Hey Hobie,

After a lifelong sweet tooth Achilles heel (I was raised in the south by my grandmother and every meal had a dessert plus she spoiled me with other sweets) and a later Achilles heel fondness for bourbon (especially Tennessee Honey in more recent years), my diet and drinking sins came home to roost and I became diabetic myself.

Now, a few months after my diagnosis my blood A1C levels are at the very bottom of pre-diabetic and only 0.2 points from being non-diabetic. Hasn't been easy - almost no sugar (good-bye beloved cokes, candies, pies, cakes, muffins, BBQ sauce, baked beans, you name it, sugar is in EVERYTHING!), no bread (hello meat and cheese no-bun burgers), no potatoes . . . aaargh! Lots of healthy foods, including keto type fats, flaxseed, coconut oil, avocado, salmon, chicken thighs with skin on, butter, quinoa and on and on. And lots of key supplements such as berberine, bitter melon and many others.

Almost there now - and when I get there I will put an article together and share with everyone. I've healed lots of things naturally now: high blood pressure (I'm now 110/70), skin cancer, retinal bleeding/neuropathy (thanks diabetes!) . . . few more to go.

Getting old basically bites the big one, but it has made this "helpful hypocrite" walk the walk as well as talk the talk more and more as time goes by. Now, I did eat healthier than probably 75% of the people out there, but oh those sweets and oh my beloved bourbon! And no small amount of Bud Lights. Only on some weekends, but I made up for lost time and then some.

: )

My best,

Tony (aka DQ)