Understanding Diabetes: A Nutritionist’s Guide to Balancing Blood Sugar and Restoring Health
Hi my name is Danielle Reid, I am a Clinical Nutritionist with an honours degree in nutritional science. I am the owner and founder of Restore and Revive Wellness and my role is to educate and simplify nutrition so that people can understand its foundational role in health, and how it can be used to bring the body back to homeostasis (balance). I do that through talks like this and through 1:1 individualized nutrition consultations that use a root cause, functional medicine approach so that we can get to the bottom of an individual's symptoms and get them back on top of their game.
I came by this job organically - Up until the age of 35 when I saw my first nutritionist I battled bulimia, I had done every diet and diet pill under the sun in an attempt to be skinny, I really believed that health was about calories and will power. On top of which I have two children who are now a teen and tween, who were born very sick. It was going back to school to learn how the body works and how nutrition impacts it that healed both of my kids and helped me get on top of my own autoimmune conditions. That is why I am SO VERY passionate about re-educating around the power of nutrition, I don’t believe it has to be this complicated thing - but there is so much misinformation and confusion out there now that it has become that. Nothing this foundational for health should be so complicated. So that’s me and what I do.
The wonderful Stacey here has worked with me before and asked me to come here today to educate on how diabetes and nutrition interplay.
Type 1 Diabetes
So let’s talk about diabetes. Most people know there are two main types.
Type 1 is an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakes the beta cells in the pancreas for a threat and attacks them, disabling the body’s ability to make insulin.
Insulin production stops completely, so lifelong insulin replacement is required.
That doesn’t mean diet isn’t important — management of Type 1 diabetes involves regular blood sugar monitoring to keep levels within a healthy range. Without insulin replacement, this condition is life-threatening.
Insulin
I mentioned the word insulin a couple of times there, and that’s because insulin is one of the body’s key regulators of glucose. Insulin is a hormone that moves glucose — which is sugar — from the bloodstream into the cells.
Every time you eat sugar or carbohydrates, whether that’s from a processed snack, a piece of fruit, or whole-grain bread, glucose enters the bloodstream. When that happens, insulin is released in response to those rising glucose levels.
Think of insulin as a truck driver that’s carrying cargo (the sugar/glucose) to a destination (the cell)
When the truck arrives, the cargo is unpacked and used to make energy (ATP) that is used in the moment or is stored as glycogen that can be used when energy levels are low.
ATP is the body’s energy currency. It powers the work of the muscles, liver, and fat tissue. If the body has enough ATP the glucose is stored as glycogen for later use - like putting the cargo on a shelf for use later.
The brain also uses glucose — in fact, around 20% of your carbohydrate intake fuels brain function. That’s why when people cut carbs too drastically, they can experience brain fog, irritability, or low mood. However, the brain doesn’t need insulin to take in glucose. It uses special transporters called GLUT1 and GLUT3 to get energy through a different pathway.
Without effective insulin action, glucose builds up in the blood, leading to hyperglycemia — high blood sugar — and eventually to insulin resistance.
Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance means the body is still making insulin, but the cells have stopped responding to it effectively.
The truck driver is still knocking on the door, but the destination is full — there’s no more room for cargo to be unloaded or stored.
As a result, glucose continues to build up in the bloodstream, and the pancreas keeps sending out more insulin.
Over time, the cells become even more resistant, the pancreas becomes exhausted, and blood sugar remains high — which is when Type 2 diabetes can develop.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes develops when insulin resistance takes hold — meaning the body still produces insulin, but the cells stop responding to it effectively.
At first, the pancreas compensates by releasing more insulin to push glucose into the cells. Over time, this constant demand exhausts the beta cells of the pancreas, and insulin production starts to decline.
As a result, glucose remains in the bloodstream, and blood sugar levels rise chronically.
But this isn’t just a “sugar problem” — it’s a metabolic overload problem. So what that means is that
Muscle cells become saturated with energy and stop pulling in glucose efficiently.
Liver cells become overloaded with fat (hepatic steatosis) and begin releasing excess glucose even when it’s not needed.
Fat tissue becomes inflamed and releases chemical messengers (adipokines) that further block insulin signaling.
