#1831 72 Days Later - Part 2
Kelly opens up about raising two teens diagnosed with Type 1 at age six. She discusses international living , multiple miscarriages , alarm fatigue , and managing different sibling personalities.
Companies that Support Juicebox
Key Takeaways
- The JBP AI Autoimmune Explorer tool revealed Zach's symptoms (back pain, cold intolerance, fatigue, inflammation) potentially link to Hashimoto's thyroiditis - and he's never had his thyroid checked despite his daughter's type 1 diagnosis.
- Don't obsess over Clarity reports daily during the honeymoon period - the data is too noisy to draw meaningful conclusions. Focus instead on understanding settings, timing, and food impacts.
- Perspective matters: Scott at 54 has roughly 1,368 weekends left, while Zach's daughter has decades ahead. There's no need to figure everything out in the first 72 days - time and experience are the only things that make diabetes management make sense.
- The Bernstein low-carb approach works for some, but the Benner philosophy advocates learning to bolus for any food rather than strict restriction. Whole foods are recommended, but rigid dietary rules aren't the only path to success.
- Back pain often has a significant stress component - "Healing Back Pain" by John Sarno explores how psychological stress manifests physically, and reading it helped Scott eliminate his chronic back pain.
Resources Mentioned
- Touched by Type One - Organization supporting people living with type 1 diabetes
- Tandem Mobi with Control IQ Plus - Smallest pump with auto bolus, multiple wear options, and iPhone control
- Eversense 365 - One-year wear CGM with unlimited data sharing
- JBP AI Autoimmune Explorer - Interactive tool to explore 32 autoimmune conditions and their overlapping symptoms
- "Healing Back Pain" by John Sarno - Book about how stress manifests as physical back pain
- Defining Diabetes Series - 70+ short episodes breaking down diabetes terminology with Jenny Smith
Introduction
Scott BennerWelcome back, friends, to another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
ZachAlright. Hi, Scott. Thanks for having me. My name is Zach. Upstate New York is the location. My daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes exactly seventy two days ago.
Scott BennerThis is part two of a two part episode. Go look at the title. If you don't recognize it, you haven't heard part one yet. It's probably the episode right before this in your podcast player. When I created the defining diabetes series, I pictured a dictionary in my mind to help you understand key terms that shape type one diabetes management. Along with Jenny Smith, who, of course, is an experienced diabetes educator, we break down concepts like basal, time and range, insulin on board, and much more. This series must have 70 short episodes in it. We have to take the jargon out of the jargon so that you can focus on what really matters, living confidently and staying healthy. You can't do these things if you don't know what they mean. Go get your diabetes defined. Juiceboxpodcast.com. Go up in the menu and click on series. Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan.
Sponsor Messages
Scott BennerThe episode you're about to listen to was sponsored by Touched by Type One. Go check them out right now on Facebook, Instagram, and, of course, at touchedbytype1.org. Check out that programs tab when you get to the website to see all the great things that they're doing for people living with type one diabetes. Touched bytype1.org. Today's episode is also sponsored by the Tandem Mobi system with Control IQ Plus technology. If you are looking for the only system with auto bolus, multiple wear options, and full control from your personal iPhone, you're looking for Tandem's newest pump and algorithm. Use my link to support the podcast, tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out. The podcast is also sponsored today by the Eversense three sixty five, the one year wear CGM. That's one insertion a year. That's it. And here's a little bonus for you. How about there's no limit on how many friends and family you can share your data with with the Eversense Now app? No limits. Eversense.
The JBP AI Autoimmune Explorer
Scott BennerAnd then you can hit the suggestion button, and it makes little lists for you. And then you can copy that or email it to yourself to go to the doctor with and say, hey. Listen. I've got these symptoms. It's worth asking, like, is this something? You can also kinda see where they overlap with other issues. It's certainly not a diagnostic tool. I'm not telling you you're gonna it's just kind of like a it's like an educational thing, but more kinda for fun to, like, just kinda click on it and see for fun. I'm the only one who would think this is fun, by the way. But, like, you know, like, where you can see where there's overlaps with different autoimmune issues.
ZachThat sounds like a great tool. I can't wait to check it out.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. So something like that you can take a look at. You know, you can type words in. You know, I'm tired, and it'll bring up stuff. But anyway, like, I just find that when people are in that situation, it's hard to know. You know what I mean? Like, who's gonna like, listen. Well, I'll do it with you for a second because you said you have a lot of things. Yeah. Do you have back pain? Yes.
ZachWell, I have, like, three collapsed discs in my back from playing too much golf. Yeah.
Scott BennerI'm gonna call it back pain. Do you have belly pain? No. Brain fog?
ZachI mean, I don't know what that is. I'm less focused than I used to be. I think it's because of the phone.
Scott BennerButterfly rash?
ZachNo. I don't know if
Scott BennerChronic diarrhea?
ZachNo. But I you know, like I said, I'm Ashkenazi. So
Scott BennerCold intolerance?
ZachYou know, that's changed, I think, when I hit I don't know. Let's call it 38. I'm much more cold in the house.
Scott BennerOkay. Do you have depression?
ZachNo. Others in my family do, but I do not.
Scott BennerDry eyes? Nope. Let's see. Do your eyes stick out? Nope. Fatigue?
ZachYeah. I mean, again, I'm getting older. I'm not way fish.
Scott BennerNope. Fever? Fever. Yes. It's not way fish. It's acts like I've put on a couple. Do you have a goiter? No. No? Has your hair started to gray?
ZachI mean, I'm 41, Scott. What do you want from me?
Scott BennerHair graying? You have hair loss?
ZachYou know, maybe the forehead's starting to kinda play a more prominent role in my life, but it's not significant.
