In this episode of Diabetic Dialogue, host Tamina Zaman welcomes Abigail Morakinyo, a registered nurse and founder of Health In Check, to discuss diabetes prevention and workplace wellness. Abigail shares her personal journey of leaving behind a grueling 12-hour shift schedule that was compromising her health, and how this inspired her to create a health and wellbeing company dedicated to supporting employees in the workplace. She emphasizes that despite the irony, many healthcare professionals struggle with their own health due to demanding work conditions, and that employers need to do much more than offer gym memberships to truly support their workforce.
The conversation delves into the reality of Type 2 diabetes as a lifestyle disease, with both hosts sharing their personal experiences of managing and reversing their condition. Abigail explains that reversing Type 2 diabetes is absolutely possible but requires a fundamental shift in mindset, combined with practical changes like reducing processed foods, increasing physical activity, and making sustainable food swaps. She discusses her innovative approach of running community health workshops where she teaches women (and men!) how to cook healthier meals and incorporate new foods into their daily routines, recognizing that showing people how to make changes is far more effective than simply telling them what to do.
A key theme throughout the episode is cultural food traditions and how to navigate them while improving health. Both Abigail and Tamina, coming from West Indian and Western African backgrounds respectively, discuss the challenges of changing eating habits rooted in family history and culture. Abigail shares her success in introducing her mother to vegetables like broccoli by gradually incorporating them into familiar meals, proving that generational mindset shifts are achievable with patience and practical demonstration.
Main Topics
Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease directly linked to sedentary work environments, late-night eating, processed foods, and lack of physical activity rather than genetics alone
Reversing Type 2 diabetes is possible through mindset change, dietary modifications (reducing processed foods and carbs), weight loss, and increased movement—while continuing prescribed medications
Employers should provide comprehensive workplace wellness programs including health workshops on stress management, nutrition support, and on-site health checks, not just gym memberships
Food swaps and gradual dietary changes are more sustainable than drastic overhauls; replacing white rice with brown rice, fruit juice with water, and processed foods with whole foods yields significant health improvements
Cultural food traditions can be adapted rather than abandoned; introducing new healthy foods through practical cooking demonstrations and gradual incorporation into family meals is more effective than prohibition
Mental and physical health are interconnected; addressing workplace stress and employee wellbeing reduces absenteeism and improves overall productivity and quality of life
Health education must include practical demonstration of cooking methods and food preparation, not just information, to create lasting behavioral change across all age groups
Full TranscriptWelcome to Diabetic Dialogue. We are keeping the conversation going about diabetes and fighting the war on diabetes. So ...▼
Welcome to Diabetic Dialogue. We are keeping the conversation going about diabetes and fighting the war on diabetes. So what do the stats say? Apparently, one in seven people in the UK has a gym membership. However, at the same time, the recent headlines in the Daily Mail were quoted Britain's Diabetes Explosion. So, something to think about. I'm not saying that everybody should go to the gym, but it means if you've got a membership, perhaps you may not be using it, but walking is just as good. So today on Women's radio station, I would like to welcome Abigail Morricino. Abigail is a registered nurse and founder of Health In Check. Welcome, Abigail, to the show. Thank you for having me. You are very welcome. So listen, Abigail, tell us a little bit about your background and obviously we know that you're a registered nurse, but tell us about how it all came about. Right, so I've been a registered nurse for over 10 years. I've worked in both the private and NHS health sector. And after having my children, I thought, you know, there is no way that I can continue living the kind of lifestyle that I was living. And by lifestyle I meant things like working a 12 hour shift, not having time, you know, to prepare decent meals for myself and my family and just basically working so much hours. And I really felt like my health was suffering and I had to do something about it. Fabulous. You were an unsung hero, Abigail. So you started Health In Check. Please, can you tell us all about it and how did it all come about? Absolutely. So Health In Check is a health and wellbeing company. And the reason that I started Health In Check was because, coming from my nursing background, you know, there's this misconception that healthy nurses are one of the