High insulin levels promote even more fat storage, especially around the abdomen, worsening the cycle.
Over time, this creates a communication breakdown between the pancreas, liver, muscle, and fat cells — the key organs that regulate metabolism.
While it’s often called a “lifestyle disease,” that label overlooks the full picture.
Yes, poor diet, chronic stress, and inactivity all contribute — but so do sleep quality, liver function, detoxification capacity, gut health, inflammation, and even toxin exposure.
In other words, Type 2 diabetes is not caused by one choice — it’s the cumulative effect of many small imbalances over time.
And the hopeful part is that every one of those imbalances is modifiable.
Epigenetics
Some people may be predisposed to Type 2 diabetes through their genetic makeup — but this is where epigenetics comes into play. Epigenetics refers to the “switches” that turn genes on or off depending on lifestyle and environmental influences.
To illustrate this, I often use myself as an example. I carry genes associated with autoimmunity, and so do my siblings. Yet out of the three of us, I’m the only one with two diagnosed autoimmune conditions.
That’s because certain circumstances or triggers were present in my life that caused those genes to be expressed — and that’s exactly what epigenetics describes.
There are many potential triggers that can switch a gene on — chronic stress, nutrient deficiencies, toxin exposure, infections, poor sleep, or inflammation — but that doesn’t mean we’re powerless.
Supporting the body through good nutrition, effective detoxification, and an anti-inflammatory lifestyle helps keep those switches in their optimal position and can reduce the likelihood of disease expression.
Medications
There are different medications available for the treatment of diabetes. If you have Type 1 diabetes you will be given insulin as it replaces what the beta cells in the pancreas cannot produce. It is delivered by injections or insulin pumps. Types vary by timing and duration and the goal is to keep blood glucose in target range throughout the day.
You might hear about a few different types of medications for Type 2 diabetes.
The first is Metformin — that’s the most common starting point. It works mainly by telling the liver to produce less glucose and by helping the body’s cells become more sensitive to insulin.
Then we have the GLP-1 receptor agonists — drugs like Ozempic or Trulicity. These work by slowing digestion, helping you feel fuller for longer, and reducing those post-meal spikes in blood sugar. What often gets missed, though, is that your body already makes its own GLP-1 naturally. When you’re well-nourished and the gut is healthy, you can increase your own GLP-1 production through food — particularly through nutrients and fibres that support your gut microbes.
Next are the SGLT2 inhibitors. These work on the kidneys — they block the reabsorption of glucose, so instead of pulling it back into the blood, the kidneys excrete it in urine. But again, if there wasn’t so much glucose circulating in the first place, the kidneys wouldn’t need that help.
And finally, DPP-4 inhibitors. These extend the action of your body’s natural GLP-1. Normally, an enzyme called DPP-4 breaks GLP-1 down quite quickly. These medications inhibit that enzyme, so your own GLP-1 stays active a bit longer, helping improve insulin release after meals.
So all of these medications are really designed to manage glucose levels, but the root cause is still about how much glucose the body has to deal with in the first place. That’s where nutrition and lifestyle can make the biggest difference.
Client Story
To bring all of this together, I want to tell you about one of my clients.
He has Type 2 diabetes, but on the outside, you’d never know it.
He’s active, goes to the gym four or five days a week, and doesn’t look overweight.
In his case, there’s likely a genetic predisposition at play. From a young age, his blood work showed elevated triglycerides — fats circulating in the blood — which suggested that his body struggled to detoxify fats efficiently.
As someone of South Asian descent, this is actually quite common, because certain genetic variants can affect how fats are metabolized.
At some point, he had his gallbladder removed, but was never told why. The gallbladder’s job is to store and release bile, which helps break down fat, so losing it made fat metabolism even harder.
Over time, this led to fatty liver disease — essentially the liver becoming overloaded with fat and toxins. When that happens, insulin signaling between the liver and pancreas starts to break down, creating insulin resistance.
Here’s where it connects back to diabetes:
Elevated triglycerides worsen insulin resistance, creating a metabolic loop.
His doctor prescribed Metformin to help reduce glucose output from the liver, but his blood sugar spikes weren’t just from medication gaps — they reflected nutrient timing and macronutrient imbalance.
