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What a Spoonful of Chia Seeds Taught Me About Breakfast

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I used to think a pot of fruit yoghurt was about as healthy as breakfast gets. It's quick, it's cold, it feels light, and the label on the front usually has a picture of a strawberry on it.

Then I watched a documentary series about type 2 diabetes and learned that what you eat with a pot of yoghurt matters as much as the yoghurt itself.

The bowl that changed my mind

The example that stuck with me is simple. Take an ordinary sweetened yoghurt and stir in a spoonful of chia seeds. That one spoonful changes the ratio of fibre to sugar in the bowl. With more fibre in the mix, the sugar in the yoghurt can be absorbed more slowly, so it's gentler on your blood sugar than the same yoghurt eaten on its own.

It's a small thing, and that's exactly why it stayed with me. Nobody is asking you to give up yoghurt or eat something you don't like. You add one ingredient and change the way the whole bowl behaves in the body.

What food pairing means for your plate

The idea behind it has a name, food pairing. It means thinking about the food on your plate as a team instead of a list of separate items. Fibre, protein and healthy fats can change how quickly the sugar from other foods reaches your bloodstream.

Once you start seeing meals this way, you notice chances everywhere, and you start asking what goes on top of your toast or what you could serve with tonight's pasta. The food you love can often stay, and the job is learning which partners help it along.

The program goes into this in detail, including food combinations to avoid, because some pairings work against you.

Why a filmmaker made a series about diabetes

The documentary is called Diabetes Smarts, and it was made by Judd Resnick, a documentary filmmaker. His reason for making it is personal.

His father ran at least five miles a day for as long as Judd can remember, and lifted weights as well. After he retired, the long runs slowly gave way to big meals and long rides on his motorcycle. Then his doctor told him he was pre-diabetic.

Judd couldn't understand how that happened to the fittest man he knew, so he picked up his camera to find out, and he says the answers took him three years.

Along the way he interviewed doctors, nutritionists and people living with type 2 diabetes, in more than one country. Among them are an endocrinologist, Dr. Jim Mann; a diabetes psychologist, Dr. Susan Guzman; a nutritionist, Vandana Sheth; and a chef, Ronnie Fisher, who specialises in quick, easy, healthy meals.

What else is in the series

The chia seed bowl is one small moment in eight hours of film. Across eight episodes, the series looks at what's happening in the body, why some diets leave people hungry and frustrated, and how small, steady changes to food and daily life can help you manage your blood sugar.

The program also comes with an ebook called 7 Steps to Balanced Blood Sugar Levels and several extras that I found more useful than I expected:

• That Diabetes Cookbook, a collection of simple, balanced recipes for everyday meals
• That Diabetes Shopping List, which takes the guesswork out of the supermarket
• A companion guide for each episode, with a summary and a short quiz
• Small Bites, short videos with the true stories of people who kept living full lives

Three breakfast ideas to try this week

You don't need the series to start thinking like this. Here are a few breakfast swaps in the same spirit, built on the pairing idea:

• Stir chia seeds or ground flaxseed into yoghurt or porridge.
• Add an egg, some nuts or a spoonful of nut butter to a slice of toast instead of jam on its own.
• Eat whole fruit instead of drinking juice, so the fibre comes along with the sugar.

Small swaps like these are a starting point, and they show how much room there is between "eat whatever you like" and "give up everything you enjoy."

For anyone told to watch their blood sugar

If you've been told your blood sugar is higher than it should be, or someone you cook for has, this is a calm, practical place to start learning. It's also good viewing if diabetes runs in your family and you'd like to understand it before it becomes your problem.

It doesn't replace your doctor, and it doesn't ask you to change any medication. It helps you understand what's happening and gives you food ideas you can talk over with your doctor or dietitian.

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's free presentation

Judd has put together a free presentation that explains how the series came about and what's in it. If the chia seed bowl made you curious, it's the best place to start.

Watch Judd's free presentation here

How a Father's Pre-Diabetes Diagnosis Became an Eight-Part Documentary

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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?

What changed after retirement

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.

Judd's friend Ryan and the glucagon shot

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.

A filmmaker's way of finding answers

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.

Food, family and everyday life

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.

