#1572 Smart Bites: Teaching Nutrition That Sticks
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.
Teaching real-life nutrition habits for kids, teens, and adults—how to build healthy foundations and make better food choices without guilt or overwhelm.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox podcast.
Welcome to my nutrition series with Jenny Smith. Jenny and I are going to in very clear and easy to understand ways walk you from basic through intermediate and into advanced. Nutritional ideas, we're going to tie it all together with type one diabetes, talk about processed foods and how you can share these simple concepts with the people in your life, whether it's your children, other adults or even seniors, besides being the person you've heard on the bold beginnings and Pro Tip series and so much more. Jennifer Smith is a person living with type one diabetes for over 35 years. She actually holds a bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition and biology from the University of Wisconsin. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified diabetes educator. She's a trainer on all kinds of pumps and CGM she's my friend, and I think you're going to enjoy her thoughts on better eating. My diabetes Pro Tip series is about cutting through the clutter of diabetes management to give you the straightforward, practical insights that truly make a difference. This series is all about mastering the fundamentals, whether it's the basics of insulin dosing adjustments or everyday management strategies that will empower you to take control. I'm joined by Jenny Smith, who is a diabetes educator with over 35 years of personal experience, and we break down complex concepts into simple, actionable tips. The Diabetes Pro Tip series runs between Episode 1001 1025 in your podcast player, or you can listen to it at Juicebox podcast.com by going up into the menu. Nothing you hear on the Juicebox podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. Today's episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. This is the meter that my daughter has on her person right now. It is incredibly accurate and waiting for you at contour next.com/juicebox this episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by the twist a ID system powered by tide pool that features the twist loop algorithm, which you can target to a glucose level as low as 87 Learn more at twist.com/juicebox, that's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. Get precision insulin delivery with a target range that you choose at twist.com/juicebox. That's twi i st.com/juicebox, this episode of The Juicebox podcast is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes and their mini med 780 G system designed to help ease the burden of diabetes management. Imagine fewer worries about missed boluses or miscalculated carbs thanks to meal detection technology and automatic correction doses, learn more and get started today at Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox Jenny, hey, this is the last part of the nutrition series. Yay. I appreciate this. This is this is going very well. I believe. What are we going to finish with today? It says teaching approaches for different age groups. Oh, okay,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 3:24
yeah. I mean, the idea here is to take all of the things that we've kind of brought forth already, right, and have an idea for how to bring that into people's day to day use based on where they are in age or age group, or where they are in life, with different types of variables, right?
Scott Benner 3:50
This really is the most, oddly enough, the most difficult part of this whole thing, right? Like, now you've got all the tools and you understand what it is you're supposed to be doing. Like, how is it like, I actually go do that every day? Right? Right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:03
Yeah, correct. And what was I mean when I when I kind of came up with the modules, right, the ideas of how to move through this. Do you remember what I told you as to why, like, if I wasn't being a diabetes educator? Do you remember what I told you I would do outside of that?
Scott Benner 4:18
I don't remember the exact con i know you, I know you would rather lean into your nutrition background. Like, I know that that's a thing you would really not rather, but that's the thing you really enjoy. Like, so it is. It's a passion of yours, too. Eating, well,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:31
it is. And I would have liked, if I chose a different path, I would have done it kind of in the concept of what we're going to talk about now, because, as we stated early on, people really don't have a good concept of nutrition, and then how that impacts their growing development endeavors through life, right? What you put in your body makes a big difference. But if I was going to do something different, it would be. Going back and creating a program that delves into school education, in nutrition, and so, you know, our first kind of category is like, kids, right? Kids Elementary, teaching them basic starting, let's say kindergarten, and you're not going to teach physiology of something, something organ in your body at that age, but you have to have a starting place. And so all the things that we've talked about so far, the food groups and why they're important, and the different micronutrients and things that go into them, and the benefit of eating balanced nutrition, you can teach that in a really easy way to kiddos, right? You can teach them. I used to with schools do some education. I taught eat the rainbow Okay, right? And one of the recipes that I would bring to for the kids to take home and share with their parents is Rainbow pizza, right? You may not even make the crust, but you know, a store bought kind of crust and what goes on the pizza? You have to have a minimum of three colorful vegetables, either on the pizza or on the plate on the side. So if you teach kids the value of what is that, that's balance, yeah, right. You have all the food groups there, but a wealth of that coming from really colorful food, which what kid doesn't like to color? I mean, maybe there are some of them, but Right, it engages them in a way that's at their level.
