#48 - Diabetes Is No Joke

Most of us have been conditioned to laugh things off, brush things aside, or say “I’ll deal with it later.”

But when it comes to type 2 diabetes…

This isn’t something to joke about.

In this episode, released on April Fool’s Day, we talk about why diabetes deserves real attention. Not fear, not panic, but honest, practical action.

We discuss:

• Why so many people underestimate the impact of diabetes 
• The slow, insidious nature of diabetes that keeps people from taking action
• How to overcome a lack of motivation with a simple framework

We’ll also share an update on the podcast and a new schedule moving forward.

If you’ve been putting off taking charge of your blood sugar… this might be the nudge you need. 

Ready to take control of your health and stop settling for “managed” diabetes?
  Grab your earbuds and listen in.

Brian & Cory
 Diabetes Remission Partners

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·       Get clear on why your blood sugar is where it is

·       Understand what’s realistic for reducing or eliminating medications

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Transcript

A Different Goal Than Managing

SPEAKER_01 0:02

If you have type 2 diabetes and you're tired of being told it's chronic and something you'll just have to manage forever, if your ANC is control, but your medication list keeps growing or stays the same, and you know deep down you're capable of more than this, you're in the right place. This is the Diabetes Remission Roadmap podcast where Brian Bitcher and Corey Jenks, two pharmacists who spent over two decades inside healthcare. And we started this show because we got tired of watching capable people stuck getting managed instead of rebuilt. Here's what most people aren't told. Type 2 diabetes isn't just a blood sugar problem, it's a muscle and energy storage problem. When your body loses strength and metabolic flexibility, blood sugar rises. And you can rebuild that. On this show, we break the scripts and say more meds are inevitable, you're destined to just manage, remission is impossible, and instead we teach you how to build muscle, eat in a way that keeps you full, and regain control of your health again. No extremes, no shame, just practical strategies to help you move toward remission and lead your health again. Let's get to work.

New Release Schedule And Video

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Welcome back to the Diabetes Remission Roadmap podcast. And as this hits your ears, if you download it the day it comes out, it is April Fool's Day. And uh let me tell you, diabetes is no joke. You know, it might be a day that we often do a joke. You might have been expecting something funny from us because it is April Fool's Day and I'm funny, and Brian, you know, gets on a call with me. But no, Brian can be funny. It's rare, but it's really special when it happens. But but the problem is diabetes is no joke, but people often treat it like one. So we're gonna get into that more specifically. Brian is just looking confused, and I appreciate that. So, but but first, a little announcement. So this is not just a special April Fool's Day episode. Brian, we're releasing our shows on Wednesdays now, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for letting me get a word in. That's what I was like, maybe looking confused. Just like, is he gonna let me talk? But you can talk whenever you want. There's not a like interrupt you.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

You don't have to raise your hand. This is an elementary school, Brian.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Maybe I will raise my hand now. No, yeah, we're gonna we are gonna switch to Wednesdays. That's a new episode release date. Still gonna do some guests on Friday releases, right, Corey? You're the one that's in charge of the setting.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

I am I'm in charge of it. So on the first Friday of each month, we'll have a guest, and on the last Friday of each month, we will have a Rapid Fire Friday, which means that in if you are listening to this on the hot, fresh April 1st, 2026 release date, April 3rd, 2026, we got a Friday episode for you. Basically, we're doing this because Brian, we have been getting a lot of feedback from people that are changing their lives. And you and I, we have these discussions, we have these meetings, we have these brainstorms. There's just too much good stuff. For those of you who live on the West Coast and are familiar with the gas station AMP, too much good stuff. I hope they don't sue us. So we're just basically giving you two bonus episodes a month. Uh, we uh it's it's fun for us to provide that. And uh in addition to the bonus episodes, Brian, we're taking over, we're basically creating a media empire. So if you want to see us banter back and forth and not just listen to us, you can head over to our YouTube channel. We are now posting our episode, full video episodes, front to back, lot like recorded Zoom episodes. So if you want to see us video go back and forth and all the crazy faces Brian makes, head over to YouTube. Uh, in addition to that, oh, there's more. I feel like it's uh infomercial. Uh that's bad vibes. I bought too much stuff from infomercials, but uh we are doing YouTube shorts now. We are on TikTok, so we're posting clips from our episodes on TikTok and immediately exiting TikTok. So if you're looking for us to hang out there, don't expect to be there. But all over the internet on X, on LinkedIn, on our Facebook page, on our Instagram page, the clips from the episodes are now video. Brian, how exciting is that?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

