Type One Diabetes: What is It?

Ugh…yes the best part of my day. Food. Eating. Yes, pure bliss. For many this is where the thought of eating ends, but for millions of type one diabetics this is merely the surface of what food means. Beneath lies a tangled maze of numbers, injections, mood swings, and much more.

So, what is it?

Type One Diabetes. Although a disease you’ve heard of since grabbing a snack during the commercial break as a kid, or watching your grandpa gulp a mirage of pills for his beetus; the type one diabetic community is still very misunderstood by those looking in (aka you lovelies with functional pancreases). Although type two diabetes is a huge medical problem that deserves all the time in the world, it is a completely different beast than type one…which is what I am explaining here.

Type one diabetes is commonly referred to as juvenile diabetes, as it is diagnosed in children and younger folk (I contracted my beetus at the ripe age of seven- whooo!). Unlike its similarly named cousin type two, type one is not caused by lifestyle choices like diet and exercise. Type one is caused by a virus that attacks the islet cells in your pancreas- the amazing guys that tell your pancreas to produce the hormone insulin. Insulin is in charge of the breakdown of sugars inside your body. So, no insulin=high blood sugar. Amazing break thoughs in the medical world in the past hundred or hundredfiddy years or so have revolutionized (meaning type ones’ don’t die off shortly after diagnosis) the lives of diabetics. Yay!

Now, us type one diabetics can live semi normal lives. By means of injections or insulin pumps, diabetics get the missing hormones shot into their bodies…enabling us to live; and the best part? That’s right- eat. Can I get a halle-efffin-lujah!? So, so, so grateful yes, but even with this gratitude us type ones still have a whole silent world of complication that normies have little to no idea about. But that is A-ok my compadres, we are simply here to educate and bring our culture to normalcy. Also, to band together as a type one community; which is why I am starting this blog. I want to enhance the lives of my fellow diabetics and teach others about what we all go through.

Feel free to reach out to me through email, I’ll be writing about the notorious beetus, nutrition, overall well being, and beetus safe exercise. If you would like me to write about a specific topic also shoot me a message and we will see what we can do.

-XO Sara and Oat