Tshidi Yika, from Vaal in Johannesburg, is a mother, a sister, an adviser, and a type 2 diabetes warrior. Diagnosed with the condition in August 2021, Yika has spent the past two years navigating the ups and downs of managing her diabetes.
From finding the right balance of medication to making positive lifestyle changes, Yika’s journey has been full of both challenges and triumphs. She tells Health For Mzansi what it’s like to live with type 2 diabetes through the eyes of someone who has firsthand experience.
Commonly caused by being overweight, lack of physical activity, diets high in processed and sugary food, unhealthy lifestyle factors, or genetics, type 2 diabetes is a condition in which your body doesn’t use insulin properly, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Candice Khumalo: What was the main cause of your type 2 diabetes?
Tshidi Yika: The main cause was a combination of unhealthy lifestyle choices that increased the risk in my life. I ate really unhealthy food and had bad eating habits. I was also overweight, and all of these are risks for causing diabetes.
What has been the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been making changes to my diet. It has been a process of finding out and learning about all sorts of food, and it hasn’t always been easy. Knowing that I can’t eat other foods, especially sugar and starches, I’ve had to learn to make healthier choices that exclude all the foods I used to love.
How was finding out and learning to accept living with type 2 diabetes?
It was really hard at first, and I went through a lot of depression because I thought I was dying. I thought type 2 diabetes meant death, but after learning about the disease and taking time to process it, I realised that it was not a death sentence. I just had to accept it, change my diet, and make some major changes in my lifestyle to control my health.
How has the process of having to adjust to new eating habits been?
It was difficult because I was still learning and not always sure what was right to eat or not. I then learned about carbohydrates and healthier alternatives. I also started reading food labels, which made me understand more about food, especially what is good for me, like carbohydrates. I made small, gradual changes and saw huge improvements.
What do you now understand better about type 2 diabetes?
Currently, I have a better understanding, and I’m working on reversing it. When I was diagnosed, I was taking pills every four hours plus insulin, and now I’ve gone two years without insulin and five weeks without medication, and my reading ranges between 4 to 7. So I now understand that a healthy diet plan for type 2 diabetes is the best way to manage it successfully. People with type 2 diabetes can reverse this disease and survive without medication if they are able to make the best changes to their diet.
ALSO READ: Mahlatse shares what it’s like to live with type 1 diabetes
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