Scott Benner 6:27
And you know, I know this isn't really what we're talking the way we're talking about this, but it's a life skill that it's not taught anymore. It's really interesting that you're on today, because yesterday I was talking on a recording that I made with somebody else. And hopefully you'll hear or I said, we don't really teach people life skills anymore. And in middle school, I learned to sew. I learned to work with wood, I learned to work with metal. I learned to cook, you know, like, I learned how to balance my checkbook, you know, you think, like, ah, checkbooks. Nobody keeps temp. I learned how to keep track of my money. No one teaches you that stuff anymore, and my daughter will say stuff to me, like, I mean, there's a I don't understand episode. I think it's I don't understand money. And she's a really lovely, thoughtful, bright person, right? So the point is, is, if somebody would have taken five seconds to explain her checkbook to her, she might understand better the idea of money coming out. And maybe if somebody would grab a kid and say, Hey, you're little, so let's talk about it this way. Colorful vegetables, these are important, right? And then you become like, you know, we always talk about, I mean, I just put up a series about habit building. It's not that easy to build a habit after you have a bad habit, right? It's a lot easier to build one before you have one, you know, correct? Yeah, absolutely.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:42
And that's that's why starting young becomes very important. And as the dietitian that I am, as I've said before, I've worked really hard to encourage my kids to understand food, teaching them how to read a food label, right from little on when they go to the grocery store. As hard as it is to track kids around a grocery store, man, they can learn a lot if you let them ask questions about things like I always let them pick, especially from like the produce area. Pick something new once a week, right? Pick something odd, something weird. We'll figure it out. And if you don't like it, it's okay, but we learn something new, right? Yeah, and I think that that's easy to do. Little kids are curious about so many things, and if we answer their questions, and in this nutrition specific kind of category, you might learn something too from answering their question that you didn't know the answer to, while also fostering, as you said, a little bit more understanding of where does wellness come from, and it comes from understanding pieces that unless you really go to school at a very upper level high school and then definitely college, if that's your track, you will learn about it. If it's not, what does High School offer? One, one health course, yeah, yeah.
Scott Benner 9:01
It's, it's how not to get pregnant, basically. And then, yeah, what happens to you,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:05
how your body works at a very general level. This is, you know, what to avoid, blah, blah, blah, none of it, unless you go into maybe Home Ec, which, again, is now an elective. You have to choose to take it. You're not going to learn how to stitch a hole in your sock, and you're not going to learn how to boil water. There was somebody in my freshman on my freshman floor in college, who I was in the kitchen doing something we had, like a community kitchen. She's like, I don't know. It's not doing anything. She just had water in a pot. She was making macaroni and cheese. And I was like, Well, you know, to get the water to boil, you got to turn she didn't even heat it. No, oh, she had it on there. But warm, like, the heat was that, like, warm? I was like, Yeah, you gotta turn it up a little bit more. The water's gotta actually bubble. The
Scott Benner 9:52
pasta was in a sauna. You're telling me. It was like, Oh, it's lovely in here. And that's a person who, like, is how old?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:00
Yeah, right. I mean, she had to be 817, 18. It was freshman year in college, right? And right there, my brain was like, I don't understand how you, like you made it into college, like somebody admitted you to college,
Scott Benner 10:13
and you don't know how to your point is, somebody could have definitely taught her how to do that. Yeah, right. No, no. And thinking like ahead, you know, you have a little kid there. I mean, people argue all the time. Is it nature or nurture? How somebody talks out there turns out, and maybe it's a little of both, right? But everything your kid thinks, whether you realize it or not, because it's hard, because life is busy, and everything comes from the things that are mostly said in the house and then things that are set outside of the house or in their friend group. Yeah? Imagine if in your house you were talking about, you know, we eat this way because it feeds your body, and we want you to be, you know, healthier when you're older and strong. And like, you love sport, like, it's such an easy time to carrot and stick a kid, right? Like, you know, absolutely, yeah, Mom, I want to be a professional baseball player, awesome. Eat this carrot, you know, like, literally, yeah, you those are the Yes, yeah. You want to turn the TV on. And wherever you are in the country, you want to point and go see the guy playing first base. He eats his vegetables like that. It's such a simple time to, like, get them to do that. And it
Jennifer Smith, CDE 11:16
is. And I like, let me say I like how you said it. From the approach of even little kids, let's say they love playing T ball. It moves into baseball, right? And you're teaching them along the way. You're you're feeding them, as an example, those really good things. You're bringing the carrots and peanut butter, or the carrots, or the celery and hummus, instead of like the bag of Doritos, to the game, right? You're teaching by example. But then it moves forward into that next sort of age group where they can really at a deeper understanding level. They can get it because of the things that there's,
Scott Benner 11:52
there's something flying in your room. Jenny, scared spider hanging right? Don't worry. Do you want to kick can you kill it, or do you need to get somebody?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 12:02
Oh, no, I'm all good. I don't love spider. Sorry. It came down right in front of my face. She got a piece of paper. She moved him off to the side. I didn't kill him. I try really hard, as much as not liking spiders, I try not to kill
Scott Benner 12:15
them. Oh, you should have seen. Listen to Jenny. Look what. She just didn't kill that spider. I know I dropped him on the floor. No, you all know, if that spider fell in front of me, here's what you would have heard. People would have been like, what happened? I'd be like, don't worry about it.