Eight episodes and seven extras

Alongside the eight episodes, the program includes:

• An ebook, 7 Steps to Balanced Blood Sugar Levels
• That Diabetes Cookbook, with simple, balanced recipes
• That Diabetes Shopping List, to help stock a blood-sugar-friendly kitchen
• Companion guides for every episode, each with a summary and a quiz
• The Silent Epidemic, a book about type 2 diabetes
• The Diabetic's Guide To Healthy and Delicious Food
• Small Bites, short videos telling the true stories of people who refused to let their health hold them back

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.

A son asking the questions most of us would ask

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.

Start with the free presentation

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.

Watch the free presentation here

Birthdays, Restaurants and Family Dinners When You're Watching Your Blood Sugar

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Ask anyone who has been told to watch their blood sugar what they found hardest, and the answer is often other people's food rather than their own.

At home you can plan. Then a birthday comes along, or a work lunch, or a trip away, or a Sunday dinner at a relative's house where saying no to seconds feels like an insult. That's usually where good intentions slip.

I've been watching a documentary series that spends real time on this side of life, and it changed how I think about it.

Judd Resnick and his father's diagnosis

The series is called Diabetes Smarts. It was made by Judd Resnick, a documentary filmmaker whose father, a keen runner, was told he was pre-diabetic after he retired. Judd set out to understand how that happened, and he says the project took him three years.

He interviewed doctors, nutritionists, a diabetes psychologist, a chef and people living with type 2 diabetes. The result is eight episodes, about eight hours in all, and the program is built around eating well while you still enjoy time with family and friends, eating out and travelling included.

Eating out without a fight

You don't have to treat a restaurant meal as a test you pass or fail. Most menus have room for a good choice once you know what to look for, and the program shows you what to watch and what to eat when you eat out or travel.

Food pairing helps here too. The idea is that what you eat alongside a food changes how your body handles it. Fibre, protein and healthy fats can slow down how fast sugar reaches your blood. A dish you'd worry about on its own can look different with the right sides next to it.

The family recipe question

One of the most practical ideas in the series is that many favourite foods can stay on the table when you pair them well. Sometimes a single ingredient in a recipe makes the difference, and changing it doesn't change the meal anyone remembers.

That matters for whoever does the cooking. Cooking two dinners every night isn't realistic for most households. That Diabetes Cookbook, which comes with the series, is full of simple, balanced recipes meant for the whole family, and the shopping list that comes with it helps you stock the kitchen so the good choice is already in the cupboard.

Birthdays and celebrations

Cake will turn up, and nobody wants to sit in the corner with a glass of water while everyone else celebrates.

What helps is understanding. When you know how your body responds to food, you can make a plan before you walk in the door: what to eat earlier in the day, what to pair the treat with, and how much is enough to enjoy it. Then you can enjoy the party along with everyone else.

When food starts to feel lonely

Watching your blood sugar isn't only about food. It can feel lonely, especially at a table full of people who don't have to think about it. Among the people Judd interviewed is a diabetes psychologist, Dr. Susan Guzman, which is a good reminder that the feelings around food deserve attention too. It's a part many people never get to talk about.

The series also includes Small Bites, short videos with the true stories of men and women who refused to let their health take the joy out of their lives. They're easy to watch on a phone and good company on a hard day.

Everything that comes with the series

The full program includes the eight-part series, an ebook called 7 Steps to Balanced Blood Sugar Levels, the cookbook and shopping list, companion guides for each episode, a book called The Silent Epidemic, The Diabetic's Guide To Healthy and Delicious Food, and the Small Bites videos. There's a 60-day money-back guarantee.

A few ideas for your next meal out

• Look at the menu online before you go, so you choose with a calm head.
• Start with a salad or vegetables, so fibre arrives before the rest of the meal.
• Ask for sauces and dressings on the side.
• Share a dessert instead of ordering one each.
• Take a short walk after a big meal if you can.

These are simple habits in the same spirit as the series, which goes much further into the reasons behind them.

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's story and the series, in his own words

Judd explains the series, and the story that led to it, in a free presentation. If family meals and nights out are where things get hard for you, it's well worth watching.

Watch Judd's free presentation here