Articles by Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE

Your Dream Diabetes Plan

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
If you want to build a new house, you could ask an expert to create one that is very sound. But it might not have what you need. Maybe you want everything on one floor or you want a kitchen of a certain size. But, if you partner with the builder and help make the plan, you are more likely to end up with just the house you want. Your house would reflect both your needs and what the expert knows about safe structures, lighting and plumbing. The same is true with your diabetes.

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January 14, 2017

Preventing Diabetes In The Next Generation

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
The U.S. received some startling news recently. The current generation is the first who may not live as long as their parents and grandparents. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, lives may be cut short by as much as five years if current obesity trends are not reversed. The rising number of overweight and obese children in the U.S. has led to an increase in the number of children at risk for diabetes when they become adults.

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January 13, 2017

The Big Picture

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
Making changes is one of the hardest things about living with diabetes. Things you used to do without thinking can start to feel like a chore. Hopefully, you have learned some ways to make changes more easily. You may have read some tips in this magazine or received some helpful advice from your diabetes educator. Perhaps you figured some things out on your own and learned what works for you. In addition, a recent study may give you some insights about how to make changes.

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January 13, 2017

Peer Partners For Diabetes Care

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
As you know, your health care team can do a lot to help you manage your diabetes. But research shows working with others who have diabetes, or your peers, also can help with your self-care efforts.

A peer is a person who is similar to you. Although peers may have other things in common with you, peer programs for diabetes usually are led by someone who has diabetes or has lived with someone with diabetes; for example, as a spouse or parent.

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January 11, 2017

May I Have This Dance?

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
By now, everyone with diabetes (and pretty much everyone else) knows that exercise is good for your health. There are many benefits to being active. Exercise improves your physical health, your appearance and your emotional health. Yet, in spite of all of the information out there about activity, most Americans still do not exercise.

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January 11, 2017

Is It Worth It?

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
A new campaign by the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) has the following slogan: “Managing diabetes. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.” There is a lot of truth to that statement. There is no question diabetes is hard to deal with: There is a lot to do and lot of choices to make each and every day. Many people use words like burden, struggle and challenge to describe their daily lives with diabetes.

But the second part of this slogan is also food for thought. One of the most important things people with diabetes need to decide is whether the benefit they receive is worth all the work they do to care for their diabetes. Making that decision makes it easier to face choices throughout the day.

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January 10, 2017

Diabetes And Your Family

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
Diabetes is truly a family affair. Since type 2 diabetes tends to run in families, your children are at a higher level of risk for developing diabetes. Although some people think that diabetes skips a generation or that you only get diabetes from your mother (or your father), those beliefs are not true. Because you share the same genes with your brothers and sisters, they have the same level of risk that you do.

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December 21, 2016

An Aspirin A Day For Heart Health?

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
If you have had diabetes for some time, you may take an aspirin each day as a way to help prevent heart attacks and strokes. But the guidelines developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and other organizations about who will benefit from aspirin have changed recently. Although it is frustrating when guidelines change, it is actually good news. It means that more and better studies are being done all the time and give people with diabetes the facts they need to make wise and informed decisions.

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December 21, 2016

Start Walking

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE
What could be better than taking a walk on a nice, sunny day? It gives you the chance to enjoy nature and speak to friends and it can brighten your whole outlook on life.

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November 21, 2016

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Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN—an award-winning RD, certified diabetes educator, and past national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is the author of The African American Guide to Living Well With Diabetes, which received the Favorably Reviewed designation from the American Association of Diabetes Educators, and Eating Soulfully and Healthfully with Diabetes.

Dr. Lori Shemek, PhD, CNC, CLC, the best-selling author of “Fire-Up Your Fat Burn! and leading health and weight loss expert, is also known as “The Inflammation Terminator.” She has made it her mission to educate the public on the toxic effects of certain foods and lifestyle choices and how they create inflammation in the body. She is a leading authority on inflammation and its role in weight loss, preventing disease and optimizing health.

Rebecca Bitzer – MS, RD/LD, CEDRD is an award-winning Registered Dietitian, writer, speaker, blogger, and REBEL Dietitian business owner. Rebecca and her team of six Registered Dietitians have counseled thousands of clients struggling with diabetes for over twenty-five years. They work closely with each other along with internists, endocrinologists, therapists, and families.

Maureen Sullivan – RN, CDE has worked for many years as a Registered Nurse, most of them in emergency and trauma services. She is a Certified Emergency Nurse, Certified Diabetes Educator, and the former manager of a hospital stroke program. Maureen’s wealth of knowledge, passion for nursing and education, and ability to engage people makes her an excellent teacher and a captivating lecturer. Recently, Maureen has been concentrating on writing, speaking and teaching, as well as working on her award-winning weekly podcast, “The Health and Humor Show.”

Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN is a nutrition communications specialist, registered dietitian in private practice, social media consultant, speaker, spokesperson and corporate consultant. She is currently the owner of Nutrition Starring YOU, LLC and www.NutritionStarringYOU.com. Lauren strongly believes that we should “Think Healthy, not Skinny”, and “EveryBODY is unique, your diet should be too”. Lauren was co-host of the Family Food Experts Kitchen radio show, available for listening on iHeart Radio and iTunes. Also known as one of the “NutritionBabes”, Lauren co-founded NutritionBabes.com, a popular Health and Wellness website in 2009. NutritionBabes.com was voted one of Healthline’s Top 100 Health Blogs in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Mark Heyman, PhD, CDE is a clinical health psychologist and the director of the Center for Diabetes and Mental Health (CDMH). In addition to treating patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, Dr. Heyman provides training for health care providers on how to identify and address the emotional and behavioral aspects of diabetes in their patients. He also works with pharmaceutical and medical device companies to help them understand these issues and incorporate this information into their sales, marketing, and patient education materials. He is particularly interested in empirically supported behavioral interventions that promote behavior change and improve physical and mental health in people with diabetes.

Katie Ferraro, MPH, RD, CDE is a nationally-recognized registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator and author with an expertise in nutrition communications and curriculum development. She is the co-author of “Diet Therapy in Advanced Practice Nursing” (McGraw Hill, 2014) and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Nutrition at the University of California San Francisco and University of San Diego’s graduate schools of nursing.

Dr. Beverly S. Adler, PhD, CDE (aka “Dr. Bev”) is a clinical psychologist and certified diabetes educator, author and speaker. She specializes treating the emotional issues of people with diabetes. In her private practice, she provides individual, family and/or group therapy utilizing a cognitive behavior therapy orientation, combined with a spiritual approach. Her goal is to empower her patients to manage their diabetes.

Dr. Bev is the author of two self-help diabetes books. She has written numerous articles which are published in print and online – always focused on diabetes from the emotional perspective. She also speaks to audiences of people living with diabetes, as well as, to audiences of healthcare professionals and diabetes educators. Dr. Bev, herself, has been living successfully with type 1 diabetes for 40+ years.

In August 2016, Dr. Bev was honored to receive the “CDE Entrepreneur of the Year” Award from her Metropolitan NY Association of Diabetes Educators.

Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDE, FAND is an internationally recognized nutrition and diabetes expert with more than two decades experience. Through writing, speaking and one-on-one coaching, Jill empowers people to grab control of their health. She has worked as both a nutrition counselor and a diabetes educator in the hospital and research settings, and now in private practice in Newport News, VA. Jill is known for her practical approach and caring attitude. Her no-nonsense strategies to eating well include foods that both taste good and are good for you.

Marlene Koch (pronounced ‘cook’) is a nationally recognized nutritionist, popular TV personality and New York Times bestselling author. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Science. She is a registered dietitian and one of a select group of dietitians to hold an advanced certificate in Child and Adolescent Weight Management from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.

Marlene has taught professional chefs from the American Culinary Federation the principles of healthy cooking and eating. She has been adjunct Nutrition professor and cooking instructor for Columbus State College and the Columbus State Culinary Academy, and she is a nationally recognized expert in weight loss, diabetes, child and adolescent nutrition, and sugar substitutes.

Marlene has sold over one million cookbooks, and is a regular guest on QVC.

Barbara Ruhs – MS, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Neighborhood Nutrition LLC, a consulting firm focused on providing solutions to help food companies and supermarkets improve consumer health & wellness. She’s a former supermarket dietitian and has run a successful business for 17 years. A leader in the field of nutrition, her mission is to help people by impacting the way food is produced, marketed and sold. She’s a strong advocate for supermarket dietitians and believes the retail food industry has the greatest potential to impact public health.

Cheryl Orlansky has over 25 years of experience in health promotion and chronic disease prevention and management. Her first career as a registered dental hygienist led her towards a path of wellness and nutrition! Her expertise is in diabetes, weight management and cardiovascular disease for individuals and groups. She works in a large private practice including endocrinology, internal medicine, rheumatology, neurology and sleep medicine. She is an award winning dietitian with current leadership positions in state and local dietetics organizations.

She has been interviewed and quoted in media outlets for WebMD, Atlanta Sports and Fitness, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. She has partnered with V-103 Radio to lead supermarket tours as part of a community outreach during National Nutrition Month.

Cheryl helps her clients reach balance through lifestyle choices: cooking and eating, activity and purpose in life.

Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN, is a registered dietitian nutritionist and classically-trained chef. With a passion for helping people (including her father) with diabetes, she’s author of The With or Without Meat Cookbook: The Flexible Approach to Flavorful Diabetes Cooking and the award-winning The All‐Natural Diabetes Cookbook, both published by the American Diabetes Association. Jackie is also author of 1,000 Low-Calorie Recipes and Big Green Cookbook. Her next book, The All-Natural Diabetes Cookbook—2nd Edition, was published in 2015.

Nutritionist Rania Batayneh, MPH is the author of the best-selling book, The One One One Diet. She holds a master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and is also a Wellcoaches Certified Health and Wellness Coach endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

OmnichannelHealth Media, publisher of DiabetesDigest.com, does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.