Ad ideas for Photography on Meta.

For 48 hours only, save 20% on select WANDRD gear. Bags, accessories, and more are on sale—but not for long. Shop before it ends.

For 48 hours only, save 20% on select WANDRD gear. Bags, accessories, and more are on sale—but not for long. Shop before it ends.

If you have a creative mind, learn to look at life thorugh a different lens. Build the knowledge, technical skills and portfolio to take your photography skills further at the Adelaide College of the Arts. Go get it. Study Photography in 2027.

rocky’s matcha at home with our friend, Tess Madalyn Gigone

Photography: @lyndseyconstable

Designed for those who want an elevated screen-free photography experience with a nostalgic twist 📸

5 doctors blamed my recurring UTIs on dehydration. Said it was common at your age with T2 diabetes.

Just drink more water and keep taking antibiotics.

I kept a prescription on my nightstand for nine months straight.

I'm Carol. I've been a certified diabetes educator for 31 years. I have sat across from thousands of patients and walked them through exactly what elevated blood sugar does to the body when the underlying cause is never truly addressed.

I thought I understood this disease better than most people alive.

But for most of those 31 years, I believed my own Type 2 diabetes was controlled. My A1C was 6.9. My doctor called it managed. I took my metformin every morning, watched every meal, and walked the neighborhood after dinner because I had read the research and I knew what the research said.
What I did not know was that managed and fixed are not the same word.

Because seven months into what I had told myself was a stable, well-handled life with a controlled number, I started getting UTIs. One after another. Every six to eight weeks, like a tide I could not stop.

The burning would start mid-afternoon at work. By evening, I was at urgent care.

Antibiotics. Three days. Clear.

Six weeks later it was back.

My doctors' answer, every single time: Drink more water. Some women are just more prone to these as they get older.

I am 62 years old. I am a certified diabetes educator. I have spent thirty-one years explaining to patients the exact way a body deteriorates when the root problem is never truly fixed.

And my own doctors were handing me the same line I had watched other providers give their patients for years.

I did everything they said. Two liters of water became three. Cranberry extract supplements by the case. D-mannose powder. Hygiene changes. Every forum suggestion, every home remedy that had worked for someone else.

The UTIs kept coming.

By the eighth infection in nine months, the receptionist at my local urgent care handed me the specimen cup before I reached the desk.
That was the moment I knew this had nothing to do with hydration.

Then something happened that I have not stopped thinking about since.

I was doing a home visit with one of my long-term patients. A woman I will call Dorothy. 66 years old. Type 2 for fourteen years. She had spent most of the past year cycling through UTIs exactly like mine. One every six weeks. Always treated. Always back.

But when I walked into her kitchen that Tuesday afternoon, something was different.

She looked lighter. Clear eyes. The kind of settled expression people have when something that was grinding away at them has stopped.

I checked her chart. Zero infections in three months.

I sat across from her. Dorothy. Your infections. What changed?

She smiled the way people smile when they have been waiting for someone to ask.

My granddaughter found something. Ceylon cinnamon. A concentrated extract in softgels. She sent me a bag and told me to try it for a month.

I stared at her.

You're telling me a cinnamon supplement stopped your UTIs?

I'm telling you I haven't been back to urgent care in fourteen weeks. And my doctor looked at my glucose last week and told me, whatever I'm doing, keep doing it.

I drove home running the math.

Fourteen weeks. No infections. Glucose improving. After a year of antibiotics every six weeks producing nothing but temporary relief and a yeast infection on the back end.

I got home and could not sleep.

Not from a UTI, for once.

From what she had said.

I have thirty-one years of diabetes education behind me. I do not believe in testimonials without mechanisms. But I also know that the connection between blood sugar and recurring urinary tract infections is something almost nobody in clinical practice ever explains. Not in a fifteen-minute appointment. Not in a prescription refill call. Not in a single continuing education unit I had sat through in three decades.

So at 11:52 PM I started reading.

And here is what I should have connected years ago.

Every cell in the body has microscopic transporters called GLUT4 receptors. Their job is straightforward: when insulin signals them, they open and pull glucose out of the blood and into the cell, where it becomes fuel. In insulin resistance, those transporters stop responding to the signal properly. The glucose has nowhere to go. It keeps circulating in the blood for hours longer than it should.

