Someone somewhere has been diagnosed with prediabetes this month. 

It might come as a shock. After all, who really thinks about it, until the Dr forces us to.

This is not the hereditary kind that is not preventable and requires insulin to control. 

Prediabetes leads to Type 2 diabetes, sometimes called Onset Diabetes, and is a disease that’s becoming more common but unnecessarily so. There are lifestyle choices that affect the onset of type 2 diabetes, so it is also called a lifestyle disease. Chances are you know someone who has this type of diabetes. Especially if you are over 50. 

It’s of interest to me because I know that this disease can be prevented and reversed with some simple habit changes. My mother had it and she was poking herself all the time to test her blood sugar. She also got glaucoma, an eye disease that’s associated with diabetes. She suffered more from that, I think.

The choices you make now can influence whether you will be dealing with this disease in the future. It’s easy to ignore what we don’t have to face every day, until we do.

So I hope this is helpful for you.

An interesting fact: As obesity rates continue to rise, so do rates of Type 2 diabetes. You can prevent and treat both issues at the same time.

Here are a few tips if you need to re-focus on your health.

1. Move more daily.

Walk every morning and after dinner. An after-dinner walk is especially helpful to control blood sugar levels.

1. Eat well. 

Eat enough. But eat the good stuff, nutritionally. Use food as fuel, not as your anti-depressant, stress-fix, or boredom buster. There are healthier ways to deal with that. 

1. Focus on Fiber

By slowing down the digestive process, fiber helps lower blood sugar levels, and therefore, insulin levels, helping to prevent and treat excess fat storage and Type 2 diabetes.

Good sources of fiber: Lentils and other dry beans and legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, edamame, sweet potato, apples and berries of all kinds.

1. Swap the calorie-rich Carbohydrate foods for Nutrient-rich Carbohydrate foods

Healthy sources of carbohydrates in the diet include essential nutrients and fiber. However, many people eat far too many foods that lack the nutrition and fiber but elevate their carbohydrate intake - examples would include any foods with added sugar and those made with flour (ya, that’s bread, guys). Healthy sources of carbohydrates are also good sources of fiber - fruits and vegetables, legumes and dry beans, quinoa, and unrefined grains as some examples.

Education is power, but not if you don’t take action. 

Maybe you could have that check-up you’ve been putting off for a while.

Or re-stock your pantry with healthier options.

Plan ahead for your next grocery shop.

Now, let’s go get that walk in!

Join Board Certified Holistic Nutritionist Cordelia McFadyen of Inspired Living Nutrition Inc for an insightful Masterclass on how to understand what a food sensitivity is and the basic outline of how to complete an elimination diet. It's estimated up to 20% of people may have a food sensitivity and many more may also have a gluten sensitivity. Many common symptoms include headaches, brain fog, bloating, bad bowel movements, weight gain, inflammation and more. Discussion will also focus on some core recipes needed while completing an elimination diet. Let's get inspired!

This Masterclass will cover:

- Understanding what a food sensitivity is, and isn't

- Understanding the immune, and inflammation, connection to the gut

- Learn about the top foods that are involved in an elimination diet

- Discussion of the concept of hitting one's "toxic load"

- Learn the outline of how to complete a mini elimination diet

- A recipe collection to accompany your mini-elimination diet

- 1-hr online class + 15-Min Live Q & A at the end of class

* You'll get a copy of all recipes and resources to use after the masterclass!

--> Time 12 -1:15 pm CT

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is the way of eating that has nothing to do with diets, meal plans, discipline or self-control. It ’s about getting back to your roots and learning to trust your body again. 

A lot of misconceptions surround the concept of intuitive eating. Yes, you get to eat what you want and when you want, but it’s much more moderated than that. The foundation of intuitive eating is based on listening to your body, but using your brain to make informed choices. The goal is to listen to signals about when your body needs food and to make intentional choices about what goes in. Intuitive eating aims to be non-restrictive and teaches you the tools to stray from impulsivity and guilt from previous eating habits. 

These are the 10 principles of intuitive eating courtesy of Evelyn Tribole (MS, RDN, CEDRD-S) and Elyse Resch (MS, RDN, CEDRD-S, Fiaedp, FADA, FAND) aka “the Original Intuitive Eating Pros.”

1. Reject the Diet Mentality

Diet culture emphasizes the mentality of “lose weight fast”, which is generally unattainable to do in a healthy manner and extremely unsustainable. 

2. Honour Your Hunger

Listen to your body signals to eat when you are hungry. By ignoring these signals and being in a state of excessive hunger, all conscious eating intentions become obsolete and overeating occurs.

3. Make Peace with Food

Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you restrict yourself too harshly to certain foods, it leads to intense cravings, and often, bingeing. When you “give in” to these foods it causes overwhelming guilt, which is not healthy.

4. Challenge the Food Police

It’s time to silence the voices in your head that tell you that you’re “Good” for eating a certain amount of calories or “Bad” for having dessert after dinner. 

5. Discover the Satisfaction Factor

In order to abide by diet culture we often overlook the innate pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. Allow yourself to enjoy this experience and you’ll find that you’ll know what amount of food is “just enough.”

6. Feel Your Fullness

Listen for the body signals that say you’re comfortably full. Take pauses while eating and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what your current hunger level is. 

7. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness

First, recognize that your internal issues affect your relationship with food. Whether you’re experiencing anxiety, stress, boredom, loneliness, etc, food is not the fix. It may be comforting for the short term, but food won’t solve the problem and may only make you feel worse in the long run. You’ll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion.

8. Respect Your Body

Accept and appreciate your body for all it is and what it does for you. It’s hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical of your body size or shape. All bodies deserve dignity.

9. Movement— Feel the Difference

Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie-burning effect of exercise. 

10. Honour Your Health—Gentle Nutrition

Make food choices that honour your health while being enjoyable. You don’t have to eat perfectly healthy every day, and it’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. Progress, not perfection. 

Food is fuel for your body and should NOT be treated as something to be earned, punished for later, or as an option. Intuitive eating equips you with the tools to stray away from everything you’ve been taught in traditional diet culture and allows you to get in tune with your body and reframe eating in an unconditional light. 

In this live event, Hedieh Safiyari, founder of PromptHealth, speaks to Andy De Santis, registered dietitian, and author of eight books about the role our dietary intake has on our mental and sexual health.

In this episode, we speak with a certified nutritional practitioner about top tips to improve gut health from supplements to food.

In this episode, we speak about true science-based nutrition, fasting, and an integrative model to prevent and treat major chronic diseases and extend healthy longevity.

Do you want to learn more about ways to reduce toxic exposure? Listen to our conversation as we speak with a certified nutritional practitioner about tips around avoiding toxic overload and detoxifying foods.

In this live event, Hedieh Safiyari speaks with Michael Huey about the personalization of our health journey and shares some tips on sleep, hydration, and gut health.

In this informative discussion, Jaden and Naturopathic Doctor Dr. Sheldon Bjorgaard talk about insulin resistance in the context of weight management. 

We discuss how focusing on health instead of an ideal weight can help provide a healthier mentality when it comes to our overall mental and physical health.