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PDF GUIDES FROM DAWNE ILNISKY, RN

Understand the Insulin Connection Through Every Season of Life

Six plain-language guides from a registered nurse with 28 years in nursing, including long-term care, management and cardiology, and an educator for frontline healthcare workers. Learn what the research says about insulin, from metabolism and brain health to shift work, hormones, prediabetes and menopause, and bring clearer questions to your healthcare provider.

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Cover of The Insulin Connection guide by Dawne Ilnisky, RN Cover of The Brain Connection guide by Dawne Ilnisky, RN Cover of The Shift Work Connection guide by Dawne Ilnisky, RN Cover of The Hormone Connection guide by Dawne Ilnisky, RN Cover of The Diabetes Connection guide by Dawne Ilnisky, RN Cover of The Menopause Connection guide by Dawne Ilnisky, RN

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Each guide explains the science in everyday language, with key points at the end of every chapter, Canadian lab units and full references. Read on any device, or print the pages you want to bring to your next appointment.

Cover of The Insulin Connection

20-PAGE PDF GUIDE

The Insulin Connection

Understanding Insulin Resistance, Inflammation and Your Metabolic Health

  • What metabolic health is, and the five everyday measures doctors look at
  • What insulin does, and why insulin resistance and high insulin can go unnoticed for years
  • The four metabolic imbalances (insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure and visceral fat) and how they connect
  • How inflammation and insulin resistance can feed each other
  • Root causes and contributing factors, from stress and sleep to genes and medications
  • Questions to bring to your healthcare provider, a reflection checklist and a glossary
$17CAD
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BEST VALUE
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BOTH GUIDES · 42 PAGES

The Connection Bundle

The Insulin Connection + The Brain Connection

  • Both complete PDF guides
  • Written as companions: The Brain Connection builds on the basics explained in The Insulin Connection
  • The full picture, from insulin and metabolic health to what researchers are learning about the brain
  • Two sets of questions to bring to your healthcare provider, plus two reflection checklists
  • Two glossaries and fully referenced sources
$29CAD

Save $5 compared with buying both separately ($34)

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Cover of The Brain Connection

22-PAGE PDF GUIDE

The Brain Connection

Insulin Resistance, Inflammation and Your Brain Health

  • How the brain uses energy, and what insulin does there
  • Brain insulin resistance, and what the phrase "type 3 diabetes" means (a research term, not a diagnosis)
  • What large studies have found about blood sugar, diabetes and dementia risk, and why association isn't causation
  • Pathways researchers are studying: inflammation, ceramides, blood vessel health and the insulin-degrading enzyme
  • The four metabolic imbalances and the brain, plus other factors such as sleep, hearing and social connection
  • Questions to bring to your healthcare provider, a memory-change reflection checklist and 26 references
$17CAD
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Each of these guides is a companion to The Insulin Connection, written for a different season or part of life. Each one is a 22-page PDF with the same plain language, questions for your appointment and full references.

Cover of The Shift Work Connection

22-PAGE PDF GUIDE

The Shift Work Connection

Night Shifts, Your Body Clock and Insulin Resistance

  • How your body clock works, and why night work pulls it out of step
  • Dr. Bikman's three drivers of insulin resistance (high insulin, stress hormones and inflammation) and how nights can press on all three
  • What large studies of nurses and other shift workers have found, and why association isn't causation
  • How short sleep, light at night, late meals and caffeine timing may ask more of insulin
  • Realistic ideas for sleep, food, caffeine and quick turnarounds, plus a sample day around a 12-hour night shift
  • Questions to bring to your healthcare provider, a reflection checklist, a glossary and 43 references
$17CAD
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Cover of The Hormone Connection

22-PAGE PDF GUIDE

The Hormone Connection

Insulin and Your Hormones Through the Reproductive Years

  • How insulin talks to the hormones of the reproductive years, in women and in men
  • Cycles and PCOS, and why regular blood sugar checks are part of good PCOS care
  • Pregnancy: why some insulin resistance is normal, what gestational diabetes is, and why screening is recommended
  • The years after a baby, including the follow-up glucose test to ask about after gestational diabetes
  • Men, testosterone and insulin, and what's worth raising with your doctor
  • Everyday foundations for each life stage, questions to bring to your healthcare provider, a reflection checklist and 39 references
$17CAD
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Cover of The Diabetes Connection

22-PAGE PDF GUIDE

The Diabetes Connection

Insulin Resistance, Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes, Explained by a Nurse

