Live Like a Girl with Dr. Mindy Pelz - Taking Charge of Type I Diabetes - Interview with Dr. Mindy & Hanna Boëthius

Episode Date: June 16, 2020

This episode is all about living with diabetes, blood sugar hacks, and protecting our mindset. Hanna Boëthius has lived with Type 1 Diabetes as her constant companion for 35 years, and it was as if her whole life fell into place when she started eating real food in 2011. Since her wake up call, she has gained much of her health back, thanks to merely eating the right things and nutrients for her body. Hanna is an international speaker, writer, podcaster, and action-taker who loves diabetes topics off the beaten track. She's passionate about finding motivational and inspiring ways to bring about a change in diabetes management. Through her own company, Hanna Diabetes Expert, she's inspired thousands of people with diabetes to live a healthier life by sharing her own story and experiences, as well as the puzzle pieces she's helped others to find. She has a profound understanding of how things like nutrition and lifestyle choices can balance diabetes.                                                                        In this podcast, we cover: How the keto lifestyle changed Hanna's life Why the liver is like a sponge How lifestyle needs to be individualized The ways vegetables can play a role in blood sugar About Hanna's Hashimoto's diagnosis How our bodies are capable of healing themselves Why a self-protection routine is essential for our mindset Our sponsor of this episode is: Dry Farm Wines! RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Hanna Boëthius Hanna's Facebook Hanna's Instagram Low Carb Universe Low Carb Universe on Facebook Low Carb Universe on Instagram   

The information discussed in this episode is intended as general information only. It is not intended for one-on-one medical advice, and you should always consult your healthcare practitioner before making any changes. And if you like the content discussed in this episode, please go leave a review so that others can benefit from it as well. I am a woman on a mission that is dedicated to teaching you just how powerful your body was built to be. I like to do that by bringing you the latest science, the greatest thought leaders, and applicable steps that help you tap into your own internal healing power. The purpose of this podcast is to give you the power back and help you believe in yourself again. My name is Dr. Mindy Pels, and I want to thank you

for spending part of your day with me. Welcome, everyone. I am really excited to share this episode with you because this is such an important topic. And it's important. It's important. important to all of us, not just people who have diabetes. Regulating blood sugar is so pivotal for every part of our health. And honestly, right now, when we're looking at keeping our immune system at its best, keeping your blood sugar down, knowing how to regulate your blood sugar is pivotal. So there is a lot of great gems of information in this next podcast and this interview with Hannah. Bothius. And I really am hoping you will look at this interview with a lens of we all need to regulate blood sugar, whether we're diabetics or not. And right now, we're in the middle of fast

training week with our resettor community. And there, again, has never been a more important moment to understand the principles of fasting, to understand the principles of living a low-carb life. and I'm just really excited to share the wisdom that Hannah shared with me in this interview. And if you guys are looking for more information on what does it mean to go keto to improve your immune system, please check out the podcast that I did with Ken Berry. Because we also had an incredible conversation about the science that is showing that diabetics, pre-diabetics are more susceptible to infections. And we, again, all need to be aware of this. So let me jump into telling you a little bit about Hannah. Not only did I love this woman and I just

love people with big hearts and that just are on a mission to change the world. But she has an incredible story and she is a type 1 diabetic. So some of you may have heard like you shouldn't fast. You shouldn't go low keto with type 1's type 1 diabetes. Pretty excited to have you hear her story and see how low carb living can really impact both type 1 and type 2 diabetics. She is also an international speaker and a writer and she has a podcast and she is the founder of low carb universe, which is one of Europe's largest health events when it comes to the low-carb living. And her story is quite inspirational. Okay, resetters, Dr. Mindy here.

And today I have a guest that is not only going to rock your world as far as teaching you about autoimmunity and diabetes and keto, but she's coming to us from the fairy tale land of Switzerland. So let me start by welcoming Hannah Boethius to our show. So thank you for being here. Thank you so much, Dr. Ming-Di, for having me. This is such a pleasure. Yeah, thank you. So just so my audience can know who you are, tell us your story because it's a really interesting one. And I feel like we learn so much in hearing other people's stories. It's almost like that's where the meat of it is and how you came to using the ketogenic, lifestyles to help your autoimmune conditions. Definitely. I completely agree with the stories are really what sort of not sells the approach, but sort of in that domain sort of thing.