It's exciting because people have been recommending, or at least I know one person who's been recommending that we do this for since the inception of this podcast, right? Because we were we were constantly referencing things like we were seeing on our video, and then like, well, people were only listening to us, so there's no real context to it. So now you can see all the hats Corey wears. Currently he's wearing a Cubs hat.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah. And Brian's wearing a Cincinnati red shirt. And uh, because as we record this, it's the day after opening day, and our teams are at the bottom of the National League Central. So maybe by April 1st they'll have won a game, and at least maybe the Reds will score a run by then, but you're not gonna have me see me holding my breath. But uh we and then we also have our well, I have my little league opening day coming up too for my kids' teams. So a lot of excitement here in the spring, not just our show change cadence, but in our personal lives.

unknown 4:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

If you think Corey's good on the podcast, you should see him run a baseball field with uh a bunch of nine-year-olds running around. It's impressive, it really is. Yeah, and even even better, holding a parent meeting. But you were so good at holding parent meeting that I like was inspired. I'm like, this this needs to be a speech and just record it for people to just like yeah, it was a good coach speech.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

So that's all I'm trying to say. Thank you. Wow. I couldn't tell if people liked it or couldn't wait for me to shut up. So hearing that from you, a very biased listener and source really helps me bolster my uh post-game speech talking or post-practice speech talking.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah. And now you might hear some piano being played in the background, just uh heads up. We have some children that are getting enthused by the piano, and it just echoes throughout the house. So apologies in advance. I will uh make do if it becomes too loud. I might have to step away from it and let Corey just run the show, which he does anyway.

