By Olivia Wolf
When then-24-year-old Joshua Vergara visited the doctor for eye pain, he was shocked to learn that his glucose levels were over 200 mg/dL, well above the 115 mg/dL upper limit of what’s considered healthy. Though Vergara had experienced fatigue during college and had a family history of diabetes, he was of a healthy weight, dabbled in Filipino martial arts, and maintained a paleo diet—managing type 2 diabetes was not supposed to be in his plan.
“During the initial diagnosis, I was living in a bit of denial. I thought I was doing all the right stuff,” says Vergara to AsAmNews. “I remember that growing up, my mother and grandmother would take out this contraption and get a little drop of blood from their fingers. I always wondered what that was
about. Well, now it was a reality for me.”
Both in the United States and the Philippines, Vergara had numerous relatives and friends who lived with diabetes.
Both genetic and lifestyle factors influence the development of type 2 diabetes. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Asian Americans are 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed compared to non-Hispanic White Americans, with Filipinos and South Asian Americans amongst the most likely.
Research also shows that Asian Americans develop type 2 diabetes at lower BMIs than other racial groups, making it less likely that those like Vergara will
catch it at an early stage.
Still young, Vergara’s goal was to manage his diabetes with only one medication, as opposed to the five plus that some of his relatives required. To achieve that, Vergara would have to make some major life changes.
“I was looking at my own diet as a Filipino American,” says Vergara, who began by cutting his carbohydrate intake. “At any family party, it’s either Filipino food with rice or Costco pizza.”
When Vergara told his parents that he was giving up rice, they were shocked.
“What are you going to eat then?” they asked.
“There are still plenty of dishes. I just won’t have rice with them,” he explained.
“But they go on the rice,” they insisted.
When Vergara began eating side salads instead, his family looked at him “like a crazy person.”
“It was a big adjustment for them,” says Vergara, who recognizes that his parents’ diets and lifestyles were shaped by their upbringings in the Philippines. “My influence has helped things along though. We eat far less rice than we used to,” he laughs.
As a food lover, which his YouTube series “Type 2 Foodie” is named after, Vergara still allows himself to indulge in carbs from time to time. Notably, he doesn’t beat himself up for it either.
“I’ll try egg toast in South Korea. I’ll try Xiao Long Bao in Hong Kong. I’ll try pasta in Italy,” says Vergara, who travels often for work. “There are gonna be times when I still allow myself to have these things. It’s just that now I have to know what it’s gonna do to me and what I can do to mitigate it.”
When traveling, Vergara often has less control over the food he eats, making his Dexcom G7 particularly handy. The small device, which Vergara is an ambassador for, is worn on the upper arm and delivers real-time glucose readings to a smartphone app. This reduces the necessity of fingersticks to when symptoms do not match Dexcom’s readings.
In Vergara’s experience, the device is on point about 90 percent of the time.
“It’s very helpful to see where that graph goes after certain meals and to know what to do after that, whether it’s to go for a walk or adjust the next meal so I’m not spiking after that,” says Vergara.
As a content creator with a focus on mobile tech, the advancement of healthcare technology in the last few years has been a game changer according to Vergara.
Even in 2014, when Vergara was diagnosed, fitness trackers were just starting to gain popularity. Being able to graph his glucose levels using Dexcom has allowed Vergara to glean insights and make lifestyle adjustments with more accuracy.
About a year ago, Vergara concluded that 8,000 steps was the minimum necessary to help control his glucose levels. Since his diagnosis, Vergara has reduced his hours playing video games and added a weightlifting bench to his room.
Last year, Vergara ran his first 5K. Since then, he’s run a few more. Though Vergara’s main focus is on diet management, he says the synergy between food and exercise is key.
The benefits of these lifestyle changes have been immense for Vergara, who suspects he was living with diabetes for a few years before his official diagnosis (he had missed his annual wellness exams during this time).
“It explains a lot of my college career. I felt like I was powering through class and social events without realizing that I was not optimal at any point. Now that I know what a proper glucose level feels like, it actually makes life a lot better because I have the energy to do work and be more sociable.”
Vergara has shared much of his journey living with type 2 diabetes on his YouTube and Instagram channels. His main motivation is to inspire people to make these lifestyle changes before they’re medically required to do so as he was. However, Vergara also recognizes that changing daily habits can be challenging and emphasizes the importance of giving oneself grace and recognizing progress.
“We do a really bad job of seeing how far we’ve come. All we see is how far we haven’t gone. And even if we mess up today, it doesn’t mean that we’ve lost all of that progress,” says Vergara. “We have to be a lot nicer to ourselves and remember it’s the process that’s changing us.”
Vergara believes that more awareness amongst Asian Americans about screening for diabetes (and at lower BMIs) is essential for the health of the community. “Just because people are thin doesn’t mean they don’t have this problem.”
And for those of us still struggling to hit the gym three to five days a week and cut out that Costco pizza? “That’s OK,” says Vergara. “Do what you can.”
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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