But yes, my story is a little too long for my comfort actually. I wish, I wish I would have known about low carb and that whole world or this whole world a lot sooner because I was diagnosed at the age of two. I was just a wee little toddler with type 1. diabetes, which, you know, just came about, no one really knows why. My mom didn't recognize her daughter anymore. I was peeing everywhere. I was drinking so much. I would fall asleep in the middle of meals. And she's like, okay, something is a foot here. Something is wrong. So she took me to a doctor and they, of course, quite quickly realized I had some test run and it came back for type 1 diabetes. Of course, my blood should go sky high. My A1C is probably not measurable.

at that point. And I was put immediately, of course, on insulin injections because as a type 1 diabetic, even though even if I am on keto and try all these, you know, house remedies, I will never be able to completely stop taking insulin. I always need it, just like a normal person needs it in the background at least, without bigger spikes, yes, but always, always, always have to add insulin from the outside, which I today do through an insulin pump, but back then it was definitely these syringes. Oh, yeah. Boil and disinfect that way.

And for a two-year-old, I didn't, I mean, of course, you don't really understand anything about it. You just want to get, were you like, sorry? Were you like pricked? Like, what did your mom have to do? I'm trying to think back then. They didn't have continuous glucose monitors. No.

Nothing. We had nothing of the sort. Now I do. Yeah. I think everybody needs a continuous glucose monitor. Yeah. Definitely. No, I completely agree. But back then in 1985, it was a little bit different. Yeah. So I was mainly asking myself, why on earth my mom was chasing me around with these giant needles the whole time? We already then didn't quite get along about the topic. But I mean, this has improved in the past 35 years since this, luckily. But yes, it was

very hard and especially for my parents because my mom is still so afraid of needles. Oh my gosh. Like I my heart goes out to her. Having children of my own, I just can't even imagine what that would have been like. Yeah, it's very hard. And I, even today, you know, being the person living with that condition is one thing, but being a bystander and trying to take care of someone living with this as a completely different ballgame. Like I wouldn't even know. Yeah. I wouldn't even know how to do a probably. Yeah, especially type 1 because it's so it comes out of nowhere. Yeah, exactly. So type 1 is, of course, the autoimmune version of diabetes where your immune system, or it is believed at least that your immune system attacks your insulin producing cells in your pancreas. And they're like,

hmm, these little cells look a little bit dodgy. Better wipe them out so that, you know, in case they would be a threat, which this, you know, I thank my immune system every day for being so effective. But in this case, This was not exactly, yeah. Too effective. Too happy about that. Right. Yeah. And yeah. And then growing up with type 1, it was weird. I was the only kid at school who had it, even though I grew up in Finland, which is one of the highest preferences, countries with the highest prevalence of type 1 in the world, which is interesting, but not fun. No, and you know, there was, I had looked at a study years ago about this exact thing. It had to do with the microbiome.

Wasn't there a piece that had to do with like the destruction of the microbiome in Finland? And I don't, you probably know more than me. There are a few different theories about that. Microbiome is definitely one. The other one is the lack of vitamin D. Of course, because it's dark nine months of the year. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

So there are very many different things. Yeah. So, okay. So you, you get diagnosed with type one. Now let me ask you. and hopefully you know the answer to this, even though you were little. Like, what did you eat? Because this is a big issue.

Like, when you're a kid and your type 1, I have a good friend who has a, whose daughter was diagnosed in middle school. And they told her to feed all the sugar-free things and all the artificial coloring. And she had no clue what to do. And she found a way. But what you didn't know about keto back then, what were you eating? Sadly, I didn't know about keto back then. I imagine today like how much pain and suffering and blood, sweat, and tears it could have saved me.

Because it's been a real roller coaster in my life with diabetes until I found keto a lot later. That sounds very, you know, evangelical religious. But, you know, it was sort of that great. That's how we all feel when we find keto. Yeah. Anyway, yes, the advice was very much alike what diabetes get to here today, which is the saddest thing in my life, actually, that that hasn't changed a single bit. It is sort of 60% carbs with every meal,

and whole grain is the best. You know, if you drink skim milk to your already sugar-laden meal, you get bonus points. And if you finish your meal with a fruit, oh my God, your bonus points go like out the window. It's so much. So those were the sort of premises we were, or my parents were taught,

then, you know, of course, I was taught that as well, because they were supposed to know, so to say, the medical professionals. Turns out that they don't. They were wrong. No, at all. And this has sort of become my life's work now to make sure that I don't want to turn every type one diabetic into low carb and on to keto and the keto's the best and everything.

