I try not to read the email in the morning because sometimes, the stories are too good, and I lose track of time. This morning was a perfect example, because I got a letter from someone I know who was recently diagnosed as a Type II diabetic.
John is in his mid fifties and I wouldn’t say he is fat, but I wouldn’t classify him as thin, either. He is what used to be called “husky,” a definition that isn’t heard much, these days. I would venture to say he is about 20-25 pounds over fighting weight. He loves food, and he loves beer, and he is going to have to make some changes in his life, if he wants to keep it.
He sent me a note about being sent to a nutritionist by his family practioner, after she diagnosed him with diabetes. John is about 6’1″ and weighs about 225-230. I don’t think it would take but about 90 days to have him in really good shape.
He took the appointment with the nutritionist, and showed up for his appointment at the prescribed time. He checked in with the receptionist, who weighed in about 250, and couldn’t have been a hair over 5’5″. What we used to call “as wide as they were tall,” behind closed doors.
John thought it was a little odd that a nutrition clinic would have a lardass at the front door, but with all the crazy laws on hiring, he thought that maybe they didn’t have a choice.
He waited for about twenty minutes, before his name was called and he was ushered into a big office. Then the nutrionist arrived, and John was stunned. She was about 5’10″, but she weighed 300 pounds and not an ounce less, according to his story.
She started into her routine, and talked and talked, but John couldn’t hear anything. His mind kept asking him, “Why are the two people I have seen in this nutrition clinic so fat?”
The nutritionist was showing him plastic food, made to approximate just how much food he should be eating. Finally, when he couldn’t stand it anymore, he asked, “If you know all the rules about dieting, why are you so fat?”
There was absolute silence on the other side of the desk, and then she said, “What did you say?” like she hadn’t heard him correctly.
So he repeated what he said, “If you know all the rules about dieting, why are you so fat?”
At this point the nutritionist flew off the handle, and started screaming at him, telling him to get out of her office immediately. He obliged, but didn’t think his question was out of line. The receptionist asked him if there was a problem, on his way out, and he said that someone apparently couldn’t handle her own advice.
He went back to his family practioner and told her the story. She kept a straight face on for a minute or two, and then couldn’t stop her own laughter.
Between the two of us, he got some rules to follow.
I recommended pharmaceutical grade fish oil, because Type II diabetes immediately moves you into a cardiac high risk category. John doesn’t have any heart problems now, but diabetes can accelerate many problems with your heart, and pharmaceutical grade fish oil can help in controlling lipid levels, which are often elevated in diabetes, especially triglycerides.
Not only that, but pharmaceutical grade fish oil has been linked to wide range of other health benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, improved joint health, and improved behavior and mood.
This last benefit is particularly helpful to Type II diabetics, who often suffer from depression caused by the disease.
My friend John was right to question the nutritionist. It would be the same situation as getting advice from a pulmonologist who smoked.
Nutritionists need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
John told me she had two cases of Diet Coke on a shelf behind her too (more fat people drink Diet Coke, than any other beverage.)
Never be afraid to get another opinion, especially in a case like this.