. Diabetes affects the way that blood sugar (glucose) is processed in your body. An essential energy source, glucose is present in the bloodstream after consuming food. Insulin, produced by the pancreas, takes the glucose out of the blood and distributes it to the liver cells, muscles, and fat, where it is turned into usable energy for the body. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. Approximately 10 percent of people with diabetes have Type 1, while Type 2 is more prevalent. In brief, the background to the types of diabetes is as follows:[3]
- Type 1 diabetes
: This condition involves destruction of more than 90 percent of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, causing the pancreas to cease making insulin or to make very little. Type 1 diabetes tends to occur prior to the age of 30 and it may involve an environmental factor, as well as a genetic predisposition.[4]
- Type 2 diabetes
: While the pancreas continues to produce insulin, or even higher levels of insulin, the body develops a resistance to the insulin, causing scarcity of insulin for the body's needs and blood sugar levels remain permanently too high. While this type of diabetes can occur in children and adolescents, it usually begins in people over 30 and becomes more common as people age. It tends to run in families and around 15 percent of people over 70 have diabetes Type 2.[5] Type 2 symptoms may not show symptoms for years or even decades before being diagnosed.
- Gestational diabetes
develops during pregnancy. Left untreated, serious side effects can injure the mother and affect the unborn child. Having gestational diabetes, that resolves after delivery, increases your chances of developing Type 2 Diabetes in some point of your life and getting gestational diabetes in a next pregnancy. It also increase the chances of getting cardiovascular diseases after 15 tot 20 years from 1,5 tot 7,8 times!
- Other specific types of diabetes resulting from specific genetic syndromes, surgery, drugs, malnutrition, infections, and other illnesses may account for 1 percent to 2 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.[6] Diabetes insipidus is not related to blood sugar levels.[7] It is a relatively rare disease and is not covered in this article.
- Obesity – based on body mass index, a BMI over 29 increases your odds of diabetes to one in four.[9]
- Older than age 45. Note that pre-menopausal women are probably helped by the levels of estrogen, which helps to clear away fatty acids that cause insulin resistance, and helps insulin absorb glucose more rapidly.[10]
- Having a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunts and uncles, etc., who has or did have Type 2 diabetes. This can indicate a family gene predisposing you to diabetes.[11]
- A diagnosis of heart disease or high cholesterol. Cardiovascular risks include high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, and high LDL cholesterol, and a study showed that one in four people in Europe suffering from these risk factors were also pre-diabetes.[12]
- People of Hispanic, African American, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander descent are at almost double the risk of white Americans.[13][14]
- Up to 40 percent of women who experienced gestational diabetes are at risk of developing diabetes Type 2 later in life.[15]
- A low birth weight increases your chances of developing diabetes by 23 percent for babies 5.5 pounds and by 76 percent for babies under 5 pounds.[16]
- Diet high in sugar (especially fructose),[17] cholesterol, and processed food.
- Irregular or no exercise - less than 3 times per week.[18]
- Pre-diabetes exists where your blood glucose is higher than normal. It's a key indicator of metabolic breakdown taking place, leading to Type 2 diabetes.[20]
- Pre-diabetes is reversible. Left ignored, the American Diabetes Association warns that your odds for getting Type 2 diabetes within a decade are almost 100 percent.[21]
- The CDC recommends that anyone aged 45 or over should be tested for diabetes if you're overweight.[22]
- Increase your daily servings of fruit and vegetables. Aim for seven to nine daily servings of fruit and vegetables.[23] They can be fresh, frozen, or dried, but it is preferable to err on the side of as much fresh produce as possible.[24] Try to reduce your intake of canned vegetables because they have higher salt content.
- Eat good carbohydrates. Skip the pastries, cakes, fries, and other processed carbs. Fill up instead on carbohydrates that are healthy – fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals and breads. Look for choices with good fiber content; fiber has been shown to lower blood sugar by acting as a "mop" slowing down the digestive process and the speed with which glucose enters the bloodstream.[25]
- Eat whole grains, whole grain rice, breakfast cereals with 100 percent whole grain content, whole grain pasta, etc.
- Eat whole-wheat bread, bagels, pita bread, and tortillas.
