The Diabetes Management "Triple Crown"

It was "Derby Day" in Kentucky Saturday- the run for the roses. I lived in Lexington,the center of Kentucky horse country (even though the Churchill Downs is in Louisville), and I can promise you that it was party day at many homes around that state. For our Kentucky members....I'm trusting that you watched what you ate and drank.

The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the "Triple Crown", which also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes...I'm unsure of the order. Few horses win the Triple Crown, in part because each race is different. I guess it's hard for a horse to be really good in three very different circumstances. The Kentucky Derby is extra special because only the winner here has the opportunity to win them all. Athletic contests are like that- the winner gets all the attention. You may have noticed that if you watched the race's aftermath.

There's a "Triple Crown" in diabetes management too.....I call it the diabetes management triangle. The three "races" are medical treatment and monitoring, diet, and physical activity. And guess what? We can win the diabetes Triple Crown without winning one single "race"......... but we can't win the diabetes Triple Crown without competing in them all.

Too many of us focus all of our attention on only one area....probably the "race" we're best at, and that's often the medical "race" because at first the medical race is the easy one. But, if we don't even compete in the diet and exercise "races" (the "lifestyle" factors) we might just find that winning the medical one hands down isn't enough. Diet and exercise play a key role in reducing our elevated risk for heart disease and other complications, AND help our medications work better.

So, as we watched the winner of the Kentucky Derby get all of the attention Saturday let's remember that effective diabetes management doesn't require us to be a thoroughbred or a winner. Our "run for the roses" is a different race all together- we can win none and still be the big winner if we devote ourselves to doing our best in all three "races".

It was "Derby Day" in Kentucky Saturday- the run for the roses. I lived in Lexington,the center of Kentucky horse country (even though the Churchill Downs is in Louisville), and I can promise you that it was party day at many homes around that state. For our Kentucky members....I'm trusting that you watched what you ate and drank.

The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the "Triple Crown", which also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes...I'm unsure of the order. Few horses win the Triple Crown, in part because each race is different. I guess it's hard for a horse to be really good in three very different circumstances. The Kentucky Derby is extra special because only the winner here has the opportunity to win them all. Athletic contests are like that- the winner gets all the attention. You may have noticed that if you watched the race's aftermath.

There's a "Triple Crown" in diabetes management too.....I call it the diabetes management triangle. The three "races" are medical treatment and monitoring, diet, and physical activity. And guess what? We can win the diabetes Triple Crown without winning one single "race"......... but we can't win the diabetes Triple Crown without competing in them all.

Too many of us focus all of our attention on only one area....probably the "race" we're best at, and that's often the medical "race" because at first the medical race is the easy one. But, if we don't even compete in the diet and exercise "races" (the "lifestyle" factors) we might just find that winning the medical one hands down isn't enough. Diet and exercise play a key role in reducing our elevated risk for heart disease and other complications, AND help our medications work better.

So, as we watched the winner of the Kentucky Derby get all of the attention Saturday let's remember that effective diabetes management doesn't require us to be a thoroughbred or a winner. Our "run for the roses" is a different race all together- we can win none and still be the big winner if we devote ourselves to doing our best in all three "races".