Here's What You Need to Know About Diabetes

·43 min·4 clips

Jessica Jones reveals how insulin resistance causes high blood sugar and why it damages the body over time.

This special crossover episode of Food We Need to Talk, recorded around World Diabetes Day on November 14th, brings together hosts Yuna Yatta and Dr. Eddie Phillips from Harvard Medical School with Jessica Jones and Wendy Lopez, registered dietitians, certified diabetes care and education specialists, and co-founders of the Diabetes Digital podcast and virtual nutrition counseling platform. The episode opens with personal disclosures: Yuna's mother has type 2 diabetes, and Dr. Eddie Phillips notes his own blood sugars have been creeping up. The guests define diabetes as a condition in which the body cannot properly process glucose due to insufficient insulin production or insulin resistance, leading to chronically elevated blood sugar that damages the heart, eyes, kidneys, and nerves over time. Type 1 is an autoimmune condition destroying pancreatic beta cells, always requiring external insulin, while type 2 is primarily characterized by insulin resistance and is far more prevalent. Both types carry strong genetic components, and neither is the patient's fault. The guests specifically address stigma: type 2 is disproportionately common in people of color due to systemic racism, chronic stress, and unequal access to healthcare, not lifestyle choices alone. Prediabetes is defined as blood sugar above normal but below the type 2 diagnostic threshold of 6.5 A1C, and is reversible with early intervention. Type 2 diabetes cannot be cured but can be put into remission, meaning A1C returns to a normal range without medication, though the underlying condition remains. Lifestyle interventions discussed include eating consistently throughout the day with at least three food groups per meal, prioritizing vegetables and fiber-rich carbohydrates rather than eliminating carbs, getting 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week, adding strength training to increase muscle insulin sensitivity, walking 15 minutes after the largest meal of the day, and improving sleep quality and stress management to lower cortisol. Medication adjustments should always be made with a physician, not independently. The guests counter the widespread myth that people with diabetes cannot eat carbohydrates, explaining that fiber — found primarily in carbohydrate-containing foods like vegetables, beans, and whole grains — slows glucose release and is essential. Desserts are manageable using strategies like eating sweets after a full meal and choosing lower-sugar options. On the question of supporting a family member with diabetes, the guests emphasize that food-shaming is counterproductive and that asking open questions about fears and feelings is more effective than monitoring or criticizing food choices. The episode is aimed broadly at the 50 percent of the American population living with diabetes or prediabetes, as well as their family members and caregivers.

As heard by us

A clear, shame-free diabetes primer that makes risk easier to understand.

Food, We Need To Talk treats a diabetes episode as practical reporting, not abstraction. It lands just before World Diabetes Day, and that timing gives the piece an immediate edge: Yuna talks about her mom's type 2 diabetes and her own rising blood sugars, then walks through the…

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You want plain-English diabetes basics without the lecture vibe.

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