Why Diabetes Feels Easy To Ignore

SPEAKER_00 5:24

So uh at this point, you might think this is an April Fool's episode. Like we're just gonna talk about what we're gonna talk about and never actually talk about it. But let's let's dive in, okay, Brian. I think you you've you've gotten the updates, you know when to expect us. Check your feeds earlier, look with your eyes, not with your ears or both. But yeah, diabetes is no joke. And we're here because it affects so many people in the United States, in the world, if you're listening internationally. Uh, but I think a big problem is oftentimes when I say a lot of people treat it as a joke, we're we're not saying like, ha ha ha, diabetes. Uh, we're we're saying that we don't take it seriously. We underestimate it because a lot of times we'll hear this from our from at least in my clinic days, my numbers aren't that bad. Or I'll deal with this later. I have a lot going on in life, or at least it's not something worse. We kind of like you don't feel high blood sugar unless it's really high, Brian. There's no pain of a high high blood sugar until you're literally getting like neuropathy, at which point damage has been done.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yeah, someone just emailed me about this, actually, right? The the problem of there's lack of urgency in doing anything because maybe they you feel okay, or you don't really know how good you can feel until you actually feel that good, which was something I went through personally. I didn't have diabetes, but there was a point where I just didn't realize I felt like crap until I didn't feel like crap. And I was like, wow, this is how good you're supposed to feel. I didn't realize that. I remember that when I was a 10-year-old kid, and I actually had energy and mental clarity and all these great things that come along with having a better, like a healthier metabolism. Yeah, so it's it's an unseen, so you can kind of take it as a joke. People write it off, that's why they eventually lose limbs and lose organs and have all these complications because they don't take it seriously enough.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Yeah, so and the thing is it's insidious, it kind of accumulates over time. So even before you have a diagnosis of diabetes, high blood sugar can form what are called advanced glycation end products. Think of if you spill maple syrup on a counter, it's gonna make everything it touches sticky. And that's what happened, that's what's happening when you have high sugar in your body. It's sticking to your blood vessels, uh, in your eyes, your kidneys, and in your extremities. That's why you start ending up having these symptoms and complications. But it what happens is over time, like Brian said, the energy will slowly decline. The way your body can utilize energy efficiently is less less so. Uh the medications creep up. Brian and I are pharmacists, so we know this firsthand. It starts with uh, you know, maybe the first sign of metabolic dysfunction or high sugars is actually high blood pressure. So it starts with a high uh blood pressure medicine, and then maybe a cholesterol medicine, and then you're you have pre-diabetes, and then okay, your A1C is over seven, let's put you on metformin, and all of a sudden you go from zero pills to three, four, five, six pills, and it and it creeps up. And and the complications, they can creep up slowly, but but a lot of times I have seen heart attack being one of the first symptoms of diabetes. Uh, you go, I mean, heart attacks is a two serious thing. Oh, you have a heart attack, you get treated. Oh, by the way, your blood sugar is 350. Oh, okay, so all this was happening at the same time. So it's hard because humans were bad at, we're bad at thinking ahead. We're bad at the idea of saving for a future or worrying about the future. So these little nicks and cuts, metaphorically, accumulate over time, and then all of a sudden your your body just can't handle it anymore.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, we are creatures of immediate gratification. I would go over this all the time with people who were explaining to me how they were having a hard time putting into practice the things we were talking about, such as just exercising. And it's because we look at gratification now. We look at how hard is this gonna be versus the pain of my current situation. And oftentimes that pain of their current situation did not outweigh or out the pain of change outweighed the current the pain of their current situation. So we just like you have to almost do some journaling and do some kind of exercises, write down something that is gonna make you realize like, what is this costing me? And that's what we that's what we have people do, is like it's a mission statement. You you come up with a mission statement and you look at the pain of the cost of change, the cost of not changing, um, all these different things to help you weigh and finally uncover and realize like, what is your deeper why for wanting to put a diabetes or mission? Aka get off all the medications.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Yeah, I think it's when like to summarize that very well uh said thing you said was when the pain of your status quo uh outweighs the pain of the change you need to make. And I'm hearing this a lot from from the the people we work with is things are okay. My doctor says my A1C is good, I'm on a few medicines, you know, I I could work out, I don't, I could eat better, I don't, but they see someone in their life where they lose a limb, they lose functionality, the they get I hate to use the term scared straight because we're not here to scare you, but the realities of diabetes complications are legitimate. And Brian used to work in an emergency room, he saw them every day. I worked in an outpatient setting. I slowly saw the decline happening when when people were unable, or I'll I'll put the onus on people, unwilling to see the pain that is coming down the line and get off the track when the train's coming at them, so to speak. And so it and we want to have empathy because our modern food environment and food system is set up to overfeed us. We have a system that allows us to sit at home in front of a computer and work without ever having to give up, get up. We could order food in from outside the world and never have to leave our house. So, and humans, we we default towards comfort. If you get in a hot car, Brian, you don't know anything about that, but in Tucson, it's already been 100 degrees. You turn on the AC. Like we're not used to that discomfort of of anything. So, let alone the idea of totally rehauling your your diet and exercise habits.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Yeah, yeah, I I agree. We do get used to, we have a comfort crisis, and there's a great book on that. Uh, I think people should do what they can to make themselves uncomfortable. Uh, I did really enjoy the conversations I have I would have with people and still do now, where I get to really help them dig deep and uncover and help them realize that maybe their current situation is not as great as they think it is, so that that way then they get more motivation to change. Because this was it, this was the problem. They'd be like, I just I'm not motivated. I need more motivation. And I would tell you, hear it all the time.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Hear it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

I just don't have enough motivation, or I need more motivation. I wish I had more motivation. And I will tell you right now, motivation. Oh, I wish I could just actually remember off the top of my head uh what Jim Quick, how he I can always go back to him too, but what he defined as motivation is it's basically like a deeper reason and putting it motivation.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I'll tell you what, Brian, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna fill a buster here and talk while you Google this quote from Jim Quick because it seems like it seems like it's it means a lot to you. But the there's different motivations. There's intrinsic, Brian's laughing. This is why you need to get on the on the video feed because he's laughing at how seamlessly I staved his butt right there as he was floundering trying to find this very profound thing. But I mean, the the different motivations we have intrinsic and extrinsic. And I mean, the outside extrinsic, we have I have kids. Hey, make your bed and you'll get dessert. That's a terrible example on a podcast. But if do your chores, you'll get money. My kids still don't stick to it. But when my son wanted to do the talent show and get his Rubik's Cube under a certain amount of time while he roller skated, which was a thing he actually did, rollerbladed. If he ever listens to this, I'll he'll correct me. He really wanted to do it. So every day he practiced. Um, Brian mentioned his piano. Okay. I had a piano lesson as a kid. There was a piano in my house. My parents said I had to practice, but going to the teacher's house that smelled like mouthballs was miserable. And I didn't like it, and I didn't have an intrinsic reason to do it. No one gave me a someday you're gonna really love this, and maybe girls will like you more if you could play an instrument. No one gave me these reasons to have intrinsic motivation. So the best motivation comes from within. I mean, hopefully you get motivated listening to us because we empower you with tools to make the change, but ultimately that has to come from within. And Brian has given me a thumbs up as if he is ready to hop back. It was worth it. It was worth it.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

