Sunday Coffee: Why diabetes and disordered eating co-exist.

Learn how disordered eating, diet culture, and diabetes stigma and distress are connected.

Hi Everyone! This Sunday Coffee is open to everyone because it is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. I wanted to share how diabetes care and disordered eating are connected.

Understanding the connection between diabetes and disordered eating begins when you realize that diabetes is very number-focused. Blood sugar, pressure, A1C, and weight numbers are everywhere! This creates the ILLUSION that you have direct control over these numbers (because it seems every appointment is centered around numbers.)

This sets the conditions for you to internalize this belief. We all internalize thoughts, and it sounds like “I ‘should’…” or “Why can’t I…?” or “What’s wrong with me?” or “Why don’t I …” or “I’m [insert any self-blaming harsh judgment such as broken, addicted, screwed up…].”

What is internalized stigma? It is when the person DOING THE shaming is you.

Take a couple of breaths because this truth is hard to feel.

So why is diabetes so weight-focused?

Diet culture, wellness culture, and the many businesses that support this zillion-dollar industry are targeting people with diabetes. This means that money is pouring into diabetes care. This can be helpful because, historically, diabetes is an underfunded condition, likely because of decades of stigma. But there is a sneaky side, and I will direct you to the work of Ragen Chastain, who does a great job unpacking how diet culture has targeted diabetes.

What is an example? Everything from GLP1 to continuous glucose monitor devices, the order you eat food, limiting, restricting, and eating only clean, raw, unprocessed, or single-ingredient items fuels disordered eating. The pressure to change your diet (in unfamiliar and unsustainable ways) drives disordered eating.

Pssst. I want you to know a secret: you don’t have direct control over these numbers. You only have indirect control at best - which means that the smoking gun you are craving (I ate this, and magically, my blood sugars were perfect) doesn’t exist. Nutrition, health, and diabetes are more complicated than that.

Are Eating Disorders Something to Worry About?

Yes. They are the 2nd leading cause of psychiatric death. The opioid crisis is the first. One person in every 52 minutes dies as a direct result of an eating disorder. Learn the facts about eating disorders https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/edaw-2024-callaborators/

Take a minute and discover more about diabetes distress: https://diabetesdistress.org/learn-about-dd/

Work with me, a weight-inclusive dietitian who helps people with type 2 diabetes have a balanced relationship with food. I see clients virtually via Nourish and am licensed in the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, HI, ID, IN, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OK, OR, PA, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.

If you are a therapist or medical provider looking to refer clients for weight-inclusive nutrition education, counseling, or diabetes education, please reach out. I would be delighted to chat with you to learn more about your specific situation.

#NEDAW #diabetes #dietculture