If you live with diabetes, whether type 1, type 2, or pre-diabetes, or are simply looking for more information about diabetes management, you should work closely with a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE). Registered dietitians and CDEs provide professional support, specialized knowledge, and compassionate guidance to help you confidently manage your diabetes and live your healthiest life.

As an RD and CDE, I’m passionate about supporting individuals on their diabetes journey, and I look forward to sharing how we can work together to achieve your health goals.

In this blog, we’ll explore the invaluable roles these experts play and how they can empower you to take charge of your health.

What is a Registered Dietitian or RD?

Registered Dietitians are regulated healthcare professionals who understand the many complex roles that food plays in the human body. The goal of an RD is to meet you where you are currently at with your nutrition and work collaboratively with you to achieve your goals, using nutrition science and the most up-to-date nutrition research. For instance, what you eat and drink can directly impact your blood sugars, and therefore, prevention and management of diabetes begins with nutrition counselling. To put it into perspective, research has shown that nutrition counselling can improve blood sugar control and reduce glycated hemoglobin (A1C) by up to 2% (1).

What is a Certified Diabetes Educator or CDE?

Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE) are another type of healthcare professional (like Registered Dietitians, Registered Nurses, or Pharmacists) who have chosen to specialize specifically in diabetes management. To become a CDE, one must pass the Canadian Diabetes Educator Certification Board (CDECB) examination and maintain their CDE® designation on an ongoing basis (2). Certified Diabetes Educators look to provide the best possible care to clients of all ages and with all different types of diabetes.

How can an RD or CDE help me?

One of the most impactful and empowering steps that you can take to manage your diabetes starts with making changes to your eating and drinking habits. Registered Dietitians and CDEs should be your first contact when it comes to helping you balance your meals and snacks throughout the day to better manage your blood sugars. They can also take it many steps further and help you understand things like:

• The importance of getting enough fibre
• The roles and interactions of different medications
• The benefits and practice of self-monitoring blood sugars
• The role that physical activity plays in nutrition
• The role that sleep hygiene plays in nutrition
• How stress, anxiety, and depression can affect blood sugars
• Insulin to carbohydrate ratios and correction factors (if you are on bolus and basal insulin)
• Other complications associated with diabetes

and much, much, more!

Working with an RD and CDE can help empower you to make changes to better manage your blood sugars and reach your health goals. Guidelines from Diabetes Canada recommend that all people living with diabetes work with an RD or CDE, or both (1). Collaborating with an RD and/or CDE like me can help you make sustainable lifestyle changes and promote your overall health.

For more information on managing your diabetes, visit https://www.revivewellness.ca/services-pricing/chronic-disease-management/diabetes/ or book a discovery call with me today!

References

1. John L. Sievenpiper MD, PhD, FRCPC, Catherine B. Chan PhD, Paula D. Dworatzek PhD, RD, Catherine Freeze MEd, RD, CDE, Sandra L. Williams MEd, RD, CDE. Diabetes Canada 2018 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada: Chapter 11 Nutrition Therapy. Can J Diabetes 42 (2018) S64–S79.
2. How Can a CDE® Help Me? (n.d.). CDECB. Retrieved July 29, 2024, from https://www.cdecb.ca/how-can-a-cde-help-me/

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