Host: All right, welcome back to Coast Live guys, November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. And this is a disease that affects more than 34 million Americans. But lifestyle changes like diet and exercise can help manage and even prevent diabetes. So here to explain some more with us this morning is Dr. Erica Steele from the holistic Family Medicine in Virginia Beach. Good morning, Dr. Steele, it’s great to see you again.
Dr. Steele: Good morning, nice to see you as well.
Host: Well, we love all your stuff, you know, through through COVID. And everything you’ve been helping so many people out, but this is a disease that, you know, has been an ongoing battle for so many people. And it is there are ways to prevent it. So what are some of your top tips to really just help prevent diabetes from the start?
Dr. Steele: Yeah, so some of my top tips, common sense, obviously, limiting processed foods eating regularly. But sometimes people don’t realize it’s not so much of focus about your carbohydrates as much as it’s about your protein, because protein stabilizes your blood sugar. And so I really encourage people to increase their protein, increase their green vegetables, and also only really in consumed the lower glycemic fruits and vegetables.
Host: Yeah, and we’ve had this conversation many times of how important food is for your overall health, it truly is the foundation of a lot of what is wrong. And you know, this is something that I think people need to kind of be their own advocate for, right? Because we go to a doctor, we say we need bloodwork, and they’re like, Oh, you’re fine, you don’t need this. But what do you need to ask for? And what are some of the like lab markers that someone should really be looking for when they get that done?
Dr. Steele: Yeah, so remember, I’m I’m also a functional medicine provider. So we look at reference ranges versus optimal range. So if you go to your traditional medical doctor, they’re going to see a wide range of glucose, right? We want an optimal range, we don’t want us to reference range. So we’re looking glucose between 80 and 85, we’re looking hemoglobin a one c less than five, right? A lot of times people will come in, they’re like, Oh, my lab work looks fine. Their glucose is a 90 their hemoglobin a one sees a 5.5. So those are really important markers, but also to your liver enzymes, your liver, metabolizes your nutrients, as well as detoxifies and that’s also a sign that your body is moving, your metabolic state is declining. And so that’s one Oregon, we really want to pay attention to optimal, you know, I like it in the teens, but you can go up as much as 26 for your liver enzymes, those your ASD and your al T markers on your CMP.
Host: Yeah, that’s why you need to go to someone who truly understands us to get you better overall, because you need to look at overall health, not just one number, and I love that you do that. But let’s shift to the people who are actually already struggling with diabetes, because you know, I mean, I have sent a lot of friends personally, what type of food tips would you give them as they move, especially into the holiday season?
Dr. Steele: Well, I think even aside from the food, we’ve got to get the mindset down, right. And you’ve talked about this a lot. I know I’ve gone to different workshops and stuff where you’re really big on mindset. And so mindset is number one, because a lot of times those lifestyle habits have been embedded and integrated for so long. And it’s so emotionally based, your first 20% of digestion is attached to the limbic system in your brain, your emotional body, right. So it’s not that a lot of times people don’t want to eat healthy, it’s that emotionally and mentally, they’re not ready. And so we look at Stages of Change. That’s why in our practice, we use education coaching, as well as accountability to help people achieve their results.
Host: And I know you have some really good high protein recipes to share. So these are the ones I’m actually curious about too, because everybody needs this in their life.
Dr. Steele: Everyone, including myself, I love I live for it. So we’re actually giving away we have an app that we use for food tracking in our practice. And if you text Our office number, high protein recipes, you can choose between lunch, dinner or breakfast, and we’ll deliver those they come in your email box, they come on your phone, and then you can utilize those to really incorporate more high protein into your lifestyle into your diet.
Host: Yeah, and protein is very, very important. So especially you know, I’ve been that’s, I know that’s that’s my my staple. And everything is my goal is to get a certain amount of protein in every day. So where can people get in touch with you because it’s better to really get this process started before we get to the end of the year.
Dr. Steele: Of course, you can call our office or even text our number to schedule a consultation. I do offer a 15 minute complimentary consult as well as a more extended one hour consultation that includes that comprehensive bloodwork review. So our office, website is staging6.holisticfamilypracticeva.com Lots of really yummy information on there. And then of course all of my socials even on clubhouse we do a lot of education through various different platforms. So it’s not it’s not difficult to find
no easy to find and thank you for being with us and have a wonderful holiday season ahead. It’s great to see you.
