BRAINERD — Just two years ago, Debbie Hensch couldn't walk more than 10 steps without stopping to rest.
Now she hikes through canyons and climbs fire towers.
“I love living life,” Hensch said during an interview at MN Traders in Pequot Lakes on Thursday, Aug. 22. “It's very simple. I love living life and not just watching.”
Tests showed that not only her mental health but also her physical health had improved significantly.
Hensch's dramatic lifestyle change was made possible in large part by the help of Dr. Jeremiah Eisenschenk, director of the weight management clinic and hospital division chief at Essentia Health in Brainerd.
It was November 2022. She was tired of not being able to live life to the fullest.
“My doctor told me about a non-surgical weight loss drug called Essentia so I called,” she said.
Debbie Hensch of Pequot Lakes lost 221 pounds at Essentia Health's Weight Management Center, which focuses on metabolic health.
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Without telling her husband or anyone else, and without any idea of what was to come, Hensch made an appointment with Dr. Eisenschenk.
As a result, she lost 221 pounds, improved her metabolic health through a low-carb diet and physical therapy, and was able to live a joyful life free of the medications, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, knee pain and other issues.
For Eisenschenk, the best consultations are with patients like Hensch, who don't need to take medication.
That's one of the reasons he's partnering with Kayuna Regional Medical Center, Lakewood Health System, Riverwood Healthcare Center and LowCarbUSA on a Metabolic Health Symposium to be held Sept. 21 at Cragun's Resort in Brainerd.
“We're hopeful that everyone in the community will learn something and their quality of life will improve,” Eisenschenk said of the symposium.
He works with Dr. Angie Ausban, medical weight management director at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, and other medical professionals to educate both the medical community and the general public about metabolic health.
Simply put, Ausban describes metabolic health as how efficiently your body turns food into energy.
“It's a very complex network,” she says, “but we're mainly focused on the hormone insulin and how well it works.”
Although many people think of insulin as being related to diabetes, Ausban says it's also heavily involved in protein and carbohydrate metabolism. When insulin isn't working properly, symptoms include high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and increased waist circumference.
“When you have these markers, it indicates that your metabolism, or metabolic state, is not working well,” Ausban says.
She and Eisenschenk explained that 90 percent of American adults have some metabolic marker that puts them at risk for diseases like heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, and chronic joint pain — diseases that place a financial burden on the healthcare system, and many of which could be improved with more attention to metabolic health.
And that is precisely the purpose of this symposium.
Healthcare professionals from across the U.S. and Canada will speak on topics including low-carb diets, sugar and processed food addiction, bariatric surgery, metabolic management of diabetes and chronic pain. A variety of vendors will be present and Cragun's will provide low-carb meals for attendees.
Although some of the presentation titles may sound technical, Eisenschenk said the information will be presented in a way that anyone can understand.
“I hope participants leave with a renewed sense of hope that they have choices they can control and that resources exist to support them in making food and nutrition choices in a world that is telling them to do the opposite,” Eisenschenk said.
And maybe they can have success stories like Hensch, who now spends her days walking, kayaking, biking, and actually taking family trips instead of reading in the car. She no longer worries about getting into someone else's car because she needs a seatbelt extender, or wonders if she can get somewhere based on how far she has to walk.
“It's a sad way to live,” she said.
Hensch doesn't think of her new lifestyle as a diet. There are no foods she can't eat, which was a major mental barrier before. The key is portion control and keeping her carb intake in check. She still eats pizza, but without the crust, and is happy knowing that when she really wants to, she can still enjoy something like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup every now and then. She's starting to realize that it's worth paying a little extra to buy smaller snacks instead of larger ones that can be tempting to eat too much in one sitting.
After losing weight, Debbie Hensch is now kayaking, something she wasn't able to do before.
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She sheds tears that she can finally get in a kayak and help her husband with his woodworking. She doesn't weigh herself obsessively, but she checks in with Dr. Eisenschenk regularly and talks about her gains and struggles over the past few weeks.
Taking the first step to improving your health can be difficult, and Hensch felt defeated as she tried to discover new eating habits, but if she could do it, surely others can too.
“I hope other people won't be afraid to just give it a go,” she said.
Metabolic Health Symposium
Tickets for the Metabolic Health Symposium are available, along with more information about the event, at lowcarbusa.org/brainerd-lakes-2024 . Attendance is expected to be around 100-200 people.
Eisenschenk hopes the symposium will empower the community, teach them that food can be important medicine and bring together four health systems that typically compete for patients to understand the importance of the topic.
“I think with some intention, knowledge and desire, we can do these things every day to benefit our metabolic health and see how that translates to our weight, our mindset and our mood,” Eisenschenk says. “I think it can help us all become better versions of ourselves, and hopefully we can pass this knowledge on to our kids and set an example.”
THERESA BOURKE can be reached at [email protected] or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa
