Food Psych Podcast with Christy Harrison

#336: Dispelling Diet-Culture Myths About Blood Sugar and Diabetes with Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones

Jun 26, 2025

Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones, both Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, discuss vital misconceptions around diabetes management. They highlight that weight loss isn't necessary for blood sugar control and explore the issues with the concept of diabetes 'remission.' The duo critiques the rise of GLP-1 drugs marketed for weight loss, and the trend of continuous glucose monitoring among non-diabetics, emphasizing a need for holistic and inclusive approaches to diabetes care.

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ANECDOTE

Jess's Journey to Intuitive Eating

Jess shared her transition from calorie-counting and diet culture to intuitive eating after taking Evelyn AAA's course.
She and Wendy co-founded Diabetes Digital to provide inclusive, weight-neutral diabetes care based on their decade of experience.

ANECDOTE

Wendy's Shift to Weight-Inclusivity

Wendy described her early dietetic practice focused on weight loss and her shift toward weight-inclusive care.
She realized traditional advice frustrated clients and prioritized ethical, culturally humble approaches in diabetes nutrition.

INSIGHT

Root Cause Language Fuels Shame

The "root cause" concept in diabetes can lead to self-blame and shame, overlooking genetics and systemic factors.
Supporting people without shame improves outcomes since guilt often triggers harmful restrictive eating and worsens blood sugar.

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Registered dietitians and diabetes educators Jessica Jones and Wendy Lopez join us to discuss why weight loss isn’t necessary for managing blood sugar, why the popular wellness-culture notion of diabetes “remission” or “reversal” can be harmful, how the popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs as diet drugs is affecting people who use them for diabetes, the continuous-glucose-monitor trend for monitoring blood sugar in people without diabetes, Jess’s experience navigating prediabetes and other health conditions, and more. This episode previously aired on our other podcast, Rethinking Wellness.

Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones are nationally recognized Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. With over a decade of clinical experience, they have helped thousands of individuals improve their relationship with food and achieve better health outcomes. Wendy and Jessica are the co-founders of Diabetes Digital, an innovative telehealth platform designed to empower individuals to manage and prevent diabetes through 1:1 virtual nutrition counseling. Through their previous work with Food Heaven, Wendy and Jess have made a lasting impact on nutrition and wellness, promoting healthier relationships with food and inclusive health education. The Food Heaven Podcast, boasting 5 million downloads, explores evidence-based nutrition, mental health, HAES, intuitive eating, and body respect.

Check out Christy’s three books, Anti-Diet, The Wellness Trap, and The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook for a deeper dive into the topics covered on the pod.

If you’re ready to break free from diet culture and make peace with food, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

For more critical thinking and compassionate skepticism about wellness and diet culture, check out Christy’s Rethinking Wellness podcast! You can also sign up to get it in your inbox every week at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.

Ask a question about diet and wellness culture, disordered-eating recovery, and the anti-diet approach for a chance to have it answered on Rethinking Wellness. You can also subscribe to the Food Psych Weekly newsletter to check out previous answers!

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