Unknown Speaker 12:29
Sorry. That interrupted.
Scott Benner 12:30
No. So even if they're playing T ball, you can tell them, Go ahead.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 12:35
Yeah, you can tell them those little bits of things that are, hey, you know this is going to give you lots more energy. You don't have to get into the nitty gritty of it at that age level. But hey, eat this, you know, eat the apple or along with peanut butter or whatever, because, you know what? Out on the field, you're going to be using a lot of energy. You're going to be running around, and you need something that's going to stay in your belly for a lot longer. That's going to give you some good energy so you can hit the ball farther than Bobby, yeah,
Scott Benner 13:05
you don't want to run out of gas while you're out there playing, right? That give them that idea of, like, you have a tank. It's a reserve, it's a battery called a battery. Like, listen, whatever is modern enough for you, right? Like, we need to charge up your battery so that when you're out there using it, you know, like, you don't run out. And the stronger your battery is, the faster you're going to run. And like, I mean, you can trick a kid into thinking they're running faster with new sneakers. Yeah, true. So now I'm the time to, like, trick them into taking care of themselves. My My question is, is that, if you're a parent who doesn't know these things, or you don't even eat that way yourself, that, to me, seems like probably worse the problem comes in, right? Like you know, today's episode is sponsored by Medtronic diabetes, who is making life with diabetes easier with the mini med 780 G system. The mini med 780 G automated insulin delivery system anticipates, adjusts and corrects every five minutes. Real world results show people achieving up to 80% time and range with recommended settings without increasing lows. But of course, Individual results may vary. The 780 G works around the clock, so you can focus on what matters. Have you heard about medtronics, extended infusion set. It's the first and only infusion set labeled for up to a seven day wear. This feature is repeatedly asked for, and Medtronic has delivered. 97% of people using the 780 G reported that they could manage their diabetes without major disruptions of sleep. They felt more free to eat what they wanted, and they felt less stress with fewer alarms and alerts you can't beat that. Learn more about how you can spend less time and effort managing your diabetes by visiting Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox the brand new twist insulin pump offers peace of mind with unmatched personalization. And allows you to target a glucose level as low as 87 there are more reasons why you might be interested in checking out twist, but just in case that one got you twist.com/juicebox, that's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. You can target glucose levels between 87 and 180 it's completely up to you. In addition to precision insulin delivery that's made possible by twist design, twist also offers you the ability to edit your carb entries even after you've Bolus. This gives the twist loop algorithm the best information to make its decisions with, and the twist loop algorithm lives on the pump so you don't have to stay next to your phone for it to do its job. Twist is coming very soon. So if you'd like to learn more or get on the wait list, go to twist.com/juicebox. That's twist with two eyes.com/juicebox. Links in the show notes, links at Juicebox podcast.com.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:57
It is and not to. I mean, this is not to. This is not a judgment. This is not a faulty but it gives you the idea of, if you don't know it and you're hearing it, then do a little bit of research. I mean basic online, you can easily find what the nutrition needs of a child This age and this athletic level is, or your your age level, what, what should your meal content kind of look like? And as I was going to say, if you move from kind of Childhood, Elementary, more into the middle school, teen and then definitely, definitely high school. But even some teenagers that are middle school are doing sports at a level that is well beyond what I was doing at that age. Yep, and teaching them, then that sport has now become even more what they want, whether