Scott BennerHeat intolerance?
ZachIt's not the same thing as
Scott BennerNo. No. You get you get overheated easily.
ZachOh, sorry. The opposite.
Scott BennerYeah. No? Inflammation. Do you think you have inflammation?
ZachWell, I mean, to the extent that I have arthritis in my elbows or my hands or my ankles. Yes.
Scott BennerHow about itchy? Are you ever itchy?
ZachI have dry skin. I live in Upstate New York.
Scott BennerUh-huh. Just feeling Jaw pain, joint pain, or joint stiffness?
ZachNo. But this is clearly the end of a pharmaceutical commercial.
Scott BennerIt was done everything. You have low blood pressure? No. Malabsorption? Of what?
Scott BennerYou think your body is not absorbing your nutrients correctly?
ZachOh, I can't seem to raise my HDL, Scott. I have a like, familial hypercholesterolemia.
Scott BennerOh, wow. Any numbness? Nope. Okay. Patchy hair loss? No. Photosensitivity?
ZachWhat does that mean? Like, have a seizure in the movies?
Scott BennerNo. Like, does light bothers your eyes, gives you headaches, stuff like that? No. No? Do your fingers ever get cold at the end and can't warm up, turn blue? No. No? Any sexual dysfunction you're willing to share? No. No? Shaky skin issues? You said yes. Here's one. Smooth tongue. Spine stiffness. Tachycardia. I
Zachdon't mean to laugh for those with smith tongues. I just never never heard that.
Scott BennerTremors, vision loss, weakness, weight gain, weight loss, anything.
ZachMy father is 75, but he has essential tremor.
Scott BennerThat's your father. Weight gain, weight loss?
ZachNo. I'm just always been slightly heavier than my doctor would like me to be.
Possible Hashimoto's Connection
Scott BennerOkay. So you have so four of the things that we mentioned for you might link back to Hashimoto's. So have you ever had your thyroid checked?
ZachNever. No. And so that's where we are, Skyler. Like, the whole family's gotta be checked. My younger daughter's gotta be checked, and we'll see where where it all shakes out. Mhmm. You know, some of the don't even bring this stuff up.
Scott BennerNo. They're never going to.
ZachColumbia certainly has. They wanna test you for this and that. I mean, certainly for type one. It's interesting how the practices seem to vary.
Scott BennerYeah. No. I mean, it's just anyway, like, I bring it up because I don't know if these things are gonna help anybody, but I just think it might be valuable for people to just kinda click around a little bit and see because, I mean, I made it because of how many people, you know, come on here all the time and talk about this kind of stuff happening in their life, and then you ask them if, you know, have they checked themselves? And they're just like, no. No. I don't have time for that or something like that. There's one woman I was talking to recently. I mean, she quite clearly has Hashimoto's. And she's like, well, the next time I'm at the doctor I'm like, no. Not the next time you're at the doctor. I was like, get off with me and call the doctor. I was like, I'm like, what do mean the next time you go to the doctor? Right. You know?
ZachGotta be vigilant. Right?
Scott BennerYeah, man. You gotta help yourself a little bit. Also, if your kid has an autoimmune issue, it's possible that you do too. Like, so are there any in your family line or your wife's family line that you're aware of?
ZachI know. That was that's always your first question, Scott. I'm surprised I didn't get it yet.
Scott BennerWell, seventy two days. I don't know what you know. No.
ZachI mean, we're not aware of any of that. This was totally out of left field.
Scott BennerNo celiac in the family?
ZachNo. Which is common among Ashkenazi Jews, but no.
Scott BennerThat's why I asked because you brought that up. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. And so wait. You're not related to one person who has hypothyroidism?
ZachThat I'm aware of, Scott.
Scott BennerYeah. And not that you're aware of. Yeah. You don't have, like, a sleepy aunt or anything like that?
ZachNope. My aunts are wonderful.
Scott BennerOkay. Your aunts are they could be wonderful and sleepy, couldn't they?
ZachThat's true.
Scott BennerCan you imagine if you were sleepy that makes you not wonderful? That'd be crazy. Zach, you're out of your mind.
ZachSleepy people are quite wonderful.
Caregiver Burden Discussion
Scott BennerYeah. Of course. Zach, in your note, you say caregiver burden, asking, like, how did I get through the first sixteen years of Arden? Yeah. Go ahead and ask your questions. I'll do my best for you.
ZachWell, I mean, the thing I always think of with you is sort of like you were able to dive in fully and get people to come to you to have these conversations. Certainly not learning anything from me, I didn't already know, but others, what I wouldn't give to be able to just work all day on my daughter's, you know, condition. But I I guess I'm maybe I'm far enough down a career path. I should probably try to stay focused on that, but it's hard. It's hard to have a child who has type one diabetes and still be a primary, you know, breadwinner for your family. So I gotta get back to that. Not meeting right now, but just in general. I have to regain my focus for my family's livelihood, while also continuing to do as good as we possibly can for Hannah.
Scott BennerHas your life been knocked off course the last couple of months?
ZachOh, I mean, Scott, in the first week, I just you know, you grieve. Right? Yeah. And then you you try to kinda rally from there. It does feel like a constant report card. You know, you're always looking at the clarity reports and trying to do better, and then type one's always throwing you a curveball. But I think as much as any family, we're we're slowly trying to incorporate it into our life and continue our pursuit of bliss and not let it stop us from, you know, giving our kids a wonderful life. But it's that first week was you know, you just realize how big it is and how early it is in her life and how long we're gonna deal with it. You know? And you hear people talk about how hard puberty is and then how hard sort of emotional high school period is and how hard it is when they go to college, and that's all ahead of us. But, you know, hopefully, by then, we'll be more comfortable in some ways with the
Scott BennerYeah. Probably not. I mean, no. No. Of course, you will. I was joking. But six months from now, you'll look back, you won't recognize this person. A year or two from now, you'll listen back to this and think, oh my god. I was out of my mind.
