This morning I got an email from an acquaintance who has just been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. I really try not to read email first thing in the morning, because if I run across a good story like this one, I forget the time and don’t get on to other things.

John loves to eat and loves to drink beer. He is in his mid-fifties and weighs about 20-25 pounds more than he should, so he’s not exactly fat, but he’s certainly not thin either. With this new diagnosis of Type II Diabetes, he is going to have to make some lifestyle changes, if he knows what’s good for him.

John weighs about 225-230 and is 6′1″ His email said that his family practitioner recommended a nutritionist for him after she diagnosed him with diabetes. I think John could get back into shape in about three months.

John took his doctor’s advice and made an appointment with the nutritionist. Upon arriving for his appointment he was checked-in by a receptionist who really could be called obese — she was probably 250 pounds and maybe 5′5″

You would think that a nutritionist would not want to have an obese person be the first thing a patient sees when they walk through the door, but John thought that maybe they had to hire her because she was qualified and they didn’t want to break any discrimination laws.

John waited in the waiting room and after about 20 minutes they called him in. When the nutritionist arrived, he was just flabbergasted. She was tall, but she could not have weighed less than 300 pounds, according to John.

She started into her routine, and talked and talked, but John couldn’t hear anything. His mind kept asking him, “Why are the two people I have seen in this nutrition clinic so fat?”

The nutritionist got to the part where she was displaying plastic food to show John about correct portion sizes, but John could not keep silent. Finally he blurted out, “If you know so much about nutrition and the rules of dieting, why are you so overweight?”

The nutritionist stopped talking and looked stunned. Finally she said, as if she had not heard him, “What did you just say?”

So he repeated what he said, “If you know all the rules about dieting, why are you so fat?”

This is when the nutritionist just lost it and started screaming at John. She ordered him out of her office. John left, but even with all the histrionics, he still thought his question was valid. On the way out the receptionist asked if everything was okay, and John muttered something about people who shouldn’t give advice if they are not willing to follow it themselves.

John went back to see his family practitioner and told her what had happened. His doctor turned red and tried to hold back, but after a moment she just burst out laughing.

What followed were some rules that John knew he had to stick to.

I recommended pharmaceutical grade fish oil, because Type II diabetes immediately moves you into a cardiac high risk category. John doesn’t have any heart problems now, but diabetes can accelerate many problems with your heart, and pharmaceutical grade fish oil can help in controlling lipid levels, which are often elevated in diabetes, especially triglycerides.

Not only that, but pharmaceutical grade fish oil has been linked to wide range of other health benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, improved joint health, and improved behavior and mood.

Mood improvement is so important for Type II diabetes patients, who have a high risk of depression caused by the diabetes.

I think John was absolutely within his rights to ask that question of his nutritionist. How is his situation different from taking health advice from a pulmonologist who thought nothing of smoking?

Nutritionists need to listen to themselves and follow through on what they are talking about, not just hand out diet advice with one hand and eat junk food with the other.

John had mentioned to me that the nutritionist had cases of Diet Coke in her office. Did you know that more fat people drink Diet Coke than any other form of beverage?

Don’t hesitate to get another opinion, especially in a situation like this, where you have reason to doubt the validity of what your practitioner is telling you, based on his or her own habits.