Broadcaster Lee Kyung-kyu revealed that he was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and is currently enduring a difficult daily routine due to an extremely restricted diet.
Recently, a video titled “Half the nation has diabetes? Lee Kyung-kyu, who had surgery for diabetes complications, digs into the ‘truth about blood sugar'” was uploaded to the YouTube channel ‘God Kyung-kyu’.
During the video, Lee Kyung-kyu shared, “I’ve almost reached a critical point. I have to work hard to avoid death,” adding, “My war with diabetes began five years ago.” He further explained that he is paying extra attention to his health after being diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
According to a specialist, there are over 6 million diabetes patients and a staggering 16 million people in the pre-diabetes stage in Korea. Lee Kyung-kyu honestly admitted, “It’s so hard.” The specialist noted, “Surveys conducted in 2008 and 2018 showed that diabetes is the number one disease that lowers the quality of life.”
Lee Kyung-kyu lamented, “There is no quality of life. There’s nothing I can eat, so lunch and dinner are always a struggle,” adding that he feels there are no foods that are truly “good” for diabetes. He revealed his strict diet management, saying, “The moment I eat rice cakes, my blood sugar spikes. Fried food is delicious, but I don’t eat it. If I do, I only eat the inside and leave the batter. I don’t even drink zero-sugar drinks. I used to love fruit, but I realized I shouldn’t eat it.”
He expressed his distress over giving up the joy of eating, stating, “I don’t think there are any foods that are good for diabetes. That’s why my quality of life is completely at rock bottom.”
In response, the specialist advised, “Instead of thinking ‘it’s painful because I can’t eat delicious things,’ please know that there are many foods that are both healthy and tasty.” The specialist then introduced diets and eating methods to stabilize blood sugar and lower post-meal levels, emphasizing, “You must take a walk for about 10 minutes after eating.”
