What it’s like to live with Type 1 diabetes
Plus: A food safety tip ahead of summer BBQs + What’s “remote patient monitoring”
Welcome to Doing Well. Today:
An interview on managing Type 1 diabetes
A course on biometric data
Health news we’ve found useful this week
Word(s) of the week: “remote patient monitoring”
BBQ this weekend? Here’s a tip to keep food poisoning off your guest list
Happy Tuesday. Let’s get started!
We Asked: What should we know about living with Type 1 diabetes?
Around 2 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which your body destroys the cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. Insulin is a critical hormone that our bodies use to lower the blood glucose (sugar) in our body. Without insulin, the body can’t get the energy it needs from glucose, and unused glucose builds up in the blood—which can be life-threatening.
Type 1 diabetes is a very personal illness with no known cause or cure; from the moment of diagnosis, it requires constant surveillance and treatment. Living with Type 1 diabetes means you have to function as your own DIY pancreas, using medicine and monitors to constantly manage blood glucose. I’ve lived with Type 1 since I was 12 years old, and I often encounter misconceptions about what living with this disease actually looks like.
I spoke with Lauren Bongiorno, a health coach who has lived with Type 1 diabetes since she was 7 years old, about what everyone should know about Type 1 diabetes. Lauren is the founder of Risely Health, a coaching company that helps people manage their experience with Type 1 diabetes. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Some terms mentioned in this interview may be new to you. Here’s a guide for reference:
A1C is the percent of glucose in a sample of blood, averaged over three months before the sample was taken. For people with Type 1 diabetes, this is a test that measures how stable blood glucose levels are. It is typically recommended that adults with Type 1 have an A1C below 7%.
An endocrinologist is a doctor who specializes in hormone-related conditions. Endocrinologists often treat Type 1 diabetes.
Short on time? Here are our top takeaways from this interview
Lots of different factors affect blood sugar: not just food, but also sleep, exercise, the time of day, stress, the environment, menstruation, illness, and many others.
People with Type 1 diabetes have to juggle all these different factors to manage their blood sugar. This can be draining, leading to stress and mental burnout.
Helping people with Type 1 diabetes achieve the quality of life they deserve requires in-depth care that our health care system isn’t always set-up to provide.
If you have Type 1, rather than feeling shame or frustration around blood sugar changes, see if you can take an approach of curiosity: This pattern keeps happening. What can I try to change this tomorrow?
This curiosity-driven approach can also help you develop a more proactive and collaborative relationship with your health care provider—and it’s a strategy that can be applied to lots of other health conditions as well.
Mel Moore: For readers who may not know, can you explain what daily life with Type 1 diabetes looks like?
Lauren Bongiorno: Most people think that diabetes is simply: You give yourself an insulin shot or eat low-carb, watch what you eat. But the truth is that there are [many] different factors that impact your blood sugars at any given time. From the time of day to the weather outside to how many hours you got of sleep the night before and the quality of sleep—and not just what you're eating, but the balance of carbs and fat and protein and fiber on your plate.
So daily management, what that looks like is trying the best you can to figure out your body's patterns with these different factors and knowing that every single day is different. The biggest challenge for people with Type 1 diabetes is mental burnout. From the outside, somebody might look completely fine and you might not know it—but they're doing mental math in their head literally 24/7 to keep themselves alive.
MM: What are the challenges associated with navigating that mental burnout?
LB: The bottom line is that Type 1 diabetes is not a math problem to be solved. It's an experience to be managed. What we see [at Risely] is that most people with Type 1 diabetes are either feeling completely lost or stuck in a cycle of frustration. They're like, I've had it for a while. I should know better. Why can't I create change? And that is for numerous reasons. One being that the health care system is not set up to support us. You see your doctor for 20 to 25 minutes. In order to see outcomes for people with Type 1 diabetes and to work through those cycles of frustration, it takes depth.
Really what motivated me to create [Risely] was realizing that there are tons of endocrinologists and certified diabetes educators, nurses, dietitians, therapists out there that can and do help people with diabetes. But still, 80% of [people with Type 1 diabetes] don't have an A1C below 7[%]. And most people are struggling if you ask them.
MM: What factors contribute to that experience of struggling?
LB: I think really it's the shame that people feel in asking for help. They feel like, I have to be the only one struggling with this. And so it makes people feel shame: It's my body that must be broken—when that's not really the case. It's just they're not supported 99% of the time in the right way. They feel like it's their fault and that they're the only ones who are having this trouble, when really this is a global and community issue.
MM: Patients are experts in what they feel and experience in their own bodies. But sometimes patients have trouble ensuring their providers understand their experience and tailor their treatment plan accordingly. How does that affect Type 1 diabetes care?
LB: Endocrinologists and many doctors, it's not their fault—they generally want to help, but they do not have enough time or resources to do that. Type 1 diabetes is so personalized, and the health care system just does not have the time to go deep. It only has the capability to go wide.