it's dancing or they are a pianist, and they have to have the energy to be able to play and really focus and everything, what you put in your body makes a very big difference on that right? We already discussed in terms of diabetes, role in this too, the more stable and the better managed your blood sugars are. Without all of the up down, kind of rocky roller coaster, you're also going to feel better in whatever endeavor you really want to be doing. But at the Teen level, there is a lot that is hard because there, there's a lot of social influence, right? You know, the teenagers are now out after school with friends, and they stop it. I mean, I see it, I pick my kids up at school. Sometimes we stop at the library. And the kids that walk from school where their parents are going to pick them up, at the library, they're, you know, they're at the ice cream shop, which is all on the corner by the library, and they bring the ice cream over and like, they're all on their own. So they're making their own decisions. But a lot of those decisions are social. Hey, let's go to the ice cream parlor. I've got $5 you know, whatever it is. So it becomes difficult to teach some of that at the age level, where you're now allowing your kids more independent decision, which means that in those I think we've talked about before, like 8020 kind of idea in eating right, that 20% might be the stuff that they do socially, the other 80% is the healthy, great stuff that you might be teaching them and doing at home, bringing to the games for them, so that they can see that there can be a balance,
Scott Benner 18:27
right? What you're shooting for is that they are probably going to go to the ice cream shop, but there are also going to be times that you'll see that same kid reach down and say, I'm going to eat a piece of a bell pepper here, instead of, like, right, a pretzel or something to that effect. I mean, Jenny, maybe if you start when they're younger, they'll be the kid in the teen group who's, like, I'm good, you know what I mean? Or, like, I'll have a little bit of, let me have some of yours and, but I'm gonna I had an apple in my bag. Like, wouldn't it be cool if your kid was the teen with an apple in their bag? Like, you know what I mean? Like, that'd be seriously, right? Like, like, yeah, yeah. And maybe that's how, you know, it's kind of unfair, because I understand Jenny's like, world view better than the rest of you do, because she's, like, nice Jenny here and everything. Like, not that you're not nice otherwise, about your world view, you know, like, somebody's got to be out in front and, like, somebody's got to be out there saying, like, I think this is what we should be doing, you know, like, right? There's nothing wrong with wanting to eat that way. And how can you make it so that they don't have that feeling of, Oh no, I'm different, or I don't want to be the one to speak up right? Now, I really would pre I'd rather have hummus. Like, do we have Huis or hummus somewhere? Right? There'll be one, one kid will have that feeling. Then, who knows how many other kids in that group are like, Yeah, I don't want this ice cream either. Like you don't know how crazy that could be happening. Let's sprinkle some of those kids out in the world and see what happens. Let your kids be the one that, yeah, Johnny Appleseed, that out there. And
Jennifer Smith, CDE 19:51
it is, I think you bring in a good piece there. When we're talking to again, the grand majority of listeners have diabetes, which is enough. Other piece that adds the layer of different right? And as many good friends as you have and as much teaching as we do, to say, Hey, someone with diabetes can eat anything that they want. They understand at a deeper level how to navigate what that food is going to do in their body. But they could have the ice cream if they really want to. But then on the opposite of that, you know, Jenny comes always with the Apple or the carrot sticks or the celery, and is the idea then that you're projecting that I can't have the ice cream, and that becomes something you have to verbalize, yeah, and that's hard again, as a teen, as an adult, we're most people, I think, are pretty good about just standing up and voicing, you know, no, I choose to do this. But as a team level, it's a hard thing to do because there's so many layers to social stuff.
