Quinoa plants near Cachora, Apurímac, Peru When I was thirteen, I spent a week in Peru.  It was, in some respects, a great trip – Machu Picchu, llamas, rafting on the Urubama River, and purchasing panchos.  I chronicled the adventure in a journal under the pen name Marcia Smith, marked it top secret, and left threatening messages...

For me, the studying aspect of college was fairly easy. I have always been a good student. I never really struggled with classes except for a few subjects like Calculus.  But I had a much bigger issue looming in the college scene- chronic health conditions. My health matters were, and still are, a constant job in themselves. Even beyond...

Among the interesting studies announced at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions 2010 was a head-to-head comparison of two new incretin-based drugs for type 2 diabetics.  The full, one-year data presented at the meeting showed that Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 analog Victoza outperformed Merck & Co’s DPP-4 inhibitor...

Adrian Kiger is a writer who grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia.  She’s had type 1 diabetes since she was eleven. After years of struggling with weight issues and blood sugar levels, she found a diet that works for her – vegan.  Adrian, who has written a children’s book “Veronica, the Vegetarian Diabetic,” talked...

In his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan outlines the problems created by not feeding cattle what they have evolved to eat – grass.  Feeding cattle corn, he says, violates the biological or evolutionary logic of bovine digestion.  And moreover, most of the health problems that afflict feedlot cattle, “can...

“Our insulin is too slow,” Aaron Kowalski, head of the JDRF’s Artificial Pancreas Project, said when discussing some of today’s biggest roadblocks for better artificial pancreas systems. The cry for faster insulin is familiar to many diabetics, but the benefits of a faster method of delivery are not limited to...

In the last decade, we’ve seen new sections created in grocery stores, natural product expos and magazines as they cover the latest and greatest in protein powders, shakes and bars. So what’s the scoop? Let’s start by looking at sources, then forms, and finally rationales to determine what’s good for us (and...

I’m mildly agoraphobic and it’s not easy for me to plan long trips.  And while I like looking at travel guides for places like Ecuador or Tanzania and imagining what it would be like to go there, I know that I’m not brave enough to go through with the trip.  So what inevitably happens when I read these sort of ...

The other day, Chris Bishop (Type 1 Tidbits) wrote a very compelling blog post called “Diabetic Superheroes.” He said, rightfully, that anyone who deals with a chronic condition is a superhero and deserves to be recognized as such, especially since it’s such a thankless job. A number of people (including many medical...

The digital clock on my bedside table said 2:11 this morning when I woke up.  I had, in the midst of dreaming, tried to put off getting out of bed to correct a slow onset hypoglycemic episode – but deep down I knew there was no avoiding it.   There hadn’t been any good cause for my blood sugar to drop.   I had eaten a low-calorie...