ZachI can't wait. Yeah.
Don't Obsess Over the Data
Scott BennerYou know what I mean? Like and at the same time, everything you said is completely reasonable. It does throw your life into upheaval. Are paying way closer attention to something you didn't know anything about seventy three days ago. And, you know, you're working through trying to absorb information, apply it, is it working? I would tell you I'm gonna say kind of something backwards, but I think I wouldn't look at the clarity report every day. Yeah. I think maybe I would focus on settings, timing, understanding the impacts of the food. Yeah. Just try to get that together first. Also, she's actually having a honeymoon, to understand what's happening, there'll be takeaways from it long term, but, like, day to day I don't know how I mean this. Like, if you're wanting to drive a car in a straight line on a drag strip, and one day, the light turns green, you stomp on it, and you go. You're like, oh, it took us nine point five seconds to go a quarter of a mile. And then the next day, Godzilla steps on the track while you're doing it. You can't take the data from the Godzilla day and learn anything from it, really.
ZachRight.
Scott BennerYeah. You know? So if you've got something just going crazy on you out of nowhere, I mean, that's just gonna cause more confusion than value, most likely.
ZachAn illness.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you guys have been sick recently and all that other stuff. Right? So, like, once the honeymoon's over, then the takeaways should start piling up in a more meaningful way. I think that the value here if I could say one thing to you that I think would be incredibly valuable, is that she's three, and she's probably gonna live into her eighties. And you're 40, and you're probably gonna live into your eighties. So you've basically got, like, you know, the next twenty years to get her ready to graduate from college, and you'll still be around after that if she has any more questions. You're not gonna get this whole thing figured out in the next seventy two days. And that's difficult if because I've been where you've been, and I have felt what you're feeling. Yeah. And there is a mad rush to get it all figured out. And the truth is is that the only thing that's gonna make this make sense for you is time and experience. Yeah. That's it. You just gotta live with it every day, man, and not let it knock you down and take some takeaways. Look for repetitive stuff so that you can say that I know what's gonna happen is gonna happen. Like, I've seen this happen so many times. I know this is gonna happen next. Mhmm. Because you might hand me your daughter right now, and I might be able to keep her from having so many lows during the day in the exact same setup that she has right now. But the good news is that you'll be able to do that at some point as well.
ZachLook forward to that. Yeah. Appreciate the advice.
Scott BennerDoes that make sense?
ZachIt does. I mean, unfortunately, you undershot on the life expectancy for her. I had four grandparents. Right?
Scott BennerGo ahead.
How Many Weekends Do We Have Left?
ZachOne of them was a chain smoker. Well, chain smoker. She smoked. She lived into her mid eighties. The rest of them were all 95. So you should have said a 100, Scott, if you wanted to make me feel good.
Scott BennerI just heard this thing the other day that really bummed me out. But now I don't remember the number, so I'm just gonna like, I'm gonna plop it back in here because I've got this window open still. But I was listening to somebody tell me at my age how many more weekends I have left.
ZachOh, yeah. I've seen these charts.
Scott BennerAnd it wasn't a big number, Zach. I gotta tell you. Yeah. And Yeah. And then I saw it on a Sunday afternoon. So the actuarial breakdown for me is I'm a man at 54. My statistical life expectancy is that I roughly have twenty six more years left.
ZachNah. You'll do better than that, Scott. You got the GLP ones now.
Scott BennerWell, I'll tell it I got a GLP in a second, see what it says. But my son's 26. Yeah. That entire time felt like it went by in a split second. Yeah. And I was younger when it happened. So what you're telling me is I'm gonna blink six more times and drop dead. Is that what this is gonna be? You know what I mean? Anyway Scott,
Zachit's even worse because your baseball is not gonna be as good as your son's for those twenty six years.
Scott BennerNo. Exactly. So how many more weekends do I have left? 1,544.
ZachGotta make them count, Scott.
Scott BennerHow am I gonna do that? I gotta go grocery shopping.
ZachArden's not home anymore, is she? What are you what are you so worried about the grocery store?
Scott BennerShe came back, and she's going to school from here right now. She's got another not quite a year of school left that she'll be going to grad school. So Nice.
ZachCongrats to her.
Scott BennerYeah. By the way, that's very nice. Gemini is trying to be kind to me. It says seeing a finite number between thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred, which I who said 1,300? Like, wait. Then I realized that number's for a woman my age. A man my age, it's thirteen sixty eight.
ZachYeah.
Scott BennerIt says I could see it could be a bit jarring. Right. Thank you, Gemini. It was a bit jarring.
ZachYeah. The AI is trying to be a therapist. Right?
Scott BennerNo. But but but seriously, like, that, you should reverse engineer what I just said. You have so much time, you know, just around the diabetes piece that the person you are today trying to understand what a 14 year old's life is gonna look like with diabetes and an 18 year old's life and somebody in college and what happens when she goes to get married. Like Yeah. It's really another version of, like you know, I tell my wife all the time that worry is a waste of imagination. She does not listen. But, to like, right now, you are worried about things. With such incomplete data, you have no idea what it is you should be worried about or not worried about. Right. It would be a shame if you spent this time with your young family, bringing your hands over something that never came true. That you never even needed to think about it for. So I tell you, man, it's timing amount. Understand the impact of your food. Don't stare at a high blood sugar. It's pretty much it. You know what I mean? And then you do that at the different parts of your life and things work out. And a six nine a one c, seventy two days after diagnosis with a three year old is absolutely brilliant.