It is definitely individual what works for each and everyone, absolutely. Low carb will work in terms of lowering your blood sugar. you're lowering, stabilizing your A1C and lowering the amount of insulin you will take, but it may not fit everyone, which I'm very well aware of. But I want to get to the point where low carbat least is presented as an option at the time of diagnosis. This is at least discussed that it is available as if someone wants to dive deeper into it, that it is there and that the support is there for it too. Yes. Yeah. Oh, and so hopefully you're screaming that from the

rooftops because it is it is a battle that is so frustrating to fight because of the ignorance of the doctors who are giving the diagnosis so just for our listeners so they can kind of see the journey what did you notice between not doing keto and then when you switched over to keto like did you notice less insulin you didn't need to take as much insulin like it's more stabilization of your blood sugar like what it what were the big changes you saw when you switched over It's been a whole world of difference. Like, just thanks to giving my body the nutrients that it actually needed throughout all this time when it's been hammered with fruit, skim milk, you know, whole grains, all of this stuff that turns out it's not like great for me. I noticed a whole world of difference.

And I really, my wake-up call came actually when I was doing a nutrition education to become a nutrition professional. and my teacher pointed me out in front of the whole class going like, we're talking about carbs and insulin and how it works in the body and blah, blah, blah. And he pointed me out and he's like, Hannah, you know what? You don't even produce insulin. If I were you, I would really think twice what I put in my mouth. And I'm like, no. Interesting. It seems so common sense.

Yes, one would think so. But having been brainwashed at that point for 26 years about that. that whole grains are good and you need carbs and you need carbs to grow and you need blah, blah, blah, blah. The same stuff that kids with type 1 are told today, or parents at least, of kids with type 1 are told today, sadly, you don't really want to believe it because you don't want to be proven that wrong. That's right. Yeah. And you just kind of, we give so much power over to the doctor that gives us the diagnosis for sure. So, yeah, so go ahead. What did you notice with Keith? No, you go. This story is so fast. Fascinating. And so when I started lowering the amount of carbs that I ate, I did it very step by step. I did it first, everything with gluten, because gluten and autoimmunity, of course, I learned, didn't, don't go very well together. And then I, you know, step by step started lowering the amounts of carbs that I ate. And before I started, I was in about 100 units of insulin a day. I'm not, if you can see, if I'm not that large of a person. That is a ton of insulin for someone. size. I'm only 5'3 and weigh like 125 pounds or something. Right. Yeah. I'm not a huge person. It hasn't

really changed since I went keto. But, you know, that's a ton of insulin for such a small human being. Meaning that I think that I was very insulin resistant and was on the verge of double diabetes. But that's a completely different story. Yes. Anyway, since going keto and actually getting to those low amounts of or carbohydrates, meaning, you know, at some point I got to the point where I'm like, hmm, how low can I go? I bet it becomes a game. It became a game for me, absolutely. And since then, I've of of course noticed a much more stable blood sugar because when you don't add a lot of sugar, you don't have to add a lot of insulin because that equation never, it never works out. Very rarely does that work out. I found out the heart.

way. But I wish that more people find it out the easier way. So of course, it's a lot easier. And you know, my goal range on my CGM, well, on my finger-pricker back in the day, but on my CGM today, it's very, very small. It's only like between 75 and 120 because you can't really get it any lower than 120. But it's very, very small goal range. And it's actually possible to keep blood sugars, healthy, healing, and normal, as a type one diabetic of 35 years, which I never was told. I was never made aware that this was an alternative at all.

And also to go with the more stable blood sugars, of course, my A1C came down. It was at double digits when I started this whole stuff because nothing worked. I did everything by the book and nothing worked. I was just, I got sicker and sicker and I could really feel my body, you know, starting to almost give up because it was under so much pressure and so much, so much damage from all the sugar that was around my body and everything. And of course, I've lowered my A1C from double digits

to now the latest one was 4.7%. Wow. Wow. Which shouldn't be possible. It shouldn't be. It's amazing. But it is. Yeah. And for our listeners who don't know what A1C is, it's a 90, it's like a 90-day snapshot of your glucose levels. And one of the things we worry about insulin is, and for diabetics, is that the long-term effects of too much insulin. So the fact that you can control it with diet like this is, I mean, that impact on your life is huge. No, it is a huge.

I've gained, regained so much of my health back and energy and, you know, I'm sleeping improperly and I can do things that I never thought was possible like 10 years ago, you know. And also, of course, I'm using a lot less insulin. So I went from 100 units, like I was saying before, to taking now about 17 to 25 years, depending on, you know, what time of the month it is, depending on if I'm under stress, depending on if I slept badly, if I'm hydrated, if I've done all these lifestyle things that I know benefit me, then it tends to go a little bit lower in terms of what I need in terms of insulin. But yeah, so it's an 80% reduction of insulin. Yeah, that's incredible. So, and just out of

curiosity, have you found what your liver function has much to do with how your blood sugars will even out or not even out? Because we do a lot of fasting in my resetter group. And what I see is that the body will start to store extra sugar in places like fat and the liver. And then somebody goes to unwind that process with keto and fasting, but their blood sugar is not coming down as much as they would like, and it really ties into this poor liver function. Have you come up against that at all? Well, it does take a long or it can take a very long time for the liver to start functioning properly again after years of abuse. I mean, you don't expect or you can't expect a overnight change because your development from a healthy person to person with liver fat who wasn't overnight either.