Scott Benner 20:54
Yeah, and there is, I mean, there are, obviously, there are more things to consider. There's, you know, eating disorders are correct, more prevalent among type ones, and you don't want them to have that feeling of, like, oh, like, you know, I can't have the ice cream because I have diabetes. It's hard because you want to say, like, eat this thing. It's healthy for you. But I, I'm guessing, depending on people's personalities, you might not want to say, eat this thing. It'll make your diabetes easier. Because, right? Like, because, Oh, great. Now I'm the guy eating the broccoli while everybody else is having the ice cream because I've got diabetes. Like, boom, that's a quick path to nobody eating broccoli, because there's a psychological component too. I mean, that's why, what you're saying about starting early, I think just makes, like so much sense, like, make it a thing before they have a chance to make something else that thing contour next.com/juicebox that's the link you'll use to find out more about the contour, next gen blood glucose meter. When you get there, there's a little bit at the top. You can click right on blood glucose monitoring. I'll do it with you. Go to meters, click on any of the meters. I'll click on the Next Gen, and you're going to get more information. It's easy to use and highly accurate smart light provides a simple understanding of your blood glucose levels, and of course, with Second Chance sampling technology, you can save money with fewer wasted test strips. As if all that wasn't enough, the contour next gen also has a compatible app for an easy way to share and see your blood glucose results. Contour, next.com/juicebox and if you scroll down at that link, you're going to see things like a Buy Now button. You could register your meter after you purchase it. Or what is this? Download a coupon, oh, receive a free contour next gen blood glucose meter. Do tell contour, next.com/juicebox head over there. Now get the same accurate and reliable meter that we use correct, yeah, exactly.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:50
And then once we get into this age, and I think even into, like, more of the adult population, to what you have learned, it makes a difference in your understanding of then what you can do with your body, right? There are a lot of teens, even into college age, that are doing some type of exercise or activity, right, some type of a sport, and what you put in definitely makes a major impact on your performance. Knowing that from I've coached only two. I had two major league baseball players that I worked with who had type two diabetes, not type one, but learning in, again, a major league type of experience, learning what they eat on the I mean, it's atrocious food. It really and their time frames and everything. So if you can start younger, if your child, at some point gets to that level of play, what you've taught them now in understanding their body's need for nutrients and what that does in performance, it will lend a long way into adulthood and what they end up doing? Yeah,
Scott Benner 24:01
I'd like to relate something back to to your children from that too. And I have a little bit of perspective here, because my son played pretty, you know, competitively for a really long time. You could feed a 1920 21 year old boy garbage and rocks. And if they're that active, for most of them, they look awesome, right? Yes, but, and again, there's so many times this podcast I'm like, I hope people I know don't hear this, but I can picture the group of boys that my son played baseball with as younger kids, right? And back then, they were lean and healthy and like the fastest kids you knew and the strongest kids you knew, and they are not that as adults now, a lot of them, you don't realize how the vibe is. I can eat anything I want. I think people can feel like a superhero, right? Like, look, it doesn't matter what I put in. I'm in great shape. I throw the ball harder than everybody else, blah, blah, blah, that piece of like, I'm so active, like my body is. Fighting off this bad food, I don't think it hits you, and then you become a little older, and things get soft, and you slow down and boom, that happens so quickly. But to relate it back to kids, like little kids, they're sort of in a similar situation. Then, like, you know, they're young, and they're growing so quickly. Like almost any calorie you throw in there, the body doesn't even have time to store it as fat. It's like, I need it for this. I need it for that. It's not a healthy build. You might be building
Jennifer Smith, CDE 25:27
a shaky foundation, Yes, Scott, a shaky, I
Scott Benner 25:32
don't know, building. It's gonna fall over in the wind one day when they're 35 or 40, but, and you can't see it while it's happening. It's so similar to diabetes, yes, right, that you can be doing something that is just fundamentally not right for you and is not going to be healthy, but you're not going to find out for 20 years, till the wind blows and your thing falls over and you think, oh, I should have probably made that foundation with more vegetables and fruits and things like that, right? So when that's true, Jenny, then I think that, like as a parent, it becomes more difficult to extol the virtues of what you're doing when, let's be honest, and when Doritos taste better than broccoli. And I realized, by the way, I realized, while we're making this, this whole series, Doritos must be Frito Lay must be thrilled, because during like, said it a million not just us, but I've noticed that in any one of these conversations is happening out in the zeitgeist, people reach for Doritos as the example every time. And I realized, I think it's because they're awesome. It's because it's the thing everybody thinks of. They're like, You know what? I love a Dorito Yeah, it's tough. It's, I think I've said this in nine it's like taking a vitamin. Like, you don't take a vitamin the next day feel better. So, like, you know, and by the time you feel better, you don't know that you feel better,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 26:52
because it's been slowly progressing forward, right?
Speaker 1 26:56
Yeah. It's like, how many people do I interview? And I'm like, How did you feel when your a 1c was like, that. They were like, I was fine. How am I going your ANC was almost nine. You felt good. I felt great. Like, how do you feel now? They go, I feel great. Your body just doesn't know you don't remember that. So it's up to
Jennifer Smith, CDE 27:10
you. It's unique in watching and working. Eons ago, I worked in bariatric nutrition, so those who had, like, bariatric surgeries and everything, and there were, if you're able to follow somebody so closely on that journey of change, they do have a reflection. And I think other other people too, at some point can make those considerations and say, I can remember, in looking back, I liked to do this, but I was constantly out of breath, or I couldn't keep up, and people were willing to wait for me. And now I can see the difference. I feel really good. And I don't know if it's a good compared to I thought I was feeling good.