All right. So, and he would basically say, like, motivation is not a noun, it's a it's an action, it's a thing, and it's it's broken down into a formula. Jim Quick, he's big on formulas. Seriously recommend his book, A Limitless. It's a great book. But it's motivation is purpose. The why you need you, we talk about this all the time. You need a compelling reason to act, such as benefits gained or the consequences of an action, we just mentioned before, uh, because these these reasons lead to results. And then you need the energy, you need the fuel, because you need to you need to have some physiological energy to sustain over time uh to actually follow through, which if you're in the case having type 2 diabetes, your energy may be lacking, which is why if you break it down into small, simple steps. That's the third part of the equation is what are some of the small things you can do to as your energy, you can improve your energy through your nutrition, through your exercise and movement. And then that is also then gonna add to your ability to continue building towards your goal of remission. So that's it. Purpose, the why, energy, the fuel, and the small, simple steps, the action. That's the formula for motivation that we all quote unquote are lacking. We we need motivation.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

I love that. And it actually leads into the next point I was trying to make is I think overcoming the inertia of the status quo is hard with anything. Is as painful as your current situation might be, it can seem daunting to say, I'm on five medicines, I want to get off all of them. Like I can't even fathom getting up and going for a walk right now. How am I supposed to get off five medicines? And so our approach, and this is I think where Brian and I, I'm gonna toot our own horns a little bit. I think we really shine. It's because we're we are not out here expecting perfection from you listeners, from our clients. It's it's not to scare you. There's a lot of people out there giving information on on all kinds of conditions that are trying to scare you, like seven foods that are gonna kill you, eight foods that are, you know, whatever it's gonna be, right? We're not here to scare you. We're not here to tell you to be perfect. We're here to help you give you small practical steps. All right, it's not about being perfect, it's just a little bit closer to better every day, every moment, every decision. And those little wins stack up. And I think we're sold this idea that you need to have this silver bullet magic moment, rip the band-aid off, and now I'm gonna just be getting after it and everything's fixed. Listen, Brian and I, if you do that, great. We've seen enough people try that and fall on their face and get discouraged that the the simple, small steps every day are how you get to that end goal. Quick pause for a second. If you're finding the podcast helpful and you want more practical ideas to help move your blood sugar in the right direction, come follow us on Instagram at Diabetes Remission Partners. We share quick tips, food and exercise insights, and blood sugar mistakes people don't even realize they're making. It's also where we can answer your questions directly in the DMs. So if you want more help between episodes, Instagram at diabetes remission partners is the best place to find us. And when you follow us, make sure to say hi. All right, back to the show.

Diabetes In Culture Versus Reality

SPEAKER_01 16:50

And reminding yourself of your your reason and why you're doing this. Because those two together, you you put that formula together and it will be the motivation you're looking for. Now, can we tie this back into like how is diabetes a joke? Or are we just completely off track with this? Like, can you just help bring this full circle?

