Lifestyle Adjustments vs. Medication
Chris Faddis, President of Solidarity HealthShare, sat down with Bob Sansavere to talk about diabetes and the benefits of lifestyle adjustments vs. medication to better support wellness and weight management. Experts say that if everybody who had obesity in this country lost 20% of their body weight, we would be taking patients off all of these medications for reflux, for diabetes, and for hypertension. Listen to the interview here:
Read more about it in Chris and Bob’s conversation below:
Bob Sansevere:
We are joined by Christopher Faddis, Co-Founder and President of the nonprofit Healthcare Sharing Ministry, Solidarity HealthShare, which is an ethical, affordable alternative to traditional health insurance and is faithful to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.
There is a powerful new obesity drug out there and it could upend the lucrative weight loss market that, by the way, according to the Associated Press, the drug is tirzepatide with the brand name Mounjaro. It’s by Eli Lilly, and it’s approved to treat type two diabetes and has helped overweight people with diabetes lose up to 16% of their body weight, or more than 34 pounds over 17 months.
Now, Chris, it so happens that a couple of weeks ago I went, I had a foot issue ’cause I had something slam on my foot and my doctor, the doctor I went to, not my regular doctor, he said, ‘well, when was the last time you had blood work? Doesn’t look like you’ve had it in a while.’ So they did. And it turns out my blood glucose level was high. He said, ‘I’m sure you have diabetes’. And my doctor, who was out of town that Friday, he got in touch with me or his nurse that it sounded like, I think he was a little jealous that I went to somebody else. But you weren’t working, you weren’t around. So I did go to him.
He redid blood work and he, but he did, you know, he certainly took the diagnosis seriously about diabetes. He said, ‘wow, you know, there are some drugs where you can lose weight’. I said, ‘oh great, I’d love to lose some weight’. And he said, ‘yeah, the problem is though, they’re hard to get because a lot of people he used like Hollywood in, in, in California and LA — people without diabetes — are gobbling them up ’cause they have doctors that will write the prescriptions’.
And I, I have not attempted to get Mounjaro or I think Ozempic another one or any of these, but I mean I’ve actually, in the last two weeks or so, I’ve lost 12 to 13 lbs just on my own. So I mean, yeah, I’d love to have it melt away quicker. But I’m just wondering two things. One, obesity is an issue — have you heard anything about the availability of these drugs being somewhat stymied by people that just want to lose weight and are not diabetics?
Chris Faddis:
Yeah, I mean that’s actually been something that’s been a real issue over the last several months. Yeah. I’ve seen it, I think it’s probably been going on for longer, but people are essentially, you know, selling these as sort of the next kind of fad weight loss opportunity. Which again, there’s certainly effects and benefits there, but it is making it harder for people to get access to it. And of course it’s keeping the prices high.
The manufacturers of Mounjaro know what they have and they can, you know, they can just drive the price up of course. And there, of course, are more cost effective medications for diabetes as well. What you’re doing, you know, diet and exercise is certainly one of the number one ways to do it. You can reverse diabetes with diet and exercise and so, you know, obviously we all kind of want the quick fix, especially ’cause it’s scary and those things. Right.
Bob Sansevere:
Well, you know what I mean, for me personally, what’s weird about it is my, well first of all, the doctor, the first one who said, ‘well, we’ll do blood work’. They didn’t tell me I was gonna have blood work. I’d had like this giant sea salt caramel drink two and a half hours before. And I was wondering if that made a spike. Well, exactly a week later my own doctor did it. And I was told then too, ‘oh, you don’t need to to too fast’.
So six or seven hours before, my glucose level dropped about a hundred points and I think it was related to, you know, heavy doses of sugar in my system. But I mean, I just, what I basically have done is cut out bread and I used to love having a bagel of, you know, with a sandwich basically every morning or lunch. And the bagels aren’t great for you, which I’ve learned. Right. Just watching my diet. I mean, it’s also great ‘cause I have found things I never would’ve thought of eating before that are more healthy for me. So, you know, so it’s hard.
Chris Faddis:
There’s several ways people, you know, we’ve seen a lot of effect in several various ways with diet is, you know, in addition to cutting carbs and sugars is also things like intermittent fasting. A lot of people benefit greatly from an intermittent fasting diet, which I, you know, I think there’s some indication that maybe it’s not the best for some women, but you know, for most men it works well. And the intermittent fasting is the idea where, you know, you fast a little longer in the morning. You can, you can do different versions of it, you know, 12 hours, 14 hours, 16 hours. Personally, I do, I stop eating at 8:00 PM and I don’t eat again until noon. And if one night we’re out late for dinner or something, I’ll just go till 2:00 PM.
And, and that also helps to regulate blood sugar in various ways. The other thing is, you know, one of our docs that we work with actually recommends a lot fiber for folks really, whether it’s cilium husk or whatever, taking fiber, increasing your fiber regularly and, you know, certainly talk to your doctor or your nutritionist to figure out the right levels for you.
But that is another way the proper fiber will actually help with reducing blood sugar. And that was something that I was, I learned from a doctor a couple years ago when I started to get my, you know, my scores started to go up a bit. So, you know, there’s lots of ways to do it. Obviously, one of the studies on this medication, right Bob, is that, it’s like 15% of people are successful in losing, or a third of people are, are successful in losing weight with diet and exercise. But with the medication it’s like 86%, right? Because the problem is for most of us, diet and exercise, the problem with diet and exercise is not doing it right.