So you have to sort of reverse that in stages. Where fasting is a fantastic tool, of course. And yes, of course, I've come across it myself in the beginning. Now it's been good for years. Also with people who I've had the pleasure working with and they get really frustrated. And you know, it's still not good, blah, blah. And I'm like, well, just give us some time. This is a lifestyle change. This is not some sprint, 100 yards or meters or whatever. It's not a sprint. This is really a lifelong marathon. And you notice more and more benefits. The longer you stay with healthy, healing, normal blood sugars, which is very, or not very, a lot these years when you don't eat the sugar.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And just so people get some perspective of time, how long have you been, how many years have you been? keto? 2011, so that's nine years now. Nine years, yeah. I always look at it like a sponge, like the liver is like, you got to like squeeze all that extra sugar out of there. And we found, again, in the resetter group, we've been able to really do this through fasting. Have you, so, you know, when we look at the ketogenic diet, there's really two ways to

manipulate your blood sugar and get these ketones. One is through the diet and the other is through fasting. Do you do much fasting at all? Well, I've adopted the principle of eating when I'm hungry. So that usually, I'm any dietitian's nightmare at this point. Yeah. But I'm proud of it. So it's cool.

No, you found your own style. This is what I always say is everybody needs their own path. Stop doing everybody else's path. Yeah, no. The individuality in care is so important. That's another, you know, heartthrobbing topic for me. But anyway, fasting, yes. So I end up fasting intermittently every day.

It can be 16 hours. It can be 18 hours. But I basically have a lunch, you know, around 12, 2ish somewhere in between there. And then I have a dinner later in the evening at like 7, 8ish, something like that. And those are my meals. And I feel happy. I feel full. I feel, you know, all of these, I don't feel I need more than that. And also because keto is so nutritiously dense in terms of nutrition per calorie. to don't actually end up eating that much. Right, right. It cuts that hunger down. Yes. Now, here's another question that we see show up, is that when people go keto, they start cutting out all the vegetables.

So do you find that you can see a difference in your blood sugar if you are still eating plenty of vegetables? Is that tend to have an impact on your blood sugars at all? It depends on what kind of vegetables. If I eat a lot of, you know, tomatoes, whether they're canned or fresh or whatever, they have quite a lot, like, they have quite a high carb count. And the same with onions. If I eat a lot of those, that can impact a lot. But, you know, normal green vegetables don't really have that much of an impact. They fit quite well. And I haven't

gone full carnivore, although I dabble with it for, you know, certain meals. And it actually really helps if I notice that I've been more insulin resistant for a couple of days, if I have a purely carnivore meal, no vegetables, just animal products. It really, really helps. Interesting. So that's one of my like aces up my sleeve to just bring in the carnivore when I get insulin resistant. Interesting. So and you'll see your blood sugar come down when it when you yeah. And insulin becomes more effective. Yeah. And that's the whole point. Yeah. I've been dabbling with the carnivore a little bit. My, you know, my passion is really helping people repair their guts. That's sort of how I started my functional medicine journey. And so it just did not make sense to me why you

wouldn't eat vegetables. But I have seen with some of the patients I've been coaching that they do really well on the carnivore. I don't think it's a diet to follow all the time. But I think that it can't, like you said, it's a trick up your sleeve. And I love that. That's amazing. It's a fantastic elimination diet. If you notice you're not feeling well or if you're noticing that you get bloated after meals, you know, stuff like that, which I'm sure you know more about than I do. But then you can use it as a tool. But I don't, I agree with you. I don't really, I wouldn't keep it the whole time as a, you know, full-time diet. But as an elimination one, I'm completely open for it. But that's also personal preference. Yeah. And that's why we need customization like, like you were saying. So,

okay. So now the other part of your story that we haven't really spoken of is that you also were diagnosed with Hashimoto's. And I always say autoimmune conditions like to hang out in gangs. Like there's all, you know, two or three that all appear at the same time. When did you learn you had Hashimoto's? Yeah, autoimmune diseases are a bit like tequila. It always brings a friend, you know. That's even better. Oh my God, I'm going to steal that. I'll give you credit. All yours. I love it. I love it. Yes. Yeah. This was seven years ago this year, I was 30. And, my labs looked terrible. And my doctor, my doctor literally handed me a pack of, of course,

synthoid or whatever they're called, Levexon, and a pamphlet about Hashimoto's. There you go. Take it and run with it. And I'm like, oh, no. You can swear on this show. That's all good. I wish I would have known that from the start. Yeah, so I was like, oh, no, this is not, I'm going to research the living something out of this.