The kidneys filter blood continuously. They were never designed to return that much excess glucose to the blood. When blood glucose stays elevated for long enough, some of it spills. Into the urine.

And bacteria do not randomly choose where to thrive. They respond to the environment they land in. Glucose-rich urine is one of the most welcoming environments E. coli and other bacteria know. They feed on it. They multiply faster inside it. They resist clearance in a way they cannot when the urinary environment is lean and hostile.

Antibiotics clear the bacteria that are currently there. They do not change the urine.

The infection clears. The environment that invited the bacteria in the first place stays exactly the same. Six weeks later, the next exposure finds identical conditions and the cycle starts again.

That was the part nobody had ever explained to me.

My UTIs were not bad luck. They were not dehydration. They were not something that happens to women my age.

They were the downstream result of glucose that had nowhere to go, spilling into the one environment where bacteria do not just survive but thrive.
The antibiotics were treating the smoke. Nobody was touching the fire underneath.

I found the first study at 12:40 AM. Japanese researchers working with Type 2 patients on clinical-dose Ceylon cinnamon extract showed meaningful improvements in insulin sensitivity and fasting blood glucose within twelve weeks.

The second was from India. Patients with metabolic dysfunction showed measurably better glucose clearance after standardized cinnamon extract.

The third connected the mechanism directly. The active compounds in true Ceylon cinnamon help activate GLUT4 transporters, the same cellular doors that stop responding in insulin resistance. Not forcing them. Waking them.

When those transporters start responding again, glucose moves from the blood into cells the way it was designed to. Less stays circulating. Less spills into the urine. The environment in the urinary tract begins to change. Not because you killed the bacteria this round. Because the conditions that kept welcoming bacteria back are starting to shift upstream.

That was the part metformin had never done.

My medication had been holding my glucose reading in place. It had never touched the GLUT4 problem underneath it. Every antibiotic course I finished did exactly what it was built to do and nothing more. The system was working as designed. The design was incomplete.
I ordered a bag the next morning.

I chose Ceylon cinnamon specifically, not generic cinnamon. I had read enough by then to know the distinction mattered. But I did not order Metabolae first. I ordered a generic capsule from an online marketplace. Fourteen dollars. Five hundred milligrams per capsule.
I took two every morning with breakfast.

After two weeks, my next infection came late. One week behind its usual schedule, but still present.
I was disappointed. But not ready to stop.
I went back and read more carefully.

The studies had not used five hundred milligrams of dry cinnamon powder. They had used concentrated extracts equivalent to 6,000 to 7,200 milligrams of raw Ceylon bark daily. And cinnamon's active compounds are fat-soluble. Not water-soluble. A dry powder capsule taken with a glass of water absorbs poorly. The compounds that need to reach the bloodstream pass through the system largely unused.

That was when I found Metabolae.

True Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka. Not Cassia from China. Not ground powder compressed into a capsule. A 12:1 concentrated liquid extract delivering 7,200 milligrams equivalent per softgel, suspended in MCT oil so the fat-soluble compounds actually absorb. Third-party tested every batch.
GMP certified. Verified for species, potency, and coumarin levels.
Softgels, not capsules. One a day.

I ordered a bag that afternoon.

Week one: No infection. My usual six-week countdown had always been dependable. It was already different.

Week two: My morning glucose readings started running a few points lower than my normal range. Steady. Not dramatic. But consistent.

Week three: Still no infection. The readings kept moving in the same direction.

Week four: I had passed my longest stretch without a UTI in over a year. I started printing my readings.

Week six: The afternoon fatigue that had hit me every single day at 2 PM had quietly stopped arriving. I was staying sharp through the end of clinic hours.

Nine weeks in: No UTI. I had my quarterly appointment with my endocrinologist.

She pulled up my glucose log. Looked at it. Looked again.

Your readings have been shifting for six weeks. What changed?

I added Ceylon cinnamon extract. Concentrated, in MCT oil. I brought the research.

I handed her four published papers. She read for several minutes without speaking.

Then she sat back. Your numbers don't just look held in place. They look like they're improving at the source.
I nodded.

Keep doing what you're doing, she said.

That was ten months ago.

I have not had a single UTI since I switched to Metabolae.

Ten months. Zero infections. After nine months of one every six to eight weeks without fail.