ZachThank you, Scott. Yeah. I appreciate it.
Scott BennerYeah. You're doing well.
ZachAnd you deserve some credit for that. You know?
Scott BennerI deserve all the credit for it, Zach, but I don't like to bring it up. It makes me sound you know what I mean? I listen. I gotta tell you something. There's a family friend who I've helped with some stuff. Right? And their situation is so much better now. They were on the phone last night explaining it to my wife, and my wife hangs up the phone, and she looks at me and I went, I did that. I fixed that whole thing for them.
ZachAnd my wife Well, I don't mind you saying it. You don't have to be modest here. You're doing big things in this space. Thank you, Zach.
Scott BennerI was like, that was me. I fixed all that for them. And then and my wife makes that face at me, and I laugh because I'm joking, but I'm not. And I said, this is why it's important for me to have a podcast. I can't be limited to just helping one person at a time.
ZachI mean, I can't believe I'm speaking to you, Scott. I mean, I emailed you the second day in the hospital. I'm not expecting a response, here I am. So it's pretty cool.
Scott BennerNo, man. I like I don't get your perspective that often. The just a few days into it perspective. Yeah. So I like to have that sometimes. I don't want too much of it because then the podcast is just a bunch of people going, I don't know what's happening. I'm like, yeah.
ZachI'm spinning out of control.
Mid-Episode Sponsor Break
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. Episode is sponsored by Tandem Diabetes Care. And today, I'm gonna tell you about Tandem's newest pumping algorithm. The Tandem Mobi system with Control IQ plus technology features auto bolus, which can cover missed meal boluses and help prevent hyperglycemia. It has a dedicated sleep activity setting and is controlled from your personal iPhone. Tandem will help you to check your benefits today through my link, tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. This is going to help you to get started with Tandem's smallest pump yet that's powered by its best algorithm ever. Control IQ plus technology helps to keep blood sugars in range by predicting glucose levels thirty minutes ahead, and it adjusts insulin accordingly. You can wear the Tandem Mobi in a number of ways. Wear it on body with a patch like adhesive sleeve that is sold separately, clip it discreetly to your clothing, or slip it into your pocket. Head now to my link, tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox, to check out your benefits and get started today.
Scott BennerWhen you think of a CGM and all the good that it brings in your life, is the first thing you think about, I love that I have to change it all the time? I love the warm up period every time I have to change it? I love that when I bump into a door frame, sometimes it gets ripped off. I love that the adhesive kinda gets mushy sometimes when I sweat and falls off. No. These are not the things that you love about a CGM. Today's episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by the Eversense three sixty five, the only CGM that you only have to put on once a year, and the only CGM that won't give you any of those problems. The Eversense three sixty five is the only one year CGM designed to minimize device frustration. It has exceptional accuracy for one year with almost no false alarms from compression lows while you're sleeping. You can manage your diabetes instead of your CGM with the Eversense three sixty five. Learn more and get started today at eversensecgm.com/juicebox. One year, one CGM.
Predictors of Success
Scott BennerScott, I'm thinking of leaving my family and going to I
Zachdidn't say that. You did.
Scott BennerThen I'm going to the Everglades. I'm gonna hunt snakes until one of them gets me. I'm done. I'm out. You imagine.
ZachI might discover the cure for type one in the venom.
Scott BennerIn that park, you might. There's something going on in there. But, no, seriously, like, you're gonna be fine. Like, I'll tell you right now, predictors of success for me, one of them is a level of interest in this whole thing. You have that. You know what I mean? Like, I think just being interested and paying attention is a predictor of success in type one diabetes, probably in everything. But people who have your level of interest usually end up doing pretty well.
ZachThe funny part is, Scott, I spoke to a mom early on and she said, you know, my husband's really analytical, and I'm kind of a little more of a feel in terms of the ball of saying. And, you know, we're kind of ying and yang it, and we're doing a great job. And I was like, okay. Whatever. Now here I am seventy two days later, you know, spinning out of control, reading everything. You know, my wife is just kinda winging it, and who's a better baller, sir? That would be my wife Michelle.
Scott BennerIt's her. Yeah. She feels the art. Right?
ZachYeah.
Scott BennerThere's a little bit of an art to it. Yep. You know what they say? Like, let go. What if you hold on too tightly, it slips away? What is that about there's something about holding on to something? I don't really Something. I didn't go to college.
ZachSomething. Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah, Zach. I don't know. Just don't hold on too tight. It's gonna be okay. You got fast acting sugar in the house and some glucagon. I think you'll be alright.
ZachBlow gummies. Can't, recommend him enough.
Pump Changes with a Toddler
Scott BennerHow is she with the pokes and the devices and stuff like that?
ZachWhat's a word that's worse than terrible?
Scott BennerDoes she scream while it's happening?
ZachShe's two and a half, Scott. You know, the funny thing is, like, now she's at the point where, you know, we got the good tip early on of, like, you know, get all these stickers and stuff and get them excited about designing it. Right? So we did all that. And now she gets excited, and she's like, I wanna change my robot. We call it robots. Right? But then when you actually start, you know, you spray the adhesive remover and you're getting rid then the screaming begins.
Scott BennerShe starts going, wait a minute. Yeah. This sticker thing is not gonna help me with the next part. Right. I love the idea that a three year old can be like, wait a second. Probably forgot about this part. No. I mean, listen. I don't know what to tell you about it all. It sucks. And, you know, people are like, well, how am I gonna stop it from having a detrimental effect on my kid later? I'm like, I don't know that you can, but, you know, there's a much more detrimental effect not taking your insulin.
ZachThere you go.
