now you're a diabetes educator as well as a registered nutritionist. So I'm very curious what sparked your passion for diabetes education and manage?
Brenna St.John: Well, I've always had an interest in diabetes, especially after watching several family members, not only struggle with nutrition and weight management, but also managing their diabetes. I wanted to learn what I could do to help them, but also be someone to help others that struggle, like they did, or maybe so they don't have to struggle as much. I spent as much time as I could, during my internship in the diabetes education field, I volunteered summers for a local diabetes camp for kids. And then eventually I was able to become an educator myself during my first dietician job for a tribal health community.
Deborah Howell: Wow. That's a wonderful journey. Now, when would someone with diabetes seek out the services of a diabetes educator?
Brenna St.John: Well, I would love to say that everyone with a diagnosis of diabetes, whether it's type one, type two or gestational would get a referral to see a diabetes educator. While diabetes is a very manageable condition, it can be a lot of information to learn in the beginning. We also. Live in a world with a lot of misinformation about nutrition and diabetes. And that can cause a lot of confusion for people which complicates their ability to manage their diabetes and live their lives.
Deborah Howell: Yeah. A lot of people going online and getting misinformation. Right.
Brenna St.John: Correct. A lot.
Deborah Howell: So what can patients expect during an appointment with a real diabetes educator?
Brenna St.John: Patients can expect to feel like they have gained a support person in their healthcare team. We would spend lots of time getting to know them, their health history, their lifestyle, their goals, their struggles, and start building a plan that works for them. A first appointment might also include some general diabetes education, such as high blood sugars, low blood sugar, signs and symptoms. What to do when those things happen. Educate on a use of glucose testing, if needed, medication use and safety.
Discuss the the Importance of general health checkups, such as eye exams, dental exams, preventative care visits, labs, blood pressure, checking your feet, wearing good shoes. And I can't speak for all educators, but I can tell you that our team at Pullman Regional won't tell you that you can't have a certain food that you enjoy. And usually won't give you a structured meal plan. We would provide a guide for meal planning, ideas, recipes. We believe that all foods can fit in a healthy diet and structured meal plans usually don't leave enough flexibility for real life.
Our goal would be to help patients find sustainable, positive, and enjoyable changes that don't take up all of their time to manage and make it easier to manage, leaving more time to focus their attention on whatever else is important to them in life.
Deborah Howell: Well, that sounds like a win-win.
Brenna St.John: I would hope so.
Deborah Howell: So what groups are at greatest risk for diabetes?
Brenna St.John: Groups that have a higher risk of developing diabetes are those with a family history of diabetes, especially if you are African American, Hispanic, or Latino American, Indian, or Alaskan native person. Other risk factors, might include having a history of gestational diabetes and just having a sedentary life.
Deborah Howell: Can you define for those who don't know what gestational diabetes is ?
Brenna St.John: Of course gestational diabetes is during pregnancy when blood triggers are higher than we want them to be.
Deborah Howell: Okay, fair enough. Now, can you tell us a couple of things that people can do, if anything, to prevent diabetes?
Brenna St.John: Of course, I love this question. I worked with a national diabetes prevention program quite a few years. And they have done tons and years of research on just that question. And it comes down to two primary things that people can do. If you are overweight, losing just 5% of your body weight, and then increasing your physical activity to 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, which comes down to about 30 minutes, five days a week.
Deborah Howell: When you say moderate exercise, are you talking about walking? What other things?
Brenna St.John: Walking is a great example. It's simple, it's easy. It's free. So that's my best example to get started is just walking.
Deborah Howell: Okay, so it doesn't have to be a heavy regimen of strength training or, you know, in right?
Brenna St.John: No we would recommend maybe strength training twice a week if people can But to get started walking is a great start. I always joke telling people that you don't have to train for an iron man. We just have to start moving our bodies.
Deborah Howell: Yeah. Somebody once told me every muscle every day. Just give it a little love, is there anything else you'd like to add to our conversation, maybe, particularly talking about children and diabetes?
Brenna St.John: Sure. I would like to make sure that if you're concerned about Having prediabetes or, type one diabetes type two diabetes, I'd encourage you to go online to the CDCs online risk factor quiz. But also speak with your healthcare provider. Some signs and symptoms of a diabetes diagnosis might be things like increased thirst, increased urination, being very fatigued, having some unintentional weight loss, feeling more hungry, but also just extremely tired.
If you're having those symptoms, I would encourage you to speak with your healthcare provider. And then if you're interested in learning more about your health, nutrition, diabetes management, I would encourage you to ask your provider for a referral to see a dietician or diabetes educator, especially those of us here at Pullman Regional.
Deborah Howell: Well, Brenna we so appreciate your time in everything you do to help our patients. Thank you so much for being with us.
Brenna St.John: Of course, happy to be here.
Deborah Howell: You can learn more about this subject provider and services at Pullman Regional Hospital online at pullmanregional.org/nutrition. This has been the Health Podcast from Pullman Regional. I'm your host, Deborah Howell thanks for listening and have yourself a terrific day.