healthiest people on earth. But, you know, it can actually be, you know, double sided because one, like I said, my background was working 12 hour shifts and even sometimes having to work overtime. So what I realized was that there's a lot of people like myself whose health might be suffering as a result of their job. So my message is that the employers, HR professionals, managers, definitely need to do a lot more to support employees in the workplace. So hence I started Health In Check. So what I do is I actually go into the workplace and offer like, health workshops to employees. So things like stress management, stress awareness, nutrition support, and we actually offer on site mini health checks, which comprises of a blood pressure check, a diabetes check, cholesterol check. That's really good to hear. So what I'm thinking is that are you actually doing this for your NHS Staff as well. Because it's almost like an irony, all the irony that people are promoting health but they almost don't know how to be healthy themselves. Is that what you're promoting at the moment? We're not targeting the National Health Service. My target is companies like, for example, the construction site, white collar workers. But definitely I do agree that nurses and health professionals need this as well because, you know, the pressures of the work. I do appreciate that. And certainly with the construction site, my husband is a construction manager and I do see that people are genuinely unhealthy on the sites and we're seeing more and more people in the building trade. No criticism, but they're overweight. So this is quite a positive message. Yeah. So why should companies, HR departments contact you? What would be the benefits of a health check? The benefits one, if we leave the monetary side, it's health. I mean, at the moment we're having a lot of people who are taking time off work due to mental health issues, but I think the two go hand in hand. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand. If one suffers, it will invariably affect the other. So I think HR professionals as well as managers definitely need to implement this for their workers. It's not enough to just have perks like free gym memberships or, you know, a lot more needs to be done to support workers, health, mental or physical. That is really, I think I do agree with you on that. And if there are any companies listening out there, it's a very important message. So let's talk about diabetes. And I know that you said that you mentioned diabetes, about perhaps dealing with diabetes. Do you encourage people to reverse type 2 diabetes? Absolutely. And while I will never, ever promote or advocate for anyone to stop taking medications that they've been prescribed and start, you know, maybe changing their diet, obviously continue with the medication. But it is absolutely possible to reverse diabetes. But first of all, it begins with your mindset. One, you need to be willing to reverse it, willing to get rid of that diabetes and obviously willing to put in the work. So what would you, for example, my HBA1C and I do repeat, this was 116, very high. And it was very high. Your HBA1C, everyone, I do repeat this, is that your blood average over three months? I'm not telling Abigail, she knows this already. So I'm telling you listeners. So what would you have advised? What would you advise me by walking to speak to you and you test my blood? And that was the result. What advice would you give me? Well, you know, looking at you. And obviously someone with such a high level of, you know, HbA1c will be indicative of someone who's carrying a lot of weight. So first advice would be to get that weight down. Right, thank you. And I mean, that is very positive because I did go to my GP and I was advised to obviously cut down on my carbs and to cut down on my sugar. And with that was going to be weight loss. I did lose weight. I'm on Metformin and at the moment trying to reduce my tablets because my blood level is now 34, probably better than someone who didn't have type 2. That's what I've been advised. So what sort of type of thing? In a healthy diet, what sort of thing should somebody be eating? We're only human. What type of thing would you recommend? Okay, so the kind of foods that we, or that I would recommend is one, stay away from anything processed. So whether it be like your, you know, white bread, even pasta, most of the foods that we know are bad, like white bread, white rice, a lot of processed foods, pastries, a lot of things that contain sugar. Those are the kind of things that either you cut out totally or gradually because everything is step by step. I mean, it's not realistic to. If you've been someone that's been eating, you know, say, white rice your whole life, it's kind of unrealistic to say, stop eating it all together. So if you can find a way to either reduce it or something healthier to replace it, then that would help health wise. That's very good advice. And that was the advice I was actually given that I've actually done food swaps. So I've perhaps, for example, I was drinking fruit juice and instead I've swapped my fruit juice for water, which I find