Scott BennerI think a big part of the first couple years is regulating yourself and your expectations for life. Because there's no doubt that, again, like, three months ago, you were like, oh, I have a young family. You know, I've got this little girl. I've got another baby that just got here. This is all great. We're doing terrific. I mean, I could paint you a picture right now, Arden's second birthday, the backyard of our house. We hired a guy to bring a pony. Mhmm. He put the kids on ponies and was, like, walking them in circles, ruining the grass. Didn't even care. Couldn't have possibly cared less walking the ponies in a circle. Just a beautiful experience. Like, I had a son who was maybe god. What was that? 2004. He was only about four years old. Like, 2006. He was six. She was two. There's a pony in my yard. Like, you know what I mean? I think we had the zoo bring animals. I think there was, a snake and a an eagle. I'm not even making that up.
Scott BennerWow. Yeah. It was like a petting zoo back there.
ZachYou're making me feel bad. I got a third birthday party to plan here.
Scott BennerWe just bought the house. We had a yard finally. Like, we were doing this whole this summertime Arden. We even made Arden on purpose so she'd be born in the summer so we could have a summertime birthday party. And, like, I'm not even kidding you.
ZachLike, as a planners.
Scott BennerWe've only planned two things in our life. One of them was getting pregnant in October so that Arden could have a birthday party in our backyard. And then we get the whole thing, and there it is. And I have to tell you, like, I stood back for a second that day, and I thought, oh, man. I did it. Right. I grew up so broken, like, in a family that didn't have any of this. I was like, I put the whole thing together in my mid twenties. Like, I really I did it. You know? Yeah. And, like, a couple weeks later, we're sitting in that hospital. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then I don't know. It takes as much time as it takes for you to regulate yourself and understand that, like, nothing in life is promised and that, you know, it was never gonna go exactly the way you thought. It just these things seem really big. Yeah. But the sooner you realize that, like, these are the cards and you still play. And you don't play differently, you gotta play the same way that you were going to before this happened. And that's when it all melts away, and it doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
ZachI think we're getting closer.
Scott BennerYeah. Well, hell, you got plenty of time. You just started. So you're still on your first set of tires in this race. You know what I mean?
ZachThat's right.
Bernstein versus Benner
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a note in here for you about like, you just said, at the end, you wrote Bernstein versus Benner. What did you mean by that when you wrote that down?
ZachWell, you brought it up before in a way. You were talking about why are you talking about low carb. And I think that that there's the happy medium. Right? So when you think about your chicken nugget, which I I forget if this was in bold beginnings or what, where you talked about the chicken nuggets. It's a perfect example because that's where I'm at in diet, in life with a young kid. Right? The dinosaur chicken nuggets. Right? Is that, you know, I think the the reasonable middle ground is probably where we land, which is that you try to offer some low carb options or maybe in between meals do that. But part of that is just I think you don't wanna keep feed the kids all white flour and sugar, which a lot of, you know, young kids end up eating. They eat a lot of goldfish. They eat Annie's gummies or whatever. So Bernstein, I'm sure most of your audience will know, was a guy who basically I don't wanna oversimplify it. I haven't read the book. But he he was diagnosed midlife, then became a doctor, then wrote a book. He lived into his nineties, and he advocated for his book was called the diabetes solution. And what was the solution? It was don't eat carbs. I mean, basically.
Scott BennerIt worked really well for him. Yeah. We're As I can tell.
ZachYou know? But I think your podcast is a little bit more about balance. Right? I don't think you come out and advocate for low carb. You advocate for learning how to bolus. That's why I described it that way, I think. Yeah. I don't I don't wanna put words in your mouth or his.
Scott BennerNo. I mean, listen. I've never read the man's book either, but, like, he lived a hell of a long time. Mhmm. You know, the last handful of years, he was in his eighties, if I'm not mistaken.
ZachRight. 90. I think he got to 90.
Scott Benner90. That's amazing. Like, you know, and for having diabetes for as long as he did. Right. You know, and starting when he started
ZachWithout technology. Right.
Scott BennerYeah. His longevity is astounding. And it's hard to argue. Right? Like, the fewer carbs you take in, the less insulin you're gonna need, the less insulin you use, the less chance you're gonna have at, like, Lowe's. You know, the carbs aren't gonna make high blood sugar. I I think all that makes a thousand percent sense.
ZachFor sure. But it can increase burden too, right, of just being in the world.
Scott BennerYeah. Maybe. Like, I don't know. Like, I don't think it's important to assign, like, what I think about it. What I think is that there are a lot of people out in the world, they have a lot of personalities and a lot of experiences and a lot of access to money or not access to it and health care and other so many differences in people's lives. I thought it would be stupid for me to jump on this podcast and pick a thing and say, do this just like this. Yeah. Because I just don't think you reach that many people that way. And so I thought I had the biggest possibility of reaching the most people by saying, look, I think if you understand how the insulin works and you understand how food impacts you, that you can make decisions that will meaningfully keep your blood sugar more stable. Then then you go ahead and apply that idea to the way you live because I'm not in charge of how you live and I certainly can't change your mind about what you eat. Like, do I think you should be eating a ton of white flour and being at fast food restaurants? And I don't think you should do that at all. But I also think if I said that to you, you'd be like, oh, well, sure. It's easy for you to say, asshole, because you've got your own set of circumstances. I'm trying to pass on to people what I've learned in a way that will be valuable for them, not in a way that is either, like, celebratory because they do it that way or punitive because they don't. I'm just gonna tell you, like, this is what works for me, and I think it could work for you too. Give it a shot if you want to, if you don't want to. I don't wanna say I couldn't care less, but I couldn't care less. Like, do whatever you wanna do. Yeah. You know what I mean? But I think that if you come out and say, eat like this. This is the right way. You'll capture the people who agree with you.
ZachRight.
