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Judd Resnick grew up with a father who ran at least five miles every day and lifted weights on top of that. In the family, his dad was the one everyone pointed to as the fit one.
So when his father was told he was pre-diabetic, years after he'd retired, it took Judd completely by surprise. He also had a question he couldn't put down: how does that happen to a man like that?
Looking back, Judd could see the story taking shape slowly. Once his father stopped working, big meals became normal and long motorcycle rides took the place of the daily runs. None of it looked dangerous at the time, which is what made the diagnosis feel so sudden.
Many families will recognise some part of that story. A busy working life has its own routine built in, and when the routine goes, habits drift without anyone deciding they should.
This wasn't the first time diabetes had come close to Judd. Years earlier, a friend of his named Ryan, who had diabetes, showed him how to give a glucagon shot in case of an emergency. Judd hoped he would never need it.
One day he did. Ryan had a severe low blood sugar attack, and Judd gave him the shot. Ryan spent several days in hospital before he recovered.
So when his father's news came, Judd already knew how serious this could be. He also began to think about his own risk, his wife's, and the children they hoped to have one day.
Judd makes documentaries for a living, so he did what came naturally and started filming. He says he expected to spend six months on it. Instead it took him three years, because every answer he found led to another question.
He travelled to interview the people who could explain what was going on. The cast includes an endocrinologist, Dr. Jim Mann; a diabetes psychologist, Dr. Susan Guzman; a nutritionist, Vandana Sheth; a chef who focuses on quick, easy, healthy meals, Ronnie Fisher; and many more specialists, along with ordinary people living with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes.
The finished work is called Diabetes Smarts, an eight-part documentary series running about eight hours in total.
The heart of the series is food and everyday life. It looks at why strict, joyless diets are so hard to keep up, and why people who try to cut out everything often end up hungry and back where they started.
Instead, it focuses on small, gradual changes that a real family can live with. There's a strong thread about food pairing, the idea that what you eat alongside a food changes how your body handles it. In one example, chia seeds stirred into a sweetened yoghurt change the ratio of fibre to sugar in the bowl and can slow how quickly the sugar is absorbed.
Living with a diagnosis, or worrying about one, can be stressful too, and alongside the doctors and nutritionists, Judd also interviewed a diabetes psychologist.
Alongside the eight episodes, the program includes:
It also comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you have two months to watch it and decide whether it's for you.
What I like about Judd's approach is that it starts from the same place most of us do. He isn't a doctor and he never pretends to be one. He's a son who was worried about his dad and wanted to understand what was going on, so he went and asked the people who know.
That makes the series easy to watch. You're learning alongside him, and the experts get the time to explain things properly, which a short appointment rarely allows.
If your own family has a story like this, or you're simply curious about how a man who ran five miles a day ended up with that diagnosis, it's worth an evening of your time.
This article is for general information. It isn't medical advice, and everyone's body is different, so results vary. If you take medication for your blood sugar, talk to your doctor before you change your diet or anything else.
Judd tells the story of his father, his friend Ryan and the three years of filming in a free presentation. It's the best way to see whether the series is right for you.