Scott Benner 27:55
Oh, I think it is. It's a milestone, and you hit it like, I mean, listen, you know the last time I was out of breath? I don't know either, but I bet you it was about 30 pounds ago. Like, that is not a thing that I don't run up the stairs and go, Oh, my God, I'm not huffing and puffing, right? Exercising now, I start exercising, and when I'm done, I'm like, oh, I should probably exercise harder, because I don't even feel this right? Yeah. And I know it would have killed me before, but I'm older, and we have these conversations and this stuff's in my head, right? Like, so if that's why I'm thinking about it once in a while, you know, I guess you do have to make it like in the forefront of your mind, like you put effort into the way you eat. It's not effortless, right? Correct?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:35
I make choices all of the time, and while there are choices that are just the regular, the regular on the list, and it's, I don't really think about them anymore, but there's always a choice, we go out for for a meal, and there's always still that, like background, if we're eating out of I never have this, right? There's always that idea, I would never make this at home. I'll try this kind of a thing, right? But in general, my home based stuff is it's still a conscious, conscious effort to make sure that what comes in is as much good as it possibly can be. And when we're, you know, talking about like now I'm clearly an adult right moving through life from starting kids with the right information about food and then building on it once they get to adulthood, that foundation isn't shaky internally. There isn't that. You know, with diabetes, we have the understanding of prevention now or taking care now is long term going to keep us healthier? I think we all understand that, or have heard that in some way or another, but if we take the same thing from a food angle, and we feed in over time, once we get to adulthood with healthier intake and management, our adult body is. So much. It's got so much preventative piece in it for chronic condition, most chronic conditions are going to have a build up over your life, right? They're not just like, oh gosh, I'm 65 and I now have heart disease. No, no. That's not how it started, like it started eons ago, right?
Scott Benner 30:23
It started when you were four years old. Somebody gave you correct, you know, a potato chip instead of, yeah, you know, something that would have been more valuable you you were building yourself that whole time for them and to get to that later age, you know. So if you're listening to this and you're like, oh, you know, who doesn't eat, well, it's my mom or my dad. Like, you know, like, I think it's easy to talk a little kid into eating well before an older person, like, that's a lifetime of, No, I'm okay. And this is, you know, how I eat, yeah, but they're getting sick as well. I mean, listen, you know, my mom eventually dies, you know, from, you know, cancer, cancer. I don't know how that all happens, but I can tell you that I don't think she was thrilled with her decision to have a pizza steak on Friday nights, you know, once she got sick and she was 80. I think it's funny you think, like, oh, was, you know, I think my mom was like, 82 when she passed away, or almost 82 and, you know, you say that when you're 30, like, I'll be happy if I make it 82 my mom was not excited to die. She wasn't like, Oh, it's okay. I've been here long enough. She didn't have one of those thoughts, you know, and you don't. I just think that no matter where you are along your path, I'd hate to see you having that feeling of like, oh, it's like, it feels too late. Because I, first of all, I don't actually think you know most of the time it's not actually too late, but that feeling that it's too late can almost propel you in the other direction,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:43
correct? Well, I've done it this way for so long, and now I've got this and what's the difference? What? What's it going to change? And there are, as we get older, it is harder, it's harder to build muscle, it's harder to maintain the bone health in our body. Again, starting younger and building on that can help you get to a place where, when you're 85 you can still carry your groceries in, you know, and up three floors if you needed to, and you don't need assistance to take your socks off and all that's that's what we're building, too. But if you are an older person already, you know, adults, even into older adulthood, there are still some things that would definitely be beneficial from an inflammation level and everything.