Scott BennerAnd that's it. But you're not gonna talk anyone else into it. Like, nobody who isn't gonna eat low carb is gonna hear that story. If doctor Bernstein rose from the grave right now and retold his story, people who aren't gonna eat low carb wouldn't go, oh, okay. I'll do it. They'll just go, well, that's nice. I'm glad it worked for you, and I'm not up for it.
ZachWell, the difference is we're making decisions for somebody else right now.
Scott BennerRight? Yeah.
ZachJust just two and a half.
Scott BennerRight. Yeah. I mean, you are a new father. Like, you're in the middle of deciding how you're gonna talk to your kids about food and what you're gonna bring into the house and what's gonna be available and what's not going to be. You hear Jenny talk about it sometimes. Like, her kids don't get food like that. They don't even know it exists, and they don't care. They're fine, but it works for them. She could just as easily have put that into place for kids who were like, hey, lady. I want a Zag Nut bar right now, and I'm gonna scream until I get one. Like, I don't know. She doesn't know either. Like, is it nature? Is it nurture? I'm assuming it's a little of both. You know, how she got to there, how she's wired, how her brain works around it. Like, it's not as easy as just saying I'm gonna do this thing now. Because if that was the case, then I would get on my rowing machine every day and not just when I force myself to do it. Yeah. You know, like, I'm just not wired like that. Mhmm. Could I fix that? I probably could change that for myself, but I don't know how to do that. Or if I want to, to be perfectly honest, like, I don't know, man.
Scott BennerKnow, You I saw a post popped up in front of me recently. I would definitely never say anybody's name. But it's somebody who eats incredibly low carb and has really nice success with it. And, you know, it's it's celebratory post as it absolutely should be. And there's about, I don't know, 700 likes on it. And it would be easy to look at that and say, oh my god. Look. 700 people agree with that. That's all the people. But it's not. My group is full of people who eat the way they eat and, you know, there are people who support them doing that. And I just don't understand, I guess, the desire to make somebody feel badly if they don't do what you do. And I'm not even saying anybody does that. Like, I'm just saying, like, you're gonna figure your way through this, Zach, and it's not up to me how you get through it. I don't even know that it's up to you how you get through it. Like, sometimes I just think it's life and things you run into, things that make sense to you or don't, amount of effort you have available at the end of the day to, you know, make a chicken nugget yourself versus open up the frozen bag of whatever the hell those dinosaurs are. Pretty sure they're not chicken. But, you know and I'm, you know I don't know. Like, I don't want you to feel bad about it. I want you to do as well as you can do. Yeah. And be happy and etcetera. Like, I don't know. Like, I might lose a 100 of those weekends because around Easter, I really do like eating a couple of stale Peeps. You know? Like, I don't know. But, like, you know, when I'm 84 and I can't see my hand in front of my face, I might think, oh, I should've eaten more of those Peeps. I could've got out of here sooner. So, like, I don't I don't know how life's gonna go, man. Nobody does. You know? So doctor Bernstein found something that worked great for him, and it works great for the people he found that agree with him and who jive with that idea. I think that's awesome. I really do. Like, whatever works for you is what I think is awesome. Yeah. Right. No. That was a lot of talking. I'm sorry.
ZachThat's okay. Yeah. I mean, one thing it makes me think is, like, there's this question of people say the less insulin you use, the less chance you have a bad outcomes. Another way of saying the healthier you eat, the healthier you'll be. Right? Because, essentially, if, you know, you're using less insulin, you're probably eating it healthier.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ZachNow there may be some high fat, you know, Atkinsey things that people have to say about the cardiovascular system. But is it the insulin, or is it just like a bad diet? It's a bad diet. I'm still trying to figure that out too. Don't know what the reality is there. But you're right. I mean, at the end of the day, there's trade offs on, like, mental health and disease burden and all of that. So I definitely hear what you're saying.
Whole Foods Philosophy
Scott BennerYeah. And if you want the opinion of somebody that barely got through high school, didn't go through college, and has absolutely no training, I think that you should eat whole foods as much as you can.
ZachRight. Yeah. The the whole state of the outside of the grocery store.
Scott BennerYeah. That makes sense to me. Right? Like, I've said it a number of ways in the podcast. Like, when I was struggling with my health and my weight and all that stuff, I didn't know what I was doing. I say this all the time. Happy to tell you again. Grew up like a trash person. You know, like, nobody made good food for me. Nobody even understood what good food was. And as an adult, when I was like, oh, I have these kids, and I don't want them to be in my situation.
ZachMhmm.
Scott BennerI don't know what to do. So I would just follow people around the grocery store that look healthy. I'd be like, what are they buying? It doesn't take long for you to follow them around to realize they don't go up the potato chip aisle.
ZachRight.
Scott BennerLike, that's just pretty simple. All those healthy looking people that I saw in the grocery store, I look in their cart, there's no potato chips in their cart. Yeah. I don't see soda in their cart. They make decisions like that, or maybe they're not even decisions. Maybe it's just how they were brought up or whatever. And I say to myself, okay. Well, I'll try to avoid that stuff for my kids. And I'll tell you right now, my son all the time sits down with a glass of water, and I'm so proud every time I see him do it because I wouldn't drink water if you paid me. I hate it. Yeah. I don't even know why. Like, it it tastes like water. I think that's the worst part. But at the same time, I'm fine with it. It's just when I sit down, like, in a relaxing situation, it would not occur to me to do it, but my kids do it all the time. You know? They eat beans and chicken and the stuff that I basically told them to eat when they were little. I was in charge of telling them that. Just the way I grew up eating hamburger helper and all that garbage my mom and dad gave me. But my parents were broke, and it's probably the best they could do, but it still informed how I ate. And so, you know, I had more luck guiding my children than I did changing for myself, to be perfectly honest. You know? Because I just it felt that important at the time. There's still places it slips through the cracks. Like, my wife definitely has, like, a make sure there's snacks around the house so everybody feels loved mentality.