So no, we try it, we fail and then we don’t lose weight. So the medication is kind of, you know, more of a guarantee, but there are side effects. It is very costly. So finding these other ways and working with a doctor who can help you optimize your nutrition is really gonna be better for you in the long run.
Bob Sansevere:
Well, you know, for me personally, it comes at a good time of the year because the weather’s getting nicer. I mean, I’ve been working now cause we have horses. I’ve been working with some horses to, you know, to get them finished driving and it, I mean it’s, it’s activity. It’s not like I’m not going into the gym and pushing weights around and I’m not running.
But there’s a lot of exercise in working a horse and so my point is, for me it’s easier for some people. Just go for a walk would be good, right? And you know, this, these pills were made for people with type two diabetes, but is there a pill? I keep seeing these things showing up on social media about some gummy that was on Shark Tank. But the problem is these Shark Tank people never have endorsed it. And the people are kind of misleading and making it sound like they bought into it and they endorsed it.
But, you know, I’m just curious. Mounjaro is not being sold as weight loss. It’s being sold for type two diabetes till people lose weight. ‘Cause that’s important. Is there anything that people can take? There is no gummy, that’s a magic cure all for obesity, right?
Chris Faddis:
No. In fact, those gummies, you know, I’ve seen those two and I’ve read a lot of stuff on it. You know, it’s essentially a scam trying to use Shark Tank. I think some of the ones I’ve seen there actually have never even appeared on Shark Tank. And they try to make the claims and so, you know, there aren’t gummy vitamins out there that work. What’s interesting Bob, is, you know, like I said, we talked about cutting carbs, but then there’s folks who say that adding fiber is actually helpful and then you can go various ways. I think what’s really important is finding someone to guide you in the right direction and finding what’s gonna work for you.
Chris Faddis:
I think that’s what we’ve really seen. One of the reasons why our wellness program for people with obesity and diabetes works is because they work to find what’s going to work for that person. You know, for me, certain diets or certain things aren’t going to be effective or meet my lifestyle. Right? And same for you. So we’ve got to find things, for instance, if you’re working horses in the morning and doing a ton of extra stuff, intermittent fasting may not be the right thing for you ‘cause you would really want your workout, your exercise to be while you’re in your eating phase, not when you’re in your fasting phase.
Bob Sansevere:
Actually Chris, I have done intermittent fasting and I was maintaining a weight. I mean I lost weight and I stayed there. But see the problem is I abused it because my wife at first told me you could eat anything. So I was eating milk, having milkshakes and you know, ice cream and whatever I wanted things I hadn’t been having before and I wasn’t losing weight, but I wasn’t gaining weight and I was doing the 16, 8, 16 hours off eight hours where you can eat.
But I think I’ve adjusted it a little bit to more like 12 to 14 hours. But I’m losing ‘cause I’m again watching what I eat. I think it’s a combination of all of them. Now I’ve got to find the right fiber to eat and I’ll get all three of them cooking and I’ll be down like 40 pounds before, you know?
Chris Faddis:
Do it all for sure. You know, and I think, again, this idea certainly there are times when we want to use medication for things. But you know, we always encourage people that there’s lots of great drugs for diabetes. If your diabetes is out of control, of course you need to use those. But if you can get to a point where you are able to manage with diet and exercise, and your doctor says to, I’m not telling you not to do anything.
You know, if your doctor says, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job’ – and I’ve seen this in my own family with family members who have said, ‘Hey, my doctor told me I don’t have to take Metformin anymore’ – you know, whatever. That’s an important thing to be able to get yourself to a point where you can maintain, you know, healthy weight, healthy blood sugars on your own. Obviously better for you in the long run.
Bob Sansevere:
Well, I’m not worried about it cause I know that everything, again, a hundred lbs in a week just from changing my diet a little bit. Yeah. And you know, I’ve been on a good path with that and that’s the recommendation I’d make to listeners is just watch what you’re eating. My doctor said, ‘well you can have anything you want. Just have it in moderation’. Well, I haven’t had a bagel, I haven’t had a milkshake, and I’m not going to because there are other things that I have replaced it with and I, you know, it’s something simple. There’s a place out in the Midwest called Culvers. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it.
Chris Faddis:
Yeah, we have Culvers here.
Bob Sansevere:
You do? Okay. Oh yeah.
Chris Faddis:
Love Culvers.
Bob Sansevere:
Love their, uh, you know, their, their custard. But I never could find a meal. My kids love it, but I never found anything that I would look forward to eating other than the custard. I went with my son yesterday ‘cause he just got back from college and I said, you know, ‘let me try this’. I noticed they had steamed broccoli and you could buy a cup of hot melted cheese. I poured that on. I went back for seconds. I loved it. I mean, the steamed broccoli with the melted cheese was phenomenal. Next time I go in I’m getting a triple order and a couple or three cups of cheese mixing ’em up my own.
Chris Faddis:
That sounds awesome. You know what I love there is that’s one of the places we’ll do fish and chips on Fridays during lent.
Bob Sansevere:
Oh, is the fish good there? Cause I’ve never had it.
Chris Faddis:
Fish and chips. Yeah, it’s, it’s a good quality. It’s like, you know, your Midwestern fish fry, right? It’s very good.
Bob Sansevere:
Well, it’s something to look into. Chris, the time flies when we chat. Thank you so much. Check out Solidarity HealthShare at solidarityhealthshare.org. Great alternative to traditional healthcare. And Chris is a Founder and he’s President and I mean, my family’s been members for years and I really recommend you look into it. It’s certainly worth it to at least look into, make a phone call, talk to some people and I think you’ll be sold on it. We’re going to take a quick break and the BS show will be right back.