And so I did. I ended up finding, of course, selenium, a huge help for me, actually, supplementing selenium, cutting out, maybe not being so dairy heavy also helped me. And small stuff like that. And I really went from sort of, well, you can't say breadcrumb, but sort of pork rind to pork rind. And really followed that path of like, okay, with this, what do my labs do? With this, how do I feel? With this, blah. But I did actually end up taking natural desiccated thyroid for a couple of months. But it's very difficult to get by here in Switzerland. So I ran out of it unexpectedly. I'm like, oh no, what am I going to do? And then I'm like, you know what? Let's just try not to take it. Like, if it gets really bad, then I have the la vaccine, I have all this stuff. You know, it's. It's ready to go. And I felt better.

Without it. I felt better without it. And I'm like, well, that doesn't make sense. Yeah. Why do you think that is? Is it just because the keto diet was working so well for you? I think the body goes through waves of healing itself without sounding too much like a complete hippie. I do believe that our bodies have a self-healing.

That is the premise of what I love about fasting, by the way. is that you can take somebody who has no understanding of the human body, has no respect for the intelligence within. And you can take food out of the equation and watch their body heal and they become a believer in their bodies again, which is amazing. So not hippie at all. I absolutely think this is another concept. We need to scream from the rooftops. The body can heal itself when you take an insane care of it like you're doing. I really agree with that.

And also things that have nothing to do in nutrition. Like I started yoga practice somewhere around there as well, for example, and getting more back into meditation a lot more to just calm the nervous system and calm my body and all this stuff. So I think stuff like that also, of course, have an impact and really help me with my Hachimotos. Also things, of course, like hydrating properly, you know, so that the body can function properly, self-love, my attitude, you know, all of these things that I worked on simultaneously because. What you get told when you're diagnosed with diabetes is that, okay, you have to take insulin. Actually, first, you have to count carbs, take the insulin for it to cover it, and you can eat anything you want just as long as you cover with insulin. That's not true. Three, you should probably move every once in a while.

But no one has ever, in 35 years, talked to me about the mental aspect of living with a chronic condition, the importance of self-love, the importance of the attitude. towards the whole thing. Like if you tell, it's basically like living with a stubborn toddler in you without sounding to schizophrenic. But sort of if you show it, show, treat it with love and, you know, show it that compassion at least or at least tolerance and not always like, you're such an annoying person and diabetes is so annoying and blah, blah, blah. That is, that needs to come out every once in a while.

Yes, yes, definitely. me, but that's not what's going to help you in the long run. Oh, I think so powerful. No, keep going, because people need to hear this. And I think, I heard this statement from a couple of people that you can't heal a body that you hate. And if you are at war with the organ that's not functioning, right, or the situation, there is truly an energetic imbalance that will slow the healing process down.

Absolutely. And then, of course, I know I can't heal my. pancreas, it is destroyed, it is broken. It's not that, it's not that I'm sitting here wishing for my pan. Actually, I do that sometimes, but it's not like I'm sitting here trying to do all this stuff to kickstart my pancreas again. That's not it. It's to develop my relationship with the condition, with my situation, so that I can be the best person I can be, and the healthiest person I can be, and the most energetic person that I can be, without having to hate on my body the whole time, because that energy that you lose, because I've done that for a long 26 years.

Yeah, right. I hated it. Yeah. And it doesn't bring you forward. It doesn't help. No. Again, we're going to take a lot of this. This will go on my podcast, but I also love to take little clips.

We're going to take this clip because this is too important for people. really need to hear this. We see in our resetter tribe where people are doing all the right things and they're so frustrated because their blood sugar's not coming down. And one of the first things I'll always say is like just remember that stress, that cortisol will have an effect on insulin. So you can't be stressed out and hate yourself as you're trying to repair. It just doesn't, it doesn't work. Absolutely. I always say that stress is the blood sugar killer number one. Like nothing apart from pure sugar maybe will destroy a beautiful blood sugar line as well as stress does. Yeah.