Scott Benner 32:26
And I'll tell you that I'm positive that if I live 20 or 30 more years, they're going to be better than they would have been if I said, without your changes, it's just, it's, there's no way it's, there's no way that that's not true. You're not going to talk a five year old in the believing like you know when they're 20. This is important, because they can't imagine that. No, our Arden is almost 21 and she said to me, in a very, very somber moment, she saw an older person crossing the street, and she said, I can't believe I'm gonna be old one day. And she was like, really, like, existentially rocked by the idea, you know. And I was like, I know, I said, I can't believe I'm this old either. I really can't that's the thing you're fighting against. So that's why I think you need short term, like, I think you're just great. Like, it's T ball. Let's do better at T ball. Let's be better at this. Let's, you know, let's try to, like, have even better. You have to measure them against other people. If you don't want to just like, let's see how success let's see how successful you can be at this. Like we want when this happens, you know, like, Did you have trouble staying awake in school today? You know, maybe that's because we're not eating as well as we could. Here's a thing we could do that make that better for you. Don't like being tired at school. Nobody wants that. You know what? I mean? Like, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 33:38
Absolutely. And I think you know, my my personal for it not only has to do with my diabetes management, but also, like, I worked really hard to have healthy kids. Like pregnancy with diabetes is it is not for the faint of heart, and I see that I worked so hard that I've got healthy kids, but I also don't like I lost my dad when he was 65 and he was too young. He had kidney cancer, again, some lifestyle things, but more just work environment. I think was a bigger piece there for him. But like, I miss him dearly, and he never got to meet my kids, right? I want to age with my children. I want to see them grow up. I want to be there when they've got adult questions for me to help them navigate. And so it's kind of like, I think it's maybe selfish. Oh no, you don't things that I do for me are because I really, like, I want to be around, yeah,
Scott Benner 34:39
you don't want them to feel the way you feel right now when you're speaking about your father, yeah, you want their story to be different. My mom was like jumping around and SPRI, Listen, I'm not gonna say the person's name, but I just saw a person I know personally who's in their 60s celebrating their mom's 92nd birthday, and the mom's in the kitchen, cooking and. She's like, this woman couldn't be more thrilled that her mom's still around. You know what I mean? So I know some people are listening now, like, I listen. I got a countdown. I'm just couple people in my life. I can't wait for the game. Get out of here. You can say whatever you want. Like, this is this was hard to do. It was hard for me to say to Jenny, I want to put a nutrition module into this podcast, because I don't do myself any favors with people who are going to see this as being, like, spoken to, like, oh, you eat poorly or right? I'll lose more people than I'll gain with this. But I just thought this was seriously important to put out, and it is, and this conversation is important to happen. It really is. I grew up not eating well, and I look back, and my mom didn't eat well either. I don't know why. It doesn't even matter, like it's what happened. And now I have a length of time, a lifetime, to look back. I don't think her outcomes were what they could have been if she would have built her foundation differently. And I'm still scared No one
Jennifer Smith, CDE 35:59
better. Yeah, that's the difference, right? She didn't know better, yeah? Like,
Scott Benner 36:04
if my mom was here, this is the stuff I would be saying to her, right? Like, and so I'm not, I'm not doing this because it's a podcast or because it's anything. I'm doing this because I have somehow gathered a large group of you together, and it now feels like important to tell you that you know there's more to this than just like counting your carbs and pushing the button so they're right. And you
Jennifer Smith, CDE 36:25
know, we know that within all of this discussion, I think maybe a back end piece that's even subconscious is I understand I can hear somebody saying, I understand this, but gosh, the time it's going to take to figure this out. I don't have any more time in my life, right for those that have some monetary ability, there are really good ways to do some quick, healthy meals that are those shipped in right types of things. You can pick the components of the meals. They're even carb counted and nutrient facts for you and everything. I understand that's a monetary I don't do that because it's costly. It truly is. I can't afford to do that myself, but you can meal prep, even healthy, inexpensive, quality food at home. Yes, it does take time. I will not, you know, I certainly agree with the consideration of where am I going to fit the time in? You know, use the help of your kiddos if they're old enough. I mean, my kids chop vegetables for me all the time, like, you know, use them.