- Stop drinking sugar.[26] Quench your thirst with water most of the time. If you're worried about its quality, purchase a filter. Sodas, soft drinks, fruit juice, cordial, fruit drinks, flavored water, energy drinks, etc., are all sources of invisible sugar that your body does not need. Leave these drinks for treats only and rely on drinking water, dairy milk, or unsweetened soy, oat, nut, etc., milks. Soda water and sparkling mineral water are free of sugar; a few drops of lemon or orange juice freshly squeezed can be sufficient to flavor these drinks pleasantly. Coffee and tea are also OK in moderation, without sugar. Persevere; your body will crave sweetened drinks initially until you wean yourself from the habit.
- Stop snacking on sugar.[27] Sugar resides in many snacks from the obvious cakes, pastries, candies, and chocolate, to the less obvious fruit bars and sweetened yogurts. Sugar is cheap and it satisfies cravings, provides a quick pick-me-up for after-lunch crashes, and is serves a never-ending need for fast energy fixes. Do you have a cookie or sweet snack with every coffee? These soon add up. Don't stock up on sugary treats and don't reach for them when you feel like a lift. Leave fruit, vegetable pieces, nuts, and other healthy items within reach instead.
- Watch out for sugary breakfast cereals. Prefer cereals with less sugar and that are 100 percent wholegrain. Or substitute with oatmeal, amaranth, or other grain-based sugarless options. Try making your own muesli.
- Eat less fat. Consume less than 30 percent of your daily calories as fat, and only 10 percent of that as saturated.[28] Avoid trans-fats as much as possible.[29] Trim fat off meat, eat lean cuts of meat, and use more monounsaturated oils, such as olive oil.
- Keep treats for special occasions. The constant availability of sweet and fatty food is the equivalent of a permanent feast. Many of us have lost the ability to restrain ourselves from eating sweet and fatty treats and have absorbed them into our diets on a daily basis. In the past, human beings could only enjoy such a vast array of treats on special occasions such as feasts and celebratory occasions. The delayed gratification involved in waiting for such occasions increased the sweetness and delectable taste of the treats; nowadays, it's almost a taken-for-granted solution to every hiccup during the day – "Someone said my work sucked! I need chocolate!". While we can't change the crazy pace of our workplace and lives (yet), we can stand up for our personal health by not using food as the stress crutch it has become, and by leaving treats to true special occasions for savoring.
- Take it easy. "Diets" tend to fail because they're short term and we want to reach an "end" point. A lifestyle eating change is for good and involves gradually cutting out the foods that increase health risks, while increasing the healthier foods. As it is gradual, your body becomes more attuned to healthier food and you'll start enjoying it a lot more without the added flavorings, processing, sugar, fats, and salt.
- Take walks during your lunch break. If you can walk half an hour each lunch for 5 days a week, you'll be keeping yourself fit and healthy.
- Avoid the rush hour by exercising near your work after knock-off time. Go home a little later, exercised, and unstressed because the traffic levels have eased.
- Get a dog or start walking your existing dog - dogs make it easier to exercise and are a form of responsibility that obliged you to get out.
- Walk to your local shops rather than taking the car. Unless you've got heavy packages to carry, walking locally makes good sense. It's a good opportunity to go with a friend or family member too, and to have a chat. Conversing while walking makes the walk seem shorter.
- Renew the songs on your iPod or MP3 player. Give yourself a great excuse to walk or run while listening to your music selection.
- Always keep monitoring up with your doctor. Follow your doctor's advice.
- If you need help, consider speaking to a registered dietitian who can assist you with developing a meal plan.
- Consider seeing a psychologist if you have underlying emotional issues that cause you to consume too much or to eat an unhealthy diet.
via wikihow.com
In the past 30 years, the prevalence of Diabetes Type 2 has skyrocketed to the point where it is now viewed as an epidemic in the western world. From being a once fairly mild and rare ailment of the elderly to becoming a chronic disease, diabetes mellitus affects people of every age, race, and background, and is now a major modern cause of premature death in many countries around the world, with someone dying from Diabetes Type 2 every 10 seconds worldwide.[1] Being the leading cause of kidney failure, lower limb amputation, and blindness in developed countries, as well as increasing the likelihood of death from heart disease,[2] diabetes mellitus is a modern-day scourge. Its gradual debilitating effects destroy quality of life well before causing untimely death. And what is of greatest concern is that most cases of Diabetes Type 2 are preventable. While Type 1 Diabetes is generally a hereditary disease, this article focuses on the ways in which you can seek to avoid Type 2 Diabetes, a disease which can often be prevented with appropriate attention to the risk factors.
