Metabolic syndrome. The REAL pandemic

[montanabill]

If I were laying in a SHTF stockpile, it would probably be R and N, and a supply of literature on how to use it. Insulin has a shelf life, and will degrade over time. It also must be kept refrigerated for long term storage. Manufacturer's warnings are that it will degrade after 28 days at room temp. In reality, it will last a little longer before starting to lose effectiveness. It will degrade if it gets too hot - don't use any that has been left in the car in the summer. It's generally OK if it's in your pocket on a hot summer day though. It degrades if frozen.

The reason I'd stock Walmart insulin is that it's the only kind available w/o a prescription, and it's the only one that's cost effective. It doesn't work that well and you would ABSOLUTELY need a huge supply of glucose testing strips and meters. R an N are too unpredictable to just wing it. But it can keep a diabetic alive until SHTF is over...

My wife is a retired RN with lots of experience in the field, small towns, native americans (massive diabetes on the res) and mentaly ill with type one. We have propane and 12 volt refrigeration if the grid goes down. The 12 volt will run off my panels and deep cycle batteries. We have two duplicate test machines as well as numerous batteries (the same CR2032 work in my several scopes) we are stocking heavy on test strips.
Kind of depressing but when the times up the times up. We have talked thru the possibilities and are ready for whatever will come.
On the brighter side she just pulished her second photo book and we finally got a offical guide permit to take clients into the woods to see megaliths.

 

[Icthius]

The inconvenient truth is that the diet for optimal health is a plant based whole food diet with minimal oil. Our family just converted to this last summer and we’re all seeing the benefits from it. We did it for health, not ethical or climate related reasons. Better sleep, better skin, less heartburn, weight loss, bloodwork is basically perfect. I’ve been on medication for my thyroid for 20 years and don’t need it anymore. Honestly giving up meat wasn’t that hard, it was the cheese and egg that I missed the most. I lost 50 pounds in 8 months without any changes to my routines, my BMI is now 20% and I can see my abs again for the first time since I was in my 20s. It’s definitely not easy to stick with it, since we basically can’t eat out at all, there’s definitely days where I want to just go get a cheeseburger and fries, but the results keep me motivated. Learning new tricks every day to make my life easier and my food taste better.

I do my best to not push this lifestyle on others, but this seemed like the appropriate time to bring awareness to it.

 

[DrJenner]

Treatment of metabolic syndrome is diet and exercise. Problem is no one wants to hear they are overweight and most want to take a pill for it (cue Ozempic) --> major side effects are nausea and vomiting.
I went from a BMI of 26 (at the height of the pandemic) to 19 with good old diet and exercise. Found that tracking macros helps the most, upping my protein intake and doing weight bearing exercises (not just cardio). You would be surprised how little protein we really get a day. I aim for 90g daily.

 

[PopPopT]

The inconvenient truth is that the diet for optimal health is a plant based whole food diet with minimal oil.

Been there, done that, and did not find optimal health after years of living that way. I spent decades trying and would not likely be on this side of the sod had I continued.

I want to say more but do not want to be unkind. (I've typed and deleted a dozen times.) I wish you well with your chosen diet. I personally have found the opposite diet for optimal health for me.

 

[Spikedriver]

@DrJenner I like to say that insulin resistance is like a lock that doesn't allow glucose through the door into our body's cells. Exercise is like a key that opens that lock. Combine that with a lower carb diet, because carbohydrates are what raises blood glucose levels in the short term, and one can mostly or fully overcome insulin resistance. Some may always need a little metformin or whatever other meds are necessary, but the control of diabetes is always in the hands of the patient...

 

[Icthius]

Been there, done that, and did not find optimal health after years of living that way. I spent decades trying and would not likely be on this side of the sod had I continued.

I want to say more but do not want to be unkind. (I've typed and deleted a dozen times.) I wish you well with your chosen diet. I personally have found the opposite diet for optimal health for me.

My personal experience was going from a BMI of 31 ( technically obese) , pre diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and having to take meds for my thyroid to a BMI of 20 ( healthy weight) and no need for any meds with all labs in the normal range with absolutely no other lifestyle changes.

You can say whatever you'd like. I know there are lots of opinions on the matter out there but at the end of the day I trust the evidence based medicine more than opinions. On top of that it was a change my wife and I made after she, after countless hours of research as a professor at Yale School of Medicine, determined it was a recommendation she was going to be making to her patients. We like to lead by example.