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Well, yeah, no, diabetes is no joke. Um, it's no joke. That's right. Diabetes is no joke, but we often treat it like it because we I think I mean the lead in there was just how we can talk about it, we don't feel it. Um listening to some of the some of our listeners and clients, how they've admittedly, and to no fault of their own, kick the can down the road, or even how how providers and doctors have talked about it. Like, oh, you just have a little touch of the sugars, or this or that. Um, like in popular media, the the only thing my mind goes to are those old Wilford Brentley diet diabetes. Diabetes, yeah. And like, and that's like kind of was kind of the joke of like, I got the diabetes. But the truth is this is a tragic thing that's slowly killing people from the inside, like literally rotting their insides. So we're not here to treat it like I'm I'm a comedian, I'm a trained comedian. You might not guess that based on the few times I might make you laugh, but you know, that's why I'm in Tucson, not on Saturday Night Live. Here we are. Um But I mean, the truth is we you can do this. And and we're here, you know, we're I'm not gonna dispense a ton of jokes today unless they're at Brian's expense, but I'm gonna try to dispense some hope because we see people change every day. Uh we see them making the small changes, we see the incremental improvements, and then a month, two, three months later, they look up and they're off a couple of medicines and they can go for longer walks and they have more strength and they have more competence, um, better energy. So, you know, diabetes isn't a joke, but and improving it, it doesn't have to be complicated. Um, I think the best jokes, the best routes to better health are are simple things that can be repeated over again.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

But speaking of jokes, I think laughter does help because it's one of the best medicines, right, Corey?

SPEAKER_00 18:44

It is one of the best medicines, unless you want to put your diabetes in remission, and then muscle is actually one of the best medicines.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

So laughter is maybe a close second. It's laughter is a very good medicine. I know. I'm just yeah. On a serious note though, like I don't think this is talked about enough as we always hear too. Like, I'm just so stressed, life is busy. Well, I need I just I need to de-stress. Well, the antidote to stress is not just like a lack of it, it's actually oxytocin. It's the connection hormone which you can get from I've literally told people like your your medicine is giving your spouse a hug or getting a hug or hugging people more, getting touch, getting that oxytocin, that tingling feeling, laughter, smiles, like that can go a long way when it comes to helping you. Because if you start to boost your mood, that's part of that format. Like you're gonna feel better and you're gonna want to do more to uh yeah, put yourself in a better place health-wise.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

It is funny, Brian. You bring that up because you and I were having kind of a downer week. We were low energy, had a lot going on in life that was kind of getting at us. Didn't we hopped on this Zoom before kind of chatting? Not at our best, folks. Uh you might don't let these smiles fool you. We weren't at our best before this, okay?

SPEAKER_01 20:02

You can reference that now since we're on video. The job.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah, there you just I'm just funneling people to YouTube, Brian. Just keep going there. Just boost the numbers, boost the algorithm, help people find us. Uh no, but we actually said, you know, we haven't really connected as much this week as we normally do. And I think that's that's affected our mood and and how we're doing. And so here we are having fun on this podcast, uh, dispensing information, dispensing some hope, dispensing some tools to help people. And that's I I think that's one of the things the service lights us up and gives us energy. So I love it. That being said, if you have any good like April Fool's pranks and jokes, please go do them. Uh, my son got into pranks. I think I referenced this on a previous episode. His idea of a prank was to squirt ketchup in the sink. Uh, and he used the primal kitchen ketchup, which is like eight dollars a bottle. With then that's no joke. If you're gonna if you're gonna do a ketchup related joke, uh use the high sugar stuff so it doesn't go in someone's body. Uh that would be a public service and hilarious, as long as it is not my sink that I have to clean out the ketchup. So, Brian, I we ended on a little light note there.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah, right?

Share Review And Final Reminders

SPEAKER_00 21:03

That was good. So thanks for listening. Uh as a reminder, look for these episodes Wednesday and then the first and last Friday of the month. Check out our various social channels to see us in video live. Uh, keep sending us your questions and your stories. The stories are amazing. It it really puts a lot of wind in our sails. And uh, you know, until next time, keep it simple and do what works.

Medical Disclaimer

SPEAKER_01 21:27

If this episode gave you clarity or hope, share it with one friend who's been stuck in the diabetes trap. That's how this mission grows. One person, one family, one story at a time. And if you haven't yet, leaving a quick review helps more people find the show and realize that they're not stuck with meds forever. It takes less than a minute, and it means the world to us. Thanks for being here, and thanks for being part of this movement toward freedom. Thanks for listening to the diabetes remission roadmap. The ideas discussed here are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute medical or nutritional advice. We are pharmacists, but we're not. Your personal healthcare providers. Always consult your own physician or qualified clinician before changing medications, exercise routines, or nutrition plans. Results vary and what works for one person may not work for another.