My fasting glucose runs in the low 90s most mornings. My A1C dropped from 6.9 to 6.3 at my last check. My doctor and I are now discussing something I did not expect to be discussing for years: whether my metformin dose might come down, under her supervision, based on how consistently the metabolic markers have shifted.

I have recommended Metabolae to seven patients dealing with recurring UTIs alongside their diabetes. All seven came back with the same sequence.

Glucose beginning to ease in the first month. Infections spacing out, then stopping. Energy steadier through the afternoon.

One patient called me from her car because she could not hold it together in the waiting room. She had been cycling through UTIs for over a year and had just made it twelve weeks without a single trip to urgent care.

Another patient's fasting glucose dropped from 141 to 112 in three months. Her internist called her to ask what she had changed.

But I need you to understand something before I tell you where to get it.
I tried the cheap version first. After two weeks, my next infection still came. Not because cinnamon does not work. Because what I was taking was not what the studies used.

Most cinnamon supplements fail for the same three reasons.

They are not real Ceylon. What fills most capsules sold on major platforms and retail shelves is Cassia, a different species grown primarily in China.

Cassia contains up to 250 times more coumarin, a compound linked to liver damage with daily long-term use. The clinical benefits were found in true Ceylon, Cinnamomum verum, sourced from Sri Lanka. Most brands will not tell you which species is in their product because they are using the wrong one.

They are underdosed. The research used a concentrated extract equivalent to 6,000 to 7,200 milligrams of raw Ceylon bark daily. Generic capsules typically contain 500 to 1,500 milligrams of dry powder. That is not a small gap. That is the difference between a dose the research validated and a dose that cannot do what the studies showed.

They use the wrong delivery. Cinnamon's active compounds are fat-soluble. Dry powder in a capsule taken with water absorbs poorly. The right carrier is

MCT oil, which dramatically improves bioavailability and carries the active compounds into the bloodstream where they can actually do their work.
The Ceylon cinnamon that shifted my glucose and ended my infections is Metabolae.

And Metabolae is not available on Amazon, Walmart, or any third-party marketplace.
I looked.

What you will find on those platforms may not contain what the label claims. May be using Cassia mislabeled as Ceylon. Almost certainly will not provide the 12:1 concentrated extract in MCT oil that matches the clinical dose. The price looks lower because the product is different.

The only way to get the verified formula, the authenticated Sri Lanka sourcing, the GMP-certified manufacturing, the third-party tested potency and coumarin levels, and the correct 7,200 milligram equivalent dose in MCT oil is directly through the official Metabolae website. That is the only version I can speak to. That is the only version I recommend.

Metabolae is true Ceylon. Cinnamomum verum, from Sri Lanka. Not just labeled Ceylon. Verified.
7,200 milligrams equivalent per softgel. A 12:1 concentrated extract. Suspended in MCT oil from coconuts. One softgel per day, in a bag. No harsh powder. No aftertaste. No cinnamon burps hours later.

Third-party tested per batch. GMP certified. Coumarin levels verified for safe daily long-term use.
I am not anti-medication. My metformin is still part of my protocol and my doctor is aware of everything I take.
But if you are like me. If the UTIs keep coming back weeks after you finish the antibiotics. If your doctor keeps saying drink more water while the infections return on the same schedule. If you have Type 2 diabetes and no one has ever explained to you what elevated blood sugar might be doing to your urinary tract environment.

This is worth trying.

Dorothy tried it. Her infections stopped.

I tried it. My infections stopped.

Seven patients I recommended it to tried it. Their infections stopped.

That is not a coincidence. That is a mechanism.

I am sharing this because I spent thirty-one years educating patients about diabetes without once connecting blood sugar to why their urinary tract infections kept cycling back. I want someone reading this to have that connection now, before another course of antibiotics and another six-week countdown.

Here is where I got mine: Metabolae Ceylon Cinnamon, 7,200mg equivalent, true Ceylon from Sri Lanka, MCT oil softgels. Available only through the official Metabolae website.

A few things I wish I had known before ordering:

Metabolae comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked. Open the bag. Take it for ninety days. If your glucose does not shift, if your infections keep cycling, if you see no meaningful difference at all, send back what is left and get every dollar back.

Take one softgel daily with breakfast. Each softgel delivers 7,200mg equivalent of concentrated Ceylon extract suspended in MCT oil. Do not substitute generic capsules. The species, the dose, and the delivery are not comparable, and the results will not be either.