or I do sometimes miss the juice. I'm not saying, and I will freshly squeeze some oranges, but I'm finding that, that I'm starting to enjoy the water, that I'm drinking lots more of it and is readily available to me. And I was a person who was drinking loads of fruit juice. I've got to be honest with you, cranberry juice all the time. So how can we change people's mindset then? Because I come from a West Indian background and all I know is food. So how do we change people's mindset? Funny you mentioned that because I'm actually coming from a Western African background as well and my family, we've, I mean, I was brought up eating white rice, eating, you know, potatoes and it is very hard to change people's mindset. You know, you're telling them to stop what they've been doing for how many years and adopt this new life. But, you know, the thing with health is it begins with the mind. As I said, if you are able to change your mindset and able to say that, okay, I'm not missing out on this food, but if I replace it with this, it's not only going to do my body good, but it's going to allow me to perform better. You know, I perform better at work, I'll be able to look after my family. Because if you're not in good health, you're not good to anyone else, really. So basically, personally, what I do is I organize health workshops in my community, and I actually show women how they can cook and how they can implement other foods that they may not be used to, how they can incorporate it in their daily cooking. And. And, you know, once people are shown what to do, because it's not enough to just tell people what to do, but if you actually show them how to do something, you might get better results. That's good to hear. And also listeners out there, there are men that can also go into that kitchen as well. Abigail isn't being sexist at all. So we don't want any comeback from that. So the other thing is this. I know that our mothers. I mean, my mom was always giving me food. How can we put. We can tell them about food swaps. So how can we get our parents or the older generation into this mindset also? I mean, do you bring older people into your workshops also? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I was able to do it with my mother. My mother is someone who ordinarily would not touch vegetables like broccoli. She would like, you know, I can't even pronounce it. I don't like it. But it was only just because she had never tried it or she'd never cooked it. So like I said, it's all about showing people. Like, I would make salad and just cut the broccoli, you know, into little pieces. Nice. And just accompany it on her plate. And she had no choice. She would eat it. Because sometimes people have that mindset and they have to break down that barrier that I can't eat this or I'm not gonna like it. Try it at least first. That's really good advice. And I do know that with my mum, things like broccoli, my mom only introduced that probably in the last 10 years, there were things that she'd never Heard of. So it is quite interesting. It is historical. So why are people getting type 2 diabetes? Just to let you know, we going to take a short break, so we may have to come back to it. But we could start with an answer. Why do you think people are getting type 2 diabetes? It's a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle that people are living now. Before, you know, everyone used to walk everywhere, but now, you know, it's from the house to the train to the, you know, or you jump in your car, then you get to work and you're sitting down. You know, if you're working a sedentary job, you don't move around much. You've got that tendency to pile on the weight. People are finishing work later, so they get home and they're eating later. So it's the habit, you know, type 2 diabetes is called a lifestyle disease because we have to admit that it's the lifestyle really that's killing us, for want of a better word. I certainly was in that lifestyle. So I do agree with you. I was ignoring symptoms, going on trains, coming home from work and getting in bed. And my body was telling me to do that. And that was as a result of probably having type 2 for many years, advised that I'd probably had it for five years. We are going to take a short break. We're going to come back to speak to Abigail Morricino. If you want to tweet us, you can go to womensradiostn and you can almost also email womensradiostation.com and that's presentersomensradiostation.com join us after the break. From all the presenters and the team behind Women's Radio Station, thank you for listening. You have been the most amazing audience with your sparkling enthusiasm and support. So from our hearts, we would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year full of joy and surprises. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? Do you wish you could save more money or are you hoping you have enough for retirement? You are not alone. 