Dr. Roxanne Sukol has lived her career at the intersection of wellness and health literacy. Special interests in food, medicine, words, and communication give her a unique ability to share information in a way that makes it accessible to everyone.
A 1995 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, she graduated with distinction in Biomedical Ethics, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the Honor Medical Society. Board certified in Internal Medicine throughout her career, she retired from clinical practice in 2022. During medical school, she volunteered in the HIV Counseling Program at Cleveland’s Free Clinic, and you may be interested to learn that her classmates usually shared a pint of ice cream for dinner on those nights. “Everything in moderation, even moderation,” said Julia Child.
Dr. Sukol’s essays have appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Wall Street Journal, and Sam’s Club Newsletter, among others. She has been quoted in U.S. News & World Report, New York Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Martha Stewart Living, Marie Claire, Redbook and Prevention Magazine, and more. Her essay “Redefined Wheat,” published in the literary journal of Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, was a winner of the 2008 Creative Nonfiction Competition at the Baltimore Review. Dr. Sukol is a 1995 winner of the Essay Competition of the John Conley Foundation for Ethics and Philosophy in Medicine; her winning essay was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Sukol spent 7 years in environmental engineering consulting for government and private industry. Dr. Sukol holds an Masters degree in Environmental Science from the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering, and an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University.
You can find her TEDx talk here.
Are you doing any conferences in the near future. I heard you speak and it changed my practice. I am a nurse midwife and I would love for my partners to hear you. I give you blog to all my patients and quote you frequently
“Take back your sugar bowl”
thank you
I will be at Symposia Medicus’s Sedona conference this coming May, and would highly recommend it. They really do a wonderful job, and this particular conference is on women’s health, which would be great for a nurse midwife! Please write back and let me know how my words changed your practice. I would be very interested to know how you translated what you heard for the benefit of your patients. Best wishes for your continued good health. Be well! RBS
Dear Dr. Sukol:
If you have time, could you provide advice either in a comment to me or a post, what a person who has lived with low blood sugar and is now becoming pre diabetic. That’s me. Post colicky baby, I was diagnosed by a doctor who was hard to find, my 7 and 1/2 glucose tolerance test in the 1980s revealing a score as low as 40 and as high as 230. A strict diet brought me into normal range. But I had what I called fuzzy head symptoms for two years before I got it under control. Then for a long time I lived normally, watching my sweets and either taking oil before bedtime or yogurt or Grape nuts in milk before bedtime. But now my A1C is creeping up. My fasting glucose sometimes in the low 90s. I’m confused about my diet, but eliminating sweets, watching carbs. I have some notes from you I follow carefully. But what should I eat around 11:00 pm before bedtime? Natural peanut butter? Will that suppress my insulin or support it? Having low blood sugar, one tries to keep insulin at bay. Now I need, as you say, not make it do all the work. I walk about 5 times a week, 2 and 1/2 miles. Thanks for your help.
Good morning Dr. Sukol and thank you for your advice. I just watched your TedTalk and really enjoyed it. When we got him my kids were laughing that their mom, the pop drinker and person who puts butter on everything, is healthier than dad (me).
As for business, I too am writing my own book and have my own blog if you ever have any spare time.
If you are ever inspired to come visit, my best friend and partner owns a fashion activity center and his own catalog at these two sites. The first is https://iworldshoppingcenter.com/tonywalkerco and the second which is our catalog is https://iworldshoppingcenter.com/tony-walker/catalog/ Take care and Happy New Year.
Joe
Thank you Joe for all this great info! I’m glad you and your family enjoyed the TED talk — now it’s my turn to check out all the links you provided! Look forward to hearing about your progress. Happy new year to you and yours, RBS
Hi Dr. Sukol – I’ve been a reader of your’s for years now and have learned so much from this site. I’m 33 and am 6 months pregnant with my first child. My doctor just diagnosed me with Gestational Diabetes and I’m at a loss. To say I’m shocked is an understatement as I’ve been been eating whole foods and intact carbs for years. My weight has always been healthy and I’ve exercised almost daily for many years. My doctor says Gestational Diabetes isn’t caused by a poor diet or lack of exercise but that it’s an issue with the placenta and hormones. Can you shed some light on Gestational Diabetes? I’m meeting with an endocrinologist tomorrow and feel horrible about this diagnosis. I thought GD could be prevented with diet and exercise but have been proven wrong. Please help!
Your doctor is right and it sounds like you are getting good medical care. I want you to remember that you didn’t do anything to cause this, and that there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. Check that advice with your doctors and they will say the same. The most important thing is to keep your sugars in the normal range as best you can. That will be the best for your baby, too, and that’s what matters most. Keep up the good work, and trust that you and your baby will get through this just fine. Continue to rest, to eat nourishing food, and to keep active as you have been doing now for a very long time — luckily you’re already an expert at it! Be well. RBS
Thank you, Dr. Sukol! Your encouragement is so appreciated. I’m lucky to be working with a fantastic ob/gyn, endocrinologist and dietician to help me manage Gestational diabetes. Keep on doing the great work you do!
My pleasure — stay well!
I have been searching for you to thank for changing my life in 2015. I was
attending one of your special classes at Cleveland Clinic
You requested extensive lab work which has since helped me to understand.
my health issues.
Too bad more doctors don’t require bloodwork and take the time to read the
stats.
I am so glad you found me! I appreciate your words, and am grateful to have been able to help you. Wishing you the very best — RBS