So why does this matter?
Because it shows how the liver and pancreas are deeply connected.
When the liver is overloaded, insulin signaling becomes impaired. High triglycerides reflect poor fat clearance, which drives insulin resistance even further.
It’s basically a glucose traffic jam — insulin is the truck driver trying to deliver glucose to the cells, but the roads are blocked. The cargo piles up in the bloodstream. This leads to inflammation, oxidative stress, and ongoing liver congestion, which all sustain the cycle.
In the end, the cells are starved of energy despite high blood sugar levels.
It’s not just a sugar problem — it’s a communication problem between organs.
What Can You Do?
So what can you do if you have diabetes?
I would never, ever tell anyone to come off a prescribed medication, so I want to be clear that nutrition should be used as support and as a way to reduce symptoms. If you are on a prescribed medication, do not come off it — it is essential.
What I want to do here is explain how you can support your body to regain balance — starting with balancing blood sugar levels every single day.
That means eating regular meals and snacks with proper meal timing. What does that look like?
It means eating within 90 minutes of waking, then having snacks throughout the day — so breakfast, three hours later a snack, then lunch, three hours later another snack, and then dinner.
This stops the constant rollercoaster of energy levels. When you eat, blood sugar rises and insulin is released — but we can slow that down with protein and fibre. Having balanced meals and snacks is essential for this.
Every meal should include protein, complex carbohydrates, and fibre to stabilize blood sugar. This might look like: chicken, turkey, steak, or ground beef paired with sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, or other root vegetables making up about a quarter of your plate, and half a plate of non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, spinach — the list goes on!
Supporting liver health is also key.
The liver works tirelessly to keep you free of toxins and is likely overloaded most of the time. We hear about “liver detoxes” all the time, but what that really means is supporting it with good-quality proteins and cruciferous and sulfur-based vegetables.
Cruciferous vegetables include cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. Sulfur vegetables include onion and garlic.
All of these upregulate something called glutathione — the body’s major antioxidant — and we actually make it from those nutrients. The body is so incredibly clever and can do amazing things when it’s just given the right fuel!
Reducing inflammation is also key. Foods that support this include omega-3–rich and antioxidant-rich whole foods. Again, we come back to fruits and vegetables for antioxidants, and to fish or grass-fed beef for omega-3s. Adding turmeric with black pepper to meals has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect as well.
Movement is crucial. Even light movement such as walking or yoga improves insulin sensitivity - and of course, it boosts mood and helps improve food choices.
Managing stress - easier said than done, right? Stress triggers that “fight or flight” response, which actually slows digestion because the body’s energy is being redirected to your arms, legs, and respiratory system to prepare for action. That means nutrients don’t work as effectively.
And since everyone is stressed these days, having tools to manage it really matters — things like movement, breathing techniques, relaxation, or meditation.
Sleep is another major factor. Prioritize it. Poor sleep increases insulin resistance, while good sleep supports insulin sensitivity.
So, how do you improve sleep?
Switch off screens and phones at least an hour before bed — blue light, Wi-Fi, and 5G may impact melatonin regulation, the body’s main sleep hormone.
Even if your phone is on “Do Not Disturb,” it still emits signals that can affect sleep, so try to keep it away from your head at night.
Create a wind-down routine that tells your body it’s time for rest.
And in the morning, get sunlight exposure — that’s how your body knows it’s daytime and it helps regulate your circadian rhythm for a better night’s sleep.
If you’re like me and you’re up before the sun in the winter months, use a LUX light to mimic sunlight in the mornings — it really helps regulate your rhythm.
Finally, address any gut health imbalances.
Your microbiome plays a huge role in glucose regulation and overall health. Gut imbalances don’t always show up as bloating or digestive discomfort — sometimes they show up as fatigue, inflammation, or even mood changes.
If there’s an imbalance, it can affect every system in your body. Sometimes that means doing a deeper dive into gut health to understand what’s really going on, which is what we do in clinic through an individualized protocol.
Now, do we have any questions? Your health journey is important, and you don’t have to navigate it alone. Reach out anytime—I’m always happy to answer questions and offer individualized support.