And that can be positive stress, negative stress, you know, self-imposed by your boss, your spouse, your whatever. It doesn't matter where it comes from. But stress can really destroy your blood sugar. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's one of the things that you and I talked about before we started this was how hyperglycemia is being linked to people who are dying of COVID.

and how, you know, it's like, okay, so if your blood sugar is high, it suppresses your immune system, it makes you more vulnerable to this virus. You have a higher risk of dying. But if I go and get on the news, all I hear is things that make me want to feel stressed. So do you have a routine around like protecting your mind? It doesn't matter what it is. Do you have like a routine so you don't get a stressful mind? Yeah, self-protection routine. Definitely. It's maybe a bit more challenging right now. Yeah, for sure. But I try.

I try to keep it going. And that is, of course, daily meditation. That really, really helps me. And making sure I take a break from both social media and, you know, the actual media. Yeah. And sort of not even, I've shut down so many news sources that I used to follow just because it's too much. Like, I cannot take it in. I cannot handle it at all.

And then making sure I eat nutritiously, that really helps the nervous system as well. Take the supplements that I know that I need. My hydration helps the nervous system. I go out for a daily walk. We're allowed to do that here in Switzerland, which I'm very grateful for at this point of time. And we've had a fantastic spring. So it's been sunny and warm and lovely. So beautiful, yeah.

And then also a daily yoga practice. Just to bring myself sort of back, like my mind back into my body and my body back into the whole thing. So those are my like go-to routine and also of course having a routine. Yeah, right. This time. It does really help. Like I've been working from home for the past seven years so that part is not new to me at all. I'm quite familiar with it. I'm quite happy with it. This is exactly how I prefer to have it. But, you know, this constant stream of negativity that comes from, you know, even talking to a neighbor across the street or, you know, whatever. there's always negativity and I'm like, so that part is a little bit more challenging.

Yeah, absolutely. And what do you have any thoughts? I'm sure you've thought about this as to why you got Hashimoto's like, you know, we talked about how autoimmune conditions hang out. And I call it a gang. I think you said a party. So what is it that, you know, like from my training, there is usually a gut piece and there's a toxic piece. But from just the most simplistic idea, why is the body attacking itself is the question to ask. It started with the pancreas. It went to the thyroid. Have you had any insight as to why those two existed for you?

No, not really. There are theories, again, but nothing really that is palpable and nothing really that I can put my finger on. My father, for example, has celiac disease, which is also autoimmune. So I think part of my autoimmunity is genetic. And then I found the wonderful triggers. Yes. Along the way, one when I was two and one when I was 30,

to keep that wonderful tradition going in our family. There you go. It's a legacy. Well, we got out something, right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Give me a little bit of a background on because you, one of the things that fascinates me that I love about the human spirit is that when we have a painful time in our life and then we overcome it, that it almost feels like we just want to

prevent everybody else from that painful moment. So how do we get out there and help people? Like one of my journeys is that it has been going through menopause that I realized there was a lifestyle that needed to happen. And I feel like I want to tap every 40-year-old woman on the shoulder and be like, let me tell you what you need to do. So you're doing the same with through counseling and you have your low carb universe. Like you're not keeping quiet about how you overcame this and we appreciate that. So tell us what you're doing and how do people tap into your information and learn from you. Well, first of all, thank you very much. I agree. When you find something like this, such a powerful method or tool or even toolbox of things that you can you can try to improve your

situation because there's always always always something you can do to improve your situation. That's without a doubt. No matter how low down you are, there's something you can do, I promise. But yes, I have been a coach for type 1 diabetics for very many years. Now I've sort of put that a little bit to the side for public speaking, writing. I do a weekly blog, for example, called Type 1 Thursday. It's a lot of fun. I love it. I'm going to have to check that out.

I haven't checked that one out. Please. Yeah, I will. And then I run workshops for people with diabetes as well. I can go anywhere in the world. I usually can go anywhere in the world. Normally. How they happen online.

But yes. What do you think the biggest hesitancy when you're working with type 1s and they hear keto? What do you think the biggest fear is? The problem is, is that very few people, doctors and medical professionals included, do not know the difference between ketosis and ketoacidosis, which is a huge thing. Ketosis is a completely normal, fantastic thing that our bodies have come up with through evolution when we also been scarce with food during times. And it means basically that your body is running on fat. That's it. Whereas,

as keto acidosis, and especially diabetic ketoacidosis, is deadly. You can die from that stuff. And it's very, very important as a type 1 diabetic to know what you're doing, how you should be doing it, and what you should be looking out for. And the three things that keep you out of ketoacidosis, which has helped me for the past eight, nine years then, to not being ketoacidosis. Interestingly, actually, before I went to keep. I was in keto acidosis quite regularly.

Interesting. And now I have regular ketones up to up to like, I don't even measure it often, to be honest. Yeah. But when I do, it's somewhere between one and three and a half, mammals. Yeah. Which, you know, normal ketosis, which is fine. But in order for ketoacidosis to develop, you need a lack of insulin in your body.