The other problem is that they're focused on keeping people out of the red. What I mean by that is they're trying to keep people out of the hospital, and they're trying to keep people away from passing out and having seizures from low blood sugar. Their red flags aren't [generally] being thrown up at the appointment if you have a 7.8% A1C or a 7.5% A1C, where a lot of people do sit—but that doesn't necessarily feel good in our bodies. So I think a lot of changes are on the surface and don't ask the deeper questions of why.
MM: The focus is often on the symptoms of the issue rather than the context.
LB: On paper and medically, this type of diabetes is an autoimmune diagnosis. However, it needs to [also] be treated like a psychological diagnosis. Oftentimes it's just treated as, Okay, you're autoimmune and we just got to get your insulin rates right or get you on this pump, here's the treatment protocol. The protocol is going to ebb and flow throughout somebody's lifetime. So it very much is deeper than what the medical system teaches in order to support Type 1s.
MM: What tips do you have for how to feel better in your body while living with Type 1?
LB: I would say get curious, not judgmental. Get curious when you see a number that's high or you see a number that's low and not in range. Instead of automatically bringing out the metaphorical hammer and being like, Why did you do that?, look at the whole day, get curious and say, Oh, this is so fascinating. This pattern keeps happening. What can I do to change this tomorrow? I think that's how you start to move from a reactive state with your management to a proactive state.
If you are dealing with a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, please know that you do not have to have it all figured out yet. Proactive action in your treatment takes time, and it takes complex learned knowledge of how your own body works—which will change throughout the course of your life. It is important to understand that you will be able to live a fulfilling life, and that Type 1 does not have to stop you, but you are allowed to grieve for the life and body you had before. Acceptance isn’t always a linear journey.
If you are a friend or family member of someone who has been newly diagnosed, the best way you can support them is to provide compassion, not solutions.
P.S. I also recommend using a Continuous Glucose Monitor as soon as possible—my life became much easier when I did.
- Mel Moore
Well-Informed: Related stories from the ASU Media Enterprise archives
Who owns your personal health data? This is an especially important question for people with Type 1 diabetes. In this essay from Zocalo Public Square, Shane O'Donnell describes how community efforts to give patients more control over their personal health data have improved care.
Plus: T-cells help our bodies fight against invaders and disease. But sometimes, these cells mistakenly attack healthy parts of the body, leading to autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes. Researchers at the University of Arizona tested whether they could create T-cells outside the body that could find and attack their misbehaving cousins, potentially providing a treatment for autoimmune conditions. Learn more in this interview on Arizona Horizon from Arizona PBS.
Well-Versed: Learning resources to go deeper
Our bodies are constantly sending out messages. But how can we decipher what they mean? This course on Human Systems and Biological Signals will help you understand how to measure and interpret the body’s vital signals.
Well-Read: News we’ve found useful this week
“Health Insurers Move to Streamline Prior Authorization Process, Promising Quicker Care,” by Mary Cunningham, June 23, 2025, CBS
“Is an Apple a Day Really Good for Your Health?” by Jessica Bradley, June 23, 2025, BBC
“Deadly ‘Pharaoh’s Curse Fungus’ Could Be Used to Fight Cancer,” by Laura Baisas, June 23, 2025, Popular Science
Well-Defined: Word of the week
Remote patient monitoring uses digital devices to monitor the health of a patient outside of their medical visits, or to assist in medical decisions with telehealth. This approach can be used for both acute and chronic conditions. Some examples of remote monitoring devices include a blood pressure cuff, a blood glucose meter, a continuous glucose monitor, a pulse oximeter, an ECG and stethoscope, an activity tracker, a spirometer, a fetal monitor, and a thermometer.
With remote patient monitoring, a health care provider receives real-time data, allowing them to analyze a patient’s symptoms and adjust the care plan with the patient outside of a hospital or clinic setting. These monitoring devices also encourage patients to be more proactive and engaged in their own health.
Well-Advised: One thing that’s improving our health
Summer BBQs and potlucks are in full swing. How can you make sure you leave summer gatherings with a full stomach and good memories—but not with food sickness?
We asked Dr. Kristen Pogreba-Brown, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Arizona and an expert on foodborne infections, for her tips on food safety. Here’s what she said:
Be aware of your own habits in the kitchen! Everyone wants to blame a restaurant they ate at or some food they bought at the store, and while those things can absolutely lead to foodborne infections, you are limited in what you can actually do for those situations. The same isn’t true in your own kitchen.
First, your kitchen sink is gross, even if you clean it regularly. Assume if something falls in it, it needs to be washed! Next, wash your fruits and vegetables! Even if there is no deadly bacteria on them, who knows who touched them before you.
Assume ALL raw meat that comes into your house is contaminated with some level of pathogens and treat it as such. ANYTHING (counters, knives, cutting boards, plates used to transfer meat to the BBQ, etc.) that touches raw meat should be washed (in a dishwasher or with soap and hot water; rinsing isn’t going to cut it). For instance, if you are browning raw meat, once it’s cooked, put that spatula in the dishwasher and get a new one—are you really sure there’s no raw meat residue on there?
Building habits where you are always thinking about the possibility of cross-contamination is going to reduce your risk of making your family or yourself sick.
Do you have a question or topic you’d like us to tackle? Would you like to share your experience? Reach out at any time—we’d love to hear from you.