Scott Benner 37:31
I had two kids growing up. They played sports. I'm not saying I that there's like, a ton of free time all over the place, but I can tell you that one of the things I know is true after living longer is that you can put your effort where it matters to you, and you know, so if this matters to you, I think you'd figure out a way to somehow improve it. You don't have to end up being, you know, I almost said Jack LaLanne, oh, gosh, that's so funny. I just saw a review with somebody the other day. It says, I love that podcast. I don't understand any of his references. But anyway, there was this bodybuilding guy in the 50s, or, I don't know exactly when, like, you don't have to be him, like, right? Like, your Peck doesn't have to look perfect, and everything doesn't have to be exactly right. I'm not saying that you know you need to do that. Like, you know those bro podcast guys, like, it doesn't have to be every ounce of your life and everything. I'm telling you that, from my personal experience, not a very big adjustment, could end up paying you back in a really big way, which might make more mental clarity, which actually could make more time for you at some point. And then maybe you just have to have a very long view of things like this. And no differently, by the way, than taking care of your diabetes, like right? Those are the same things I hear back with different words I can't listen to. The Pro Tip series has 26 episodes, and when am I going to listen to that? Well, you're gonna spend your whole life not bolusing for your food. Well, like, maybe, like, jam this in there, put it on while you're in the shower. Or, what? Right, right? And now you can't cook a carrot while you're in the shower. But Hey, that girl in college could have because she didn't need the water to be though, or she made pasta there for
Jennifer Smith, CDE 39:01
those, for those who are old enough. And remember Seinfeld, remember Kramer making the salad in the
Scott Benner 39:06
shower? I don't, but that's awesome. It's such a funny episode. Listen, this is it, right? Like, you've got, if you're listening to this, you very likely love somebody or have diabetes, right? And you probably have Hashimotos too, or something else, like you're in the game now, like, you're not getting out of it. So, like, you know, right? I don't know, good luck. I know this is difficult to talk about. It's just not easy for me to want to bring up. And you know, when people say, like, if I ever had a million dollars, like, people go, like, I'd open a bookstore. I'd do this, I do that. I think Jenny would go around tell you all, like, how to eat.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 39:38
Yeah, it would be a lot of fun. It would be a lot of fun. Honestly, it would be a lot of fun to go through. I was like, I love grocery shopping. I'm also a people watcher. I think I told you that before, right? But I think it would be really fun to be able to for those of who are really interested and really just don't even know where to start, like. I'll come to your house like, clean out your give you a grocery list. Give you 10 starting recipes. And you know what I mean?
Scott Benner 40:07
Like, I had an idea for you while we were talking, but I won't say it on here, because I don't want to pin you down. But anyway, listen to all of you. Great luck. My point of saying that was that even Jenny behind the scenes, we were talking about that was a gosh, I hope people don't think we're telling them that they're doing a bad job. That's not what I want to tell them, not the intent. This is a hard thing to talk about. If I went right now to chat GPT and said, Hey, tell me the 10 things that people argue about online food would be 1234, and five. So
Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:35
right, yeah, yep, just good luck. Well, I appreciate that you did this
Scott Benner 40:40
sword like people are, like, look at him trying to act like he's being selfless at the end. I know you don't think this, but I've done other stuff like this that I knew was going to get me dinged, and I took, I've taken some hits over the years by saying, Don't be sorry, is what it is. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not going to not say it. And like, you know, I I feel like we've built a pretty great community here, and we should take some bigger swings and, you know, and say things that other people aren't talking about. So there it is. Thank you. Thank you.
The episode you just enjoyed was sponsored by the twist a ID system powered by tide pool. If you want a commercially available insulin pump with twist loop that offers unmatched personalization and precision for peace of mind. You want twist, twist.com/juicebox, having an easy to use and accurate blood glucose meter is just one click away. Contour next.com/juicebox That's right. Today's episode is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. Thanks for tuning in today, and thanks to Medtronic diabetes for sponsoring this episode. We've been talking about medtronics, mini med 780 G system today, an automated insulin delivery system that helps make diabetes management easier day and night. Whether it's their meal detection technology or the Medtronic extended infusion set, it all comes together to simplify life with diabetes. Go find out more at my link, Medtronic diabetes.com/juicebox. Okay, well, here we are at the end of the episode. You're still with me. Thank you. I really do appreciate that. What else could you do for me? Why don't you tell a friend about the show or leave a five star review? Maybe you could make sure you're following or subscribed in your podcast app, go to YouTube and follow me, or Instagram. Tiktok. Oh gosh, here's one. Make sure you're following the podcast in the private Facebook group as well as the public Facebook page. You don't want to miss, please. You not know about the private group. You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 51,000 members in it. They're active, talking about diabetes, whatever you need to know there's a conversation happening in there right now, and I'm there all the time. Tag me. I'll say hi. The podcast contains so many different series and collections of information that it can be difficult to find them in your traditional podcast app. Sometimes. That's why they're also collected at Juicebox podcast.com go up to the top, there's a menu right there. Click on series, defining diabetes. Bold beginnings, the Pro Tip series, small sips, Omnipod, five ask Scott and Jenny, mental wellness, fat and protein, defining thyroid, after dark, diabetes, variables, Grand Rounds, cold, wind, pregnancy, type two, diabetes, GLP, meds, the math behind diabetes, diabetes myths and so much more. You have to go check it out. It's all there and waiting for you, and it's absolutely free. Juicebox podcast.com, Hey, what's up? Everybody? If you've noticed that the podcast sounds better and you're thinking like, how does that happen? What you're hearing is Rob at wrong way recording doing his magic to these files. So if you want him to do his magic to you wrong way recording.com, you got a podcast? You want somebody to edit it? You want rob you?
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