This can be a relative lack of insulin. And maybe, for example, because getting sick with the flu or something can make you very insulin resistant and you don't get enough or you don't dare to take enough insulin. That can also lead to ketoacidosis because then there is a lack of insulin in the body in comparison to what it needs. But as long as you make sure that you check your blood sugars or keep a little handy CGM on hand if you can afford it and it is available to you, you keep hydrated and that you're not. you just make sure that you don't overdo it. It's really not difficult as a type one diabetic

to keep out of keto acidosis. I love it. Is there a number that you say if you saw like, because we could ask this question a lot too, like what's the range in which now my ketones are through the roof? And by the way, I always tell the story that I have a patient who is pre-diabetic has done a ton of fasting with us. And she reached out to me on a Sunday to tell me that her ketones were like at 22. And I was like, oh my God, 22. I'm like, how are you feeling? And she said, I feel amazing. And I was like, something's not adding up here. Like that, you'd be like dead at 22. I'm pretty sure. So it turned out that she was doing the little, like the precision reader with the strips. And she got a batch of bad strips. Yeah. Yeah. That's very common, unfortunately.

Yeah. So what is, I always say seven or eight is like, Like, if you're in a three or five-day water fast, do you have an edge that you think is too high? For me, it has more to do with the blood sugar. As long as the blood sugar is in a normal, healthy, stable level, I don't really care about ketones at all. Like, this is the last thing on my mind. Ketones are on my mind if I feel ill anyway, and I measure to sort of rule it out as a possibility. But if my blood sugar is, you know, around, well, up to the 200s and I have ketones of 5, 6, I'm like, okay. Ooh, horsey, take it easy now, you know.

Yeah, yeah, I would agree. What do you like to see your blood sugar at? Well, I have to go with 83. Okay. You're clear. I always tell people between 70 and 90, but okay, 83 it is. Why 83? No, that comes actually from Dr. Richard Bernstein, who wrote Diabetes Solution.

And his goal for all diabetics everywhere at all times is 83. So it is partially from there, but also because sometimes 100, for example, like diabetics usually aim for, that can be very, it can go up very quickly and it can go down, you know, as long as you're stable is one thing. but 100 can quickly become 120, 140, 160. Yeah. So that's why I say a little bit under 100, but yes, a range of 70. A range of 72, 120 is fine.

Exactly. I mean, and that's kind of what we say is like there's a range that we're looking for. But I'm going to say that next time because we do fast training weeks with our resetter groups. And then I'll do like some YouTube lives and I'll answer questions. and people are always asking questions about blood sugar. And I'm going to, from now on, I'm going to say 83. 83, if it's not 83, you're screwed. You're out.

That's going to be my new norm. Do you have any tricks for diabetics that are not, they went keto and they're not, their blood sugar is not going down. Do you have little hacks or any tricks you counsel people with on that? Yeah, of course, there is, it depends on if they're type one. and insulin dependent or type 2 and just are waiting for that liver to defatten itself. It's different depending on who it is. Yeah, usually it's the type 2 that we hear from and it's the fatty liver that is a problem.

And that can really take some time to heal up and for the body to allow that fat to be used as fuel rather than sitting there and, you know, keeping all that sugar in. So it can be very, it's very individual. This is the really tricky thing about diabetes. It's very individual depending on what type of diabetes you have, what kind of person you are, what kind of routine you have, what do you eat normally, what is your medication. And of course, I'm not allowed to give medical advice.

So this is something I refrain from. Right. Yes. God. But, you know, it's what is key, for example, for people with insulin-dependent diabetes is their basal insulin. So the background insulin that you either take through an insulin pump or as a one or two-time injection during the day,

that that is explicitly set to your needs. So basal testing is a huge thing if you are on insulin. Not going to tell you any dosages or how to change them, but just check them that they are viable for your situation, your body and your diabetes at this point of time. And this, of course, requires fasting, because if you make food in it, then the insulin dosages are going to change. So this is something you have to fast for.

I love that. Have you seen the research on fast mimicking diet and what it did to type 1 diabetics? Yeah. Have you experimented? Have you ever tried pro long for five days? That was how the research was done, five days, three months in a row. Yeah, no, I haven't done the full five days because I frankly couldn't stand it. Yeah.

