This story has been contributed by 13WMAZ reporter Zach Merchant.
For people who experience food insecurity, there are health problems, but problems also exist for those who don't experience food insecurity.
Food is all around us, and here in Central Georgia that can mean a lot of unhealthy options.
Healthcare professionals say they're seeing those diet choices turn into a major diabetes problem.
It's a diagnosis that William Irby says took him by surprise.
"Like a ton of bricks, it was almost scary, you know," he said about his reaction.
Irby is not alone. The American Diabetes says more than one million Georgians have diabetes and more than two and a half million are pre-diabetic.
Combined, that's more than half the state's adult population.
The chief of cardiovascular thoracic surgery at Coliseum Hospital, Dr. Norman Hetzler, says if left unchecked, diabetes can lead to serious cardiac problems.
"Typically what happens is you get stuttering heart attacks, you start to go into heart failure and heart failure, you feel like you're drowning all the time," Hetzler said.
If this is sounding like a pretty bleak picture, Coliseum diabetes educator Carole Radney says with a focused approach, it doesn't have to be.
"There is hope that they can you know pretty much just watch those portions and make better choices and understand food better, and then it's 'hey, this isn't that bad,'" Radney explained.
Now, 10 years into his life as a diagnosed diabetic, Irby says that's a message he's trying to live by.
He stays away from most carbs, tries to keep his portion sizes small and has replaced French fries with some leafier fare.
The father of two proves a bad diagnosis doesn't have to mean a bad outcome.