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Every little will help. Sa. Welcome to Diabetic Dialogue. So we are keeping the conversation going about diabetes and fighting the war on diabetes. So what do the stats say? And I usually quote this. Approximately 4 million people in the UK have diabetes and apparently there's 500,000 plus walking around with diabetes and they're not aware of it. I was one of those. I would like to welcome back Abigail Morricino. And Abigail is a registered nurse and founder of Health in Check. Welcome back, Abigail. Thank you. You are very welcome. So listen, can we ask you, what symptoms should people be looking out for? Not in just terms of. Let's talk about. You said you look at cholesterol, you look at blood pressure and you look at diabetes type 2. So what symptoms are you looking for, if any? Okay, so I mean, with diabetes type 2, sometimes the symptoms can actually go before it's diagnosed. It can actually take a while. However, if it gets to a point that you know, it's becoming an issue, certainly the things that you should. People will look out for people will experience is one, they may get blurred vision, and that's only just because the nerves at the back of the eye start getting damaged. Okay. Sometimes people experience increased thirst. Okay. Another is weight loss. So if you haven't been exercising or doing a lot more at the gym than you normally would, but you find that you're losing weight, that's another sign or indicative of type 2 diabetes. And another one is frequency in urine or passing urine. But I mean, like I said with the urine one, sometimes due to the medications that people are taking that might be a side effect. So it's always, you know, if you're having or these symptoms or one of it certainly do go to your GP and report those symptoms. That's very good advice. So listeners out there, don't forget to go to a health professional or gp. And this is coming from a health professional. So are there links to cholesterol and high blood pressure? I mean, I've got high blood pressure myself, a family history of it. So are there links to diabetes with the other two? Absolutely. Someone with type 2 diabetes can invariably go on to developing, you know, high blood pressure, heart disease, cholesterol, they all do go hand in hand. So management is key. That's something to listeners out there. We all should take note of this and all the symptoms that you described. I had all of those while on holiday last year and I've got to say that I did lose a stone five years ago and I was exercising and thought it was, but I thought it was as a result of that, looking back, I probably realized I had type 2 diabetes then I was jogging but thought the weight loss was to do with that. So we must take stock of ourselves. We should know our bodies and I don't think I knew my body enough. So do guys get to know yourselves. Don't forget any issues, go to your GP now. Abigail, have you seen many people reverse type 2 diabetes? Absolutely. I mean, I'm currently working with a lady who is from my background and like I said at the beginning, mindset is key. She was coming from the school of thought that, you know, my grandmother, she ate this all her life. She never got type 2 diabetes. And I said, first of all, she may have had type 2 diabetes, but it was never diagnosed or she was never told. We shouldn't assume that just because other people had diabetes, wasn't diagnosed or they ate this way and nothing happened to them, that you're fine. But what I said is we need to change your mindset. We need you to adopt a more healthier mindset so that now we can reform your habits. Okay? Because if you have an unhealthy mindset, that would lead to unhealthy habits. Now your unhealthy habits will now lead to unhealthy lifestyle, and that's what's going to manifest in the disease. Type 2 diabetes being one of them. So, yes, I have worked with people and I'm currently working with a lady and she is on her way to reversing type 2 diabetes. She's seen a significant improvement with her blood sugar levels. Her weight loss is going down. She feels, you know, much better, you know, more energetic and, you know, she hasn't stopped her medication, but she has noticed improvements. And with that, you know, down the line, she won't have to take the tablets anymore. But the key thing is you need to do something about it. It's not enough to just say, you know, I'm on tablets. Tablets is only going to manage the symptoms. But what I'm working with women and advising them to do is you can actually reverse this, but we need to change those habits. I like that advice. And, guys, can we take stock on this? Because I'm trying to manage the type 2 that I had. I'm told it's in remission and I did something about it. I did manage it. We're not preaching, we're just giving advice. What do you think, Abigail, about the 800 calorie diets? Because I know that there's no one size fits all. And I've interviewed Professor Taylor, Professor Jason Gill, Dr. Zoe Williams, who have discussed the 800 calorie diet, where you can take 800 calories for a month and you will have a dramatic weight loss and then reverse your type 2 diabetes. What are your views on that? In all honesty, I am from the school of thought that not one size fits all. What works for one person might not work for the other. And we have to take into