I didn't have the stamina to do it. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, like, yeah. But, yeah, but, yes, I've seen the research and then I, I, I find it very fascinating. And especially if you're newly diagnosed type one, then you can really prolong what's called the honeymoon period where part of your pancreas is still functioning and then making

insulin for you. So you can really prolong that so that you don't actually have to take any insulin. at all or very, very little for a longer period of time. I'm not sure how it works after 35 years of it of type 1, but maybe that's something I should try on myself. Yeah, I've coached some people, some type 1 patients through it and it actually works pretty well. The only thing that's a little different for me is that they don't necessarily keep their carbs low. So it's weird. So it's calories and protein. But it was done on type 1 diabetics. So it's almost like there's this little bar that has honey in it. And for me, when I taste it, I'm like, whoa, this is so sweet. But the

research is impressive. So it's kind of cool. So, okay. So I have one last question for you. And I, again, I think I love people on a mission. And you are definitely on a mission. And I love that about you. So if you had like one message for the world that you could, you could shout from the tallest mountain in the world and get into people's mind, what would that message be? Well, I've already told you it actually, which is that there's always, always something you can do to improve your situation.

Whether you are diabetic, whether you are morbidly obese, whether you are, have a terrible cancer diagnosis, whatever it is, there's something you can do. And part two to this. it doesn't necessarily have to be in accordance to what the medical professionals say. Yes. You have to find your own way through it. I love it.

I feel like you need a mic drop on that one. Yeah. That was awesome. I couldn't agree more. So, okay, tell us about low-carb universe. Prior to this interview, I went and looked it up and I'm like, oh, this is going to happen in November. This could still happen.

And you got some great speakers. you've got Ken Berry who I love, I had a great conversation with Ken Barry on our podcast. So everybody needs to come here see Ken Barry. So tell us a little bit about low carb universe and what it is. Absolutely. So the next event, which is going to be our fourth signature event, is taking place on the beautiful Mediterranean island of New Yorka in Spain in November. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this situation that we're in is far away by that point. We're all allowed to travel and Canberry and the company can come join us. Yes. Yes. I'm going to hold that space.

What we're doing. I'm sorry. I'm going to hold that space for you too because, yeah, I see that happening. We're all going to come out of this soon and November is still a ways away. There's a lot that can happen until November, definitely. Yeah. And what we do is that we, it's basically more like a real food, low-carb retreat. So we all stay at the same hotel. we all eat together. We mix lectures with workshops so you can really get into those questions that you bring that extra a little bit for. And there's a lot of movement, there's a lot of joy,

there's a lot of yoga, there's a lot of, you know, wonderful things. And this hotel that we are at is so gorgeous. So if nothing else, come for the hotel because it's beautiful. Amazing. It's right by the beach in this little old Fisher's Village in Mayorka, in, you have the Mediterranean, you fall asleep to the sound of the ocean, and you wake up to the sound of the ocean. Sounds incredible. That'll bring your insulin levels down right there because we bring your cortisol down. So is it for anybody who wants to try low carb? You don't need to be a type 1 diabetic. Oh, no, not at all. This is for anyone who's interested in low carb or even living it already. The beautiful thing about it is that you can either use it as a kickstart if you've been looking around,

you have some of the information, but you don't really know how to do it practically. Then you have all these experts that we have invited there. And all the food is also real food, low-carb stuff, locally and organically produced when we can, when it's available on an island in November. And so you can really use it as a kickstart to see how, okay, so that person is eating that.

Hmm, that looks good. I could try that. Yeah. Oh, I feel really full. I feel happy. I feel energized. I feel satisfied. So you can use it as a kickstart or maybe a little kick up the butt.

Right, right. If you lost your way a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Or just come for, to enjoy the fantastic company, of course, of all these experts and all these fellow real food people that are so incredible. And the stories shared and the compassion and the support is just so overwhelming

every time. And I can't believe I get to. organize something like this. Yeah, amazing, amazing. And somebody's cooking the food for you, right? Yeah, well, the hotel makes all the food for us. We get that question so much about like, okay, I get the macros, but what do I send me some recipes. So you could go to this and then, you know, really get an idea of what is it like to eat keto. So I love that. And everything is, or all food, but one is served in buffet styles as well. So we can cater to both more liberal paleo people as to the strictest carnivores to everything in between.

So, yeah, as long as you love real food and are happy to get a bit more knowledge, then I definitely think you should join us. Amazing, amazing. Well, we'll put the link in the notes here. And again, Hannah, thank you so much. I just, I loved this conversation. I love the work you're doing. I'm sad we're not going to see each other at KetoCon because that's where we were both

speakers at. But, you know, well, our paths will process. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So again, thank you so much. And keep screaming. Keep shouting as loud as you can because the right people will listen. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's been such a pleasure chatting to you. Keep up the good work. Thank you. Appreciate it. You download Car Manager where your food is all craft out That's what it's all about That's what resetting is all