photo credit: Christie Merrill
Recently in a weekly production meeting at my job I launched into a bit of an anti-diabetic rant. Generally my co-workers, I think, find my rants somewhat humourous and that’s okay with me because otherwise that meeting could easily become a death march of upcoming events. But this particular rant wasn’t necessarily meant to be humourous. My issue that day? Diabetes is a lazy disease and diabetics are a lazy bunch who want to have their hands held and their decisions pre-made.
Before I go further I should clarify a couple of things. First, I understand that this is an empirical statement and does not include every diabetic in the world. Second, I am a diabetic and at this point would count myself among the lazy crowd. So this rant was just as much aimed at me as anyone else.
Every week we have any number of special dietary requests for the various events that we are producing for and I rarely even flinch at the sight of them. There is the occassional one that is allergic or sensitive to so many items that I wonder why they ever leave their homes rather than trust their well-being to a total group of strangers. But generally I’m fairly confident about our ability to produce a quality dining experience for our special needs groups.
My beef with diabetics is that simply requesting a diabetic meal is ridiculous. Because as a diabetic I know that you can eat whatever you want as long as it is controlled portions. I also know that everyone’s diabetes is different because every body handles the disease a little differently. It is not like someone who is celiac or lactose intolerant. When some one from these groups call I immediately know what to avoid – wheat, oats, barley, rye, dairy, etc. Occassionally I will get the diabetic who calls and gives a list of items they wish to avoid. That is more helpful if not less aggravating. But generally it is my feeling that the diabetic diner who simply asks for a diabetic meal is saying “I’m too lazy to be mindful of what I eat and I need you to be mindful of it for me. I can’t do it by myself. I can’t look at a plate and eat only a portion of the starch that is there because I know that the larger portion will have an adverse effect on my blood glucose levels.”
Diabetics are lazy. That is why many of us are diabetics. We were too lazy and apathetic to get our butts up off the couch to stay active enough to allow our bodies to operate properly. That is why we are fat – or if you prefer obese – that is why we are sick. Yes, I understand that some of us got an extra push from our genetics but I’m making sweeping generalizations here not stating targeted facts. But even knowing that we remain lazy. We want someone else to choose our food and we want the doctors to give us a magic pill to control our sugar and we want it all to just go away.
Well personally I’m tired of being lazy, I’m tired of watching my son sprint down the path of diabetes at an alarming rate, and I’m tired of cooking special meals for people too lazy to either adjust their eating or at the very least tell me what they want to eat that day.
Diabetes is most definitely a deadly disease that needs and has the attention of health care professionals around the world. But does any of that matter if those of us who have it are too lazy too care?
So it’s called Diabetic Lazy. lols…. I can really relate on this.
I am a type 2 diabetic and I take offense at your question. I am not lazy, but I do happen to be unlucky enough to carry a gene that says I get to deal with it. I have several family members who are diabetic and not one of them are lazy. So stop thinking that way, research the diabetics and learn. Some people are lazy and let themselves get overweight but not all of us are like that.
Kara I am sorry that you were offended but let me point out that I did state that I was making an empirical statement that did not include all diabetics and obviously from your comments you and your family members are among those who are excluded from my statement. But I have re-read my post to make sure of everything and I still stand by what I said. I will, however, say that with current information that I have been studying (and by the way I do research diabetes a lot) I may modify my stance to be that though diabetics (again – many not all) can be lazy we’ve also been misinformed and led astray by medical doctors, spin doctors, and talking heads. But I’ll save that for another post. Thanks for reading I look forward to an ongoing conversation.
Well, Stress is a very important factor, which not only leads to diabetes but also heart problems, blood pressure and even cancer.
You should not call it lazy, Its just make you lazy because maybe you feel the pain of that disease. I don’t think so and I don’t have idea because I never tried that. I’m sorry for the post.
Low fat diets work for diabetic rats, because they are are “diabetic” due to a genetic flaw that isn’t one that is associated with diabetes in diabetic humans. They don’t do well on high fat diets, because of their genetic make up.
Hey Kayla, A low fat diet would work for us all. I was actually very intriqued by a comment from farmer Lee Jones in a recent issue of PLATE Magazine on one of the world’s greatest chef’s, Ferran Adria. He said, ‘Ferran Adria was here on the farm with Charlie Trotter and Tetsuya Wakuda, and he said vegetables are the future of the center of the plate, that’s so exciting.’ He’s right it is exciting because it means we’ll start seeing more innovative and delicious uses for vegetables other than as a side and we will lower our fat and cholesterol consumption even when eating out. It’s a win-win for us all.
Katie you are on the right track. Yes, the diabetes does cause some of this affect. Diabetes can be tough to get a handle on initially and can be quite frustrating to deal with. Unlike Kara who commented earlier I have witnessed family members who have succumbed to the hardships of the disease and the convenience of insulin and simply continue to eat and drink in an unhealthy manner and just amp up on the insulin. Again, as I said in my reply to Kara I don’t believe for a minute that all diabetics are lazy. On the contrary I know several who are prime examples of the opposite. But lazy lifestyles and mindsets are contributing factors to the surge of this disease and this I do know from first hand experience.
yes, Jane stress is a HUGE factor. I don’t know that I can say it leads to these things but it can aggravate other symptoms that do lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. So yes stress is a problem to be looked at.
Fat first then diabetes. Educate your children on changing old habits, making smart food choices, learning portion control and incorporating daily exercise to change their future!
Nice and informative post! I will come back for further posts. Thanks for the share!