  • The long, quiet road from insulin resistance to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and why, as Dr. Benjamin Bikman explains, high insulin often comes first
  • What prediabetes numbers mean in Canadian units, and how often adults 40 and over are advised to be tested
  • Inside type 2 diabetes: the organs involved, from the liver and pancreas to the kidneys and brain
  • Why regular checks of the heart, kidneys, eyes and feet matter, and the ABCDEs to ask your doctor about
  • What researchers are studying about insulin and meal timing, drawing on Dr. Jason Fung, with clear safety notes if you take diabetes medication
  • Living well with your care team, questions to bring to your healthcare provider, a reflection checklist and 32 references
$17CAD
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Cover of The Menopause Connection

22-PAGE PDF GUIDE

The Menopause Connection

Insulin, Hormones and Your Metabolism Through Perimenopause and Beyond

  • The stages in plain words, from perimenopause to menopause and the years after
  • How estrogen and insulin work together, and what research shows as estrogen falls
  • Where the body stores fat in midlife, and why muscle matters for blood sugar
  • What researchers have found about hot flashes, night sweats, sleep and insulin
  • Your heart after menopause, and the midlife checks worth knowing about, including bone health
  • Dawne's own perimenopause story, questions to bring to your healthcare provider, a reflection checklist and 32 references
$17CAD
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All sales are final. Because the guides are digital downloads delivered instantly, all sales are final and no refunds are offered. If there's ever a problem with your download or a file, email me at dawne@intrinsiclotus.com and I'll make it right by resending or replacing it. See the Terms of Sale.

Please note: These guides are educational information only. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, and they are not a substitute for care from your doctor or another qualified health professional. General wellness information, not medical advice. Results vary. Talk to your healthcare provider about your own health.

Dawne Ilnisky, RN, founder of Intrinsic Lotus Health

Dawne Ilnisky, RN · Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Hi, I'm Dawne

I'm a Canadian registered nurse with 28 years in nursing, including long-term care, management and cardiology, and today I teach frontline healthcare workers. Over the years I noticed that blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and belly fat rarely travel alone, and many people wished someone had explained the connection sooner.

So I wrote these guides the way I'd explain things at a kitchen table: in plain language, with the research credited, and with room for your own questions.

The Brain Connection is personal for me. My dad died of dementia, and so did three of his brothers. Losing them is part of why I wanted to understand the research for myself, and part of why I wrote that guide. Dementia has many causes, and much about it is still unknown. My hope is simply to help you understand what researchers are learning, so you can have a better conversation with your doctor.

The Shift Work Connection and The Menopause Connection are personal too. In each one I share part of my own story, from years of evening and day shifts in long-term care to my own perimenopause. My experience is my own, and yours may look very different.

With care, Dawne

The guides draw on ideas from Why We Get Sick by Benjamin Bikman, PhD (BenBella Books, 2020). The Hormone, Diabetes and Menopause Connection guides also draw on The Diabetes Code and The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD (Greystone Books, 2018 and 2016). Their ideas are paraphrased in my own words and checked against Canadian sources and peer-reviewed research. The guides are not affiliated with or endorsed by Dr. Bikman or Dr. Fung.

How it works

Simple and quick, with nothing to ship and nothing to wait for.

1

Choose your guide

Pick one guide or the bundle and tap "Buy now".

2

Check out securely

Complete your purchase in Canadian dollars.

3

Get your download link

Your PDF download link is emailed to you right after purchase. Read it on any device, or print it.

Questions

If yours isn't here, email me at dawne@intrinsiclotus.com.

What format are the guides?

Each guide is a PDF you can read on your phone, tablet or computer, or print at home. The Insulin Connection is 20 pages, and each of the other guides is 22 pages. They're for your personal use.

How will I receive my guide?

Right after you purchase, you'll get an email with your download link. If you don't see it within a few minutes, please check your spam or promotions folder, or email me and I'll help.

Who are these guides for?

Curious, busy adults who want to understand how insulin, inflammation, metabolic health and brain health connect, including those of us caring for aging parents. The newer guides are for shift workers, women and men in their reproductive years, anyone who has been told their blood sugar is a little high, and women in perimenopause and beyond. You don't need a science background.

Do I need to read The Insulin Connection first?

It helps, but it isn't required. The other guides are written as companions and don't repeat the basics at length, so if insulin resistance is new to you, The Insulin Connection or the bundle may be the easier place to start.

Can I get a refund?

Because the guides are digital downloads delivered instantly, all sales are final and no refunds are offered. If there's ever a problem with your download or a file, just email me at dawne@intrinsiclotus.com and I'll make it right by resending or replacing it.

Is this medical advice?

No. These guides are general wellness information for education only. They don't diagnose, treat or replace care from your doctor or other qualified health professional. Talk to your healthcare provider about your own health, especially before changing how you eat, move or sleep, or if you take medication for diabetes or blood pressure.

Ready to understand the connection?

Choose the guide that fits where you are, or get The Insulin Connection and The Brain Connection together in the bundle. Take what's helpful, and bring your questions to your next appointment.

See the guides