ZachMhmm.
Scott BennerAnd that's psychological. That's got nothing to do with food. You know what I mean? So, like, I don't know, man. Like, you got little kids. Like, you the world's your oyster right now. You'd probably get them to do whatever you want.
ZachYou're making it sound too easy.
Scott BennerThat kid's gonna go to college and eat pizza for goddamn sure. I don't care what you feed her.
ZachOh my god. Some of those episodes where you talked about the food is of restaurant quality. As Art is discovering the cafeteria. That was insightful for me, just the way you described that.
Scott BennerYeah. College food is trash.
ZachWell, just the idea that you don't know what's going in at the restaurant, and a bowl of this or a bowl of that is not the same in your house or at the restaurant. Yeah. And that's a general philosophy that you can it helps you learn about what goes into a dish and what that means, and slowly you learn why the goldfish are so hard to bolus for.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ZachI mean, you learn something about health in general, I think, through diabetes.
Scott BennerYou leave the chilies after having a chicken finger and a fry, and you're like, I gotta go to the bathroom. I got it right now. Out of the way. Is it the grease in the fryer? Is it the grated chicken? Is it what's in the breading? Is it like I don't know. No idea. I don't mean to pick on chilies either. I hear it's a celebration of food. But, like, you know, like, that kind of stuff. Like, there's so much fat and sugar and salt and everything so that, like, the food doesn't even have to be good. Like, those jojas it up so much for you. You'll leave there. You're like, this was awesome.
Scott BennerMhmm. I see people do that all the time. There's a chain restaurant that sells steaks.
ZachTexas Roadhouse?
Scott BennerThat's the one. You couldn't drag me in there if you chained me to a car and pulled me in there.
ZachIt's the most successful restaurant in America. Right?
Scott BennerI swear to you, I've had a meal there maybe twice in my life, and each time I've left, I felt like I got a a telegram from my body. It's gone beep beep beep beep beep beep. What it's saying is, like, please don't ever do that again.
ZachA lot of butter.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Maybe that's just it. Like, a lot of fat or whatever. Like, it's possible you don't even know if it's a good steak. It's just so drenched in whatever that it hits all your pleasure centers, and you go for right on. This was awesome. So I don't know, man. Like, good luck to you. You're gonna have more kids. May I suggest not?
ZachI don't I think we're done. I mean, look.
Scott BennerYou're not on a roll, if you know what I mean. Like
ZachI might fall over if we have another one. It's a lot of work, man.
Back Pain and Stress
Scott BennerMy last question for you is your back. What's wrong with your back?
ZachI worked at a driving range in high school, and I have a pretty high swing speed. And if you know anything about most driving ranges, they have a sort of a little rubber mat with, like, fake grass on it, and then underneath that's concrete pad.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ZachSo imagine, you know, you're working the cash register, but when it's not that busy, you're hitting, like, 300 golf balls a day as your spine is developing from a adolescent into an adult, you know, from the ages of 14 to 18. While the impact of a shaft going a 100 miles an hour plus into a thin rubber mat and concrete is intense, I guess, I'll say. I think that's probably what caused my disc to herniate at quite a young age. And, you know, what happens when you herniate a disc is the sort of gelatinous substance inside of it squeezes out, presses on your nerve, causes all kind of leg pain and numbness. And then over time, that gelatinous stuff just kind of dries up and goes away, and your vertebrae are essentially sitting on top of each other. That's called degenerative disc disease.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ZachSo I have, like, three levels that are basically collapsed like that at this point, but I still play golf.
Scott BennerHas it been worse over the last few months?
ZachYeah. It kinda ratcheted up a little bit, you know, but at wintertime plus diabetes stress didn't help. Carrying around a baby, carrying around a bowling ball. You know?
Scott BennerI don't say a lot of hippie stuff on the podcast. Yeah. But here you go. Okay. Healing Back Pain by John Sarno. It's a book? Yeah. Just read it. Okay. I haven't heard of that one. It fundamentally changed my life. Not kidding. Yeah. But it's more about, like, stress and how it manifests in your back sometimes.
ZachIs the stress coming through the microphone, Scott?
Scott BennerNo. I know you, Zach. Don't worry. I've been you and I know you and I know where we're going here. I'm gonna tell you, like, when I read that book and it made sense to me, I really did alleviate a lot of my back pain. And I think it was little stats in there, like, prior to I'm gonna get all this wrong, but, like, prior to World War two, the instance of men complaining about back pain was, like, nonexistent. Like, so when we were all out there busy, you know, fighting Jerry or whatever was going on
ZachFor our lives, guys.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody was worried if their back hurt. And then you brought them home and gave them a quarter of an acre and some grass and free time, and people were suddenly more aware of themselves and their stress build up. And another way he says it is that if you went to work and had a horrible day at work and came home with a headache, you wouldn't come home and tell people your brain is broken. But if you go to work or say your kid's diagnosed with type one diabetes and your back starts hurting, you tell people right now, I've slipped this. I have a bad back. And he said if you I forget what the number is. If you take, like, a thousand adults who've never complained of back pain and give them an MRI, a surprising number of them have the disc stuff that you were talking about. Yeah. It was just I don't know. Those things made sense to me in the time. I mean, I can save you the $20 if you want, although I think it's worth reading.
ZachHow many ohms do I have to say to get rid of this?
