David Mendosa’s Diabetes Directory was one of the first, and is now one of the largest, websites focusing on diabetes. The site includes approximately 1,000 of his articles about diabetes and an annotated directory to more than 1,400 diabetes-related websites, which are described and linked in the Online Diabetes Resources area.
Every month he publishes an online newsletter called “Diabetes Update”. David Mendosa is the co-author of the book What Makes My Blood Glucose Go Up … And Down? and the author of the book Losing Weight with Your Diabetes Medication: How Byetta and Other Drugs Can Help You Lose More Weight than You Ever Thought Possible.
David is an avid hiker, and in his blog, Fitness and Photography For Fun, he shares photo essays about his hikes, snowshoeing, and mountain climbing. He believes exercise should be fun, and he hopes the essays will inspire others to get the exercise they need. David also blogs about diabetes developments. A Sweet Life is proud to kick off American Diabetes Month* with this interview from David Mendosa. Thanks, David!
Can you tell our readers a little bit about your childhood?
I grew up in Upland/Ontario area of Southern California. Until I was 8 I had terrible asthma. Then my folks and I spent the night near Mt. Baldy Village in Angeles National Forest. My asthma went away that night. We moved to Mt. Baldy Village right after that. My folks cared enough about my health to make that move.
Do you think one of the reasons you take such good care of yourself today is because of your parents?
That is one of the reasons. Another reason is because I feel that I have to be a role model. I get tremendous satisfaction in encouraging other people. A teacher has to know a lot and learn a lot, even more than the student. I see myself as a teacher about diabetes.
Has your diabetes care changed over the years?
I am very open minded about my care. I began to control my blood glucose level with oral medications and a low glycemic diet. But that didn’t help me to control my weight. Then, I switched to taking Byetta, using two injections daily. Byetta helped me control my blood glucose level somewhat better. It helped me control my weight much better. Eventually, however, I decided to manage my diabetes without any drugs.
How do you manage your diabetes without drugs?
The only way that I know how to do that is to eat a very low-carb diet, which is necessarily high fat. Our bodies can use only carbohydrates or fat for the energy we need. The American medical establishment says a high fat diet can wreak havoc with cholesterol, but my cholesterol levels couldn’t be better. My most recent lipid panel shows that my LDL cholesterol is 74, my HDL cholesterol is 69, and my triglyceride level is 43. My most recent A1C test was 4.8 and my current BMI is 19.5. Some people say that I am too thin — but that’s fine with me!
* American Diabetes Month is a time to communicate the seriousness of diabetes and
the importance of diabetes prevention and control. This year the American Diabetes Association has launched a national movement, Stop Diabetes, to confront diabetes, fight it, and most importantly, stop it.