account, obviously, the older that we get, the slower our metabolic rate, you know, our metabolism is. And sometimes it's, you know, losing weight isn't a matter of the calories that you're consuming, but it's more to do with the quality and quantity of the food that you're eating. So I would. I mean, I'm not really. I'm not a big fan of the 800 calories, to be honest. But there are. I think I saw in the papers that there are actually some surgeries promoting this. Is this for a certain type of person? Do you think there are some people who are very obese and then they're being told they've got type two. And I was advised that if there was a 15 kilogram, I don't know if that's the right sort of. If you lost that type of weight, then you have a good chance of reversing your type 2, which is what's happened with me. But I didn't take 800 calorie diet. I just did a healthy eating plan for myself. So if you were dramatically overweight, could you, do you think you could do that 800 calorie diet or would that not be recommended? It depends. I mean, what is dramatically overweight? If you've got a body mass index of 30 or even above, you know, depending on what the doctor suggests, they may consider. Sometimes even I've heard of people who've had to have gastric band surgery. It just depends on the level of obviously the obesity, the obese person. And also if they are maybe, for example, if they've got a knee injury that hinders or prevents them from actually, you know, exercising. Because exercise, let's not, you know, leave out exercise. Exercise plus healthy eating is what's the formula to get good results. But I mean, like I said, if there's someone who's got a knee injury and they can't lose as much, then sometimes they might, you know, benefit from surgical intervention. Okay, so it's all, obviously it does, it is whatever it takes and it's the feel good factor, guys, because I feel better. I would never. This is the only thing I would recommend personally. For me, it would be healthy eating and a healthy diet. I feel great. I want everybody to feel like that. But it's obviously you have to motivate yourself and I can only encourage. In terms of type 1 diabetes, we know that, we're not talking because we cannot reverse that. But do you provide support with type 1 diabetes? I've interviewed people on the radio about type 1 who, they've had their own struggles because it's trying to get the right balance. What would you Advise with type 1? With type 1, the key thing really is just to make sure that the insulin levels is regulated. I do offer some support because the thing is with type 2 diabetes, it's not only tablets or diet controlled. Some people with type 2 diabetes can actually require insulin support as well. But like I said, with type 1 diabetes, it's mainly, again, it's diet as well. But main thing is making sure that the insulin, that, you know, they take their insulin at the right time and they're also eating good quality foods and not having too much sugar, that sends them up on a high spike. So yeah, it's all diet again. That's really positive. So what are you doing? I mean, we met at Black Women's Health Day recently and what are you doing in terms of promoting this in the uk? I know you did a presentation and let's say worldwide, are you doing anything else at the moment? I am going to increase my presence on social media so I'm looking to start a YouTube channel and I'm also looking to do like a weekly kind of like cook workshop as well where I will actually invite a nutritionist and they will offer, you know, support, even do like a five minute meal prep, that kind of thing. So we want to actually show people what to do as well as telling them what to do. That would be very, very valuable. I think you'd obviously need to let us know when that all comes about. And it's, it's simplistic, everyone. I put things on you and type two, that's my site and I put things on there and people are sort of like, wow. And the wow could just be a salad with a bit of chicken in there. And let's face it, everyone, we can all do that. So let's take stock of this. So if somebody wanted to get hold of you, Abigail, how could they get hold of you? Via the website, which is ww.healthincheck.co.uk I'm also on Instagram as healthincheck and I've also got a personal page as well which is Nurse Abigail. That is really, really good to hear. We would like to thank you very much, Abigail for coming on the show. Thank you for having longer, but you have been an inspiration. Obviously you know how you can get hold of Abigail. Now what I've got to say, if you would like to, to listen to the show, you can actually click presentersomensradiostation.com or you can download the app to your mobile, which is what I do and I listen all day long. Sometimes it works. I don't tell anyone. If you have any questions, you can also email presentersomensradiostation.com Alternatively, you can tweet us @womensradio station stn and we are also on Instagram, so do look us up. Thank you very much for listening. Women's radio station is looking forward to a great 2019 with more shows coming your way. 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