Scott BennerWell, what I used to say quietly in my own mind was my back's not broken. I'm okay. Alright. Yeah. And then it just kinda got better. Then the rest of it was losing weight. I lost weight and that's it. My back I feel badly saying this because the listeners about five years ago bought me the chair I'm sitting in because my back hurts so badly. Oh, wow. I complained about it on the podcast one time, and I decided, like, I'll spend more money on a chair. And I didn't know what to do, and they were expensive. So I went online. I was like, hey, guys. Can you tell me the difference between these chairs? Does anybody use these? And before I knew it, I woke up the next day, there was, like, $2,500 people had sent me to buy a chair with, like, in total.
ZachOh my god.
Scott BennerAnd so I sit in a really great steel case chair. It's awesome, by the way. But to all those people who did that, my back doesn't hurt anymore. It's not because of the chair, so I'm so sorry. But I do appreciate the chair still. It's the only thing I've ever taken from people is my chair, and I just losing the weight made my back not hurt anymore.
GLP-1 Medications
ZachYeah. Yeah. I actually it's funny. Leading up to the diabetes the year before, had been on GLP ones, which didn't work well for me, but I won't go into that tangent. And my wife, because of the rounds of IVF to conceive our daughters, had been, you know, for the first time, injecting herself with various things.
Scott BennerYeah.
ZachThat's just part of what that process is. So the one thing we did have coming into diabetes is experience with needles. Mhmm. Mhmm. So it was
Scott BennerWait. Listen. You're already in the ninety minute range. So why didn't GLP work for you?
ZachHere's what I found. Because I had less appetite, I eventually would get hungry at, like, 03:00.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ZachAnd then I would just eat whatever crap was around the house. And my wife was pregnant, so there was a lot of crap around the house.
Scott BennerIf you would have just eaten chicken in that moment, Zach, you would have lost weight.
ZachYeah. It's like trying to get my daughter to eat chicken right now.
Scott BennerWhat dose were you up to?
ZachTwo and a half. Like a child
Scott Bennerof what? Ozempic?
ZachGeneric semaglutide. I was going through that company, Roe, so it's probably coming from god knows where. You know what happened with all that. Right? So during COVID, there was a shortage of supply due to supply chain issues. Yeah. And so they changed the law, and all these companies just started making generic semaglutide, which is Ozempic. Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah. Yeah.
ZachAnd so and it was way less expensive.
Scott BennerDo you have weight to lose still?
ZachYeah. You know, it's funny. So I'm, like, six two. Mhmm. If I stepped on a scale right now, I'd probably say, like, two fifty five or something. If you looked at me because I'm taller, I don't think most people would say, like, I was obviously obese, but I'm overweight for sure.
Scott BennerYeah. Zach, I'm gonna tell you right now, a little zepbound
ZachI've heard it's better.
Scott Benner40 pounds off you in the next year. Bet your back doesn't hurt as much anymore. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah.
Scott BennerOh, man. Reminds me today's my day to inject. I'm so happy now. I just realized I'm gonna be alive for another week.
ZachOne more weekend.
Scott BennerOne more weekend? Yeah. 1,300. Are you kidding me? What in the hell, Zach? Oh my god. Alright. Is there anything that we didn't talk about that we should have? Anything that you want to bring up that I I talked around and wouldn't let you get to?
ZachNo. This was great. I hope you can weave together, something that's of interest to the listeners and just thanks again for doing what you do and then for allowing me to be a part of it.
Scott BennerOh, I was like, it's my pleasure. But please, if you think there's any weaving that goes on, Rob's gonna blur out where you said, said, two times I just said, here plus the one more, then people are getting it. We're gonna stick some ads on it, and it's gonna go up on the Internet.
ZachVery good. Sounds good to me.
Scott BennerWe don't chop up the conversations. We let them happen. Thank you very much, man. It's really great. Hold on one second for me. Okay? Yep.
Closing and Sponsors
Scott BennerTouched by Type one sponsored this episode of the Juice Box podcast. Check them out at touchedbytype1.org on Instagram and Facebook. Give them a follow. Go check out what they're doing. They are helping people with type one diabetes in ways you just can't imagine. Are you tired of getting a rash from your CGM adhesive? Give the Eversense three sixty five a try. Eversense c g m dot com slash juice box. Beautiful silicone that they use. It changes every day. Keeps it fresh. Not only that, you only have to change the sensor once a year. So, I mean, that's better.
Scott BennerToday's episode of the Juice Box podcast was sponsored by the new Tandem Mobi system and Control IQ Plus technology. Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox. Check it out. 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 subscribe 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 wanna miss please, do you not know about the private group? You have to join the private group. As of this recording, it has 74,000 members. 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. Hey. Do you need support? I have some stuff for you.
Scott BennerIt's all free. Juiceboxpodcast.com. Click on support in the menu. Let's see what you get there. A one c and blood glucose calculator. People love that. That's actually, I think, the most popular page on the website some months. A list of great endocrinologists from listeners. That's from all over the country. There's a link to the private Facebook group, to the Circle community, and, we have a a fantastic thing there, American Sign Language. There's a great sign language interpreter who did the entire Bold Beginnings series in ASL. So if you know anybody who would benefit from that, please send them that way. Just go to juiceboxpodcast.com and click on support. While you're there, check out the guides like the pre bolusing guide, fat and protein insulin calculator, oh gosh, thyroid, GLP, caregiver burnout. You should go to the website. Click around a little bit on those menus. It really there's a lot more there than you think. If you have a podcast and you need a fantastic editor, you want Rob from Wrong Way Recording. Listen. Truth be told, I'm, like, 20% smarter when Rob edits me. He takes out all the, like, gaps of time and when I go, and stuff like that. And it just I don't know, man. Like, I listen back and I'm like, why do I sound smarter? And then I remember because I did one smart thing. I hired Rob at wrongwayrecording.com.