Timeline: Most people notice glucose beginning to stabilize within three to four weeks. Infections typically start spacing further apart around weeks four to six. The full metabolic shift, where the urinary environment has genuinely changed at the source, builds over eight to twelve weeks. Give it the time the research used.

Do not buy Metabolae from Amazon, Walmart, or any third-party seller. It is only sold through the official Metabolae website. Anything else is not the verified formula. Buy directly to confirm you are getting the authenticated species, the correct dose, and the batch-tested product.

They do run promotions periodically. If one is available when you visit, order now. Each bag is a 30-day supply. Stock up if you can. Demand has grown, and they have sold out before.

If you are dealing with:

Urinary tract infections that come back within weeks of finishing antibiotics, no matter how carefully you follow every instruction. Burning that starts like clockwork regardless of how much water you drink. Type 2 diabetes you have been told is managed while infections keep returning on schedule. The fog and exhaustion that stack up after every antibiotic course. Doctors who keep telling you some women are just prone to this.

And especially if you are done accepting that explanation.

Try Metabolae. Give it ninety days. See what happens to your infection pattern. To your glucose readings. To your energy through the afternoon and the way your body feels by week six compared to the day you started.

If it does not work, you get your money back. But if it works as it did for me, for Dorothy, for the seven patients I have now recommended it to...

You will wonder why nobody explained the connection sooner.

I went from a specimen cup handed to me at the front desk before I said a word, nine months of antibiotics cycling in and out, and a urinary tract that felt like it was working against me, to ten months of zero infections, a glucose log that finally looks like the body is cooperating, and a doctor who is now talking about lowering my medication instead of holding it steady.

From burning every six weeks to nothing.
From a number that was managed to numbers that are actually improving.
From thirty-one years of educating patients about diabetes without understanding this connection, to finally understanding it and refusing to keep it to myself.

If there is even a chance this could work for you the way it worked for me, it is worth ninety days to find out.

~ Carol M., Certified Diabetes Educator, 31 years

P.S. Dorothy had tried two other cinnamon supplements before the one that worked. One was not even real Ceylon. It was Cassia, from a well-known online marketplace, mislabeled. The second was true Ceylon but at 600 milligrams of dry powder in a hard capsule with no fat carrier. Neither one moved her glucose or changed her infection pattern in any meaningful way. Wrong species. Wrong dose. Wrong delivery. That is the same failure point for most people who try cinnamon and conclude it does not work. The cinnamon did not fail. The product was not what the research used. If you are going to try Ceylon cinnamon for blood sugar and recurring infections, get the version that matches the clinical evidence. True Ceylon from Sri Lanka. 7,200 milligrams equivalent. MCT oil suspension. Third-party tested per batch. That is Metabolae. That is the only one worth taking.

”

Reliability—the #1 reason dealers choose Lutron.

rocky’s matcha at home with our friend, Tess Madalyn Gigone

Photography: @lyndseyconstable

Pricing, photography, shipping, and more — we handle it all.

Pricing, photography, shipping, and more — we handle it all.

Real art you’ll love at a price your budget will too. Discover affordable paintings, photography, and more.

🛍️ خصومات تصل إلى 70% في AliExpress! توفير كبير على منتجاتك المفضلة! تسوق من راحة منزلك!

More than just a magazine. 192 pages of mountain culture art, and photography in our oversized format.

Interested in learning photography? Learn online with hands-on exercises designed by award-winning photographers. Sign up today!

What if photography could become more than your passion? 🚀
Discover a clear path to build your skills, find your direction and turn photography into your career.

Lock in the best value creative subscription. Get unlimited stock downloads from the world’s broadest stock catalog, plus AI tools for video, audio, images & more.

👉 Subscribe now and save.

*Savings applies on Core Plans where total cost is $198, compared to the monthly plan price ($33/m) over 12 months ($396). All prices in USD.

Lock in the best value creative subscription. Get unlimited stock downloads from the world’s broadest stock catalog, plus AI tools for video, audio, images & more.

👉 Subscribe now and save.

*Savings applies on Core Plans where total cost is $198, compared to the monthly plan price ($33/m) over 12 months ($396). All prices in USD.

More than just a magazine. 192 pages of mountain culture art, and photography in our oversized format.

Shop the latest tech trend on Temu at an unbeatable prices, click to grab yours now.