Learn How To Prevent Diabetes By Following These Steps

This disease formerly known as adult-onset diabetes is hitting an increasing number of adults. More alarming than this fact is the early onset showing up in teens and children. Public health officials would have termed it as an epidemic if it was an infectious disease.

Over 24 million Americans have diabetes and 25% of the number do not know that they have the disease. Studies show that at the current spread rate of type 2 diabetes, the victims in the United States will increase from 16 million (2005) to 48 million (2050). In 2010, over 285 million people had diabetes. The number expected to increase to 439 million by the year 2030.

Type 2 diabetes causes blindness and kidney failure. This disease is the leading cause of blindness and kidney failure among the adults. The mild to severe damage it causes along with other circulation problems lead to amputation of the leg or foot. Furthermore, it increases the probability of heart disease. In the United States, it causes 70,000 deaths every year, making it the seventh leading cause of death.

All these rising numbers and high rates of bad news should make people gloomy. However,  the god thing about type 2 diabetes is the fact that it is preventable. About 90% of the cases could be prevented by taking several steps such as keeping your weight under watch, proper exercise, having a balanced and healthy diet, and avoiding smoking cigarettes.

When eating, the most digestible carbohydrates such as rice, bread, or noodles are converted into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. The increase in blood sugars signals the pancreas to create and release insulin. Insulin instructs the cell to sponge up glucose, enabling it to slip inside the cells that need it.

Upon the shortage of insulin or when the body can’t use the insulin it makes, then, diabetes occurs. This is why you hear that diabetic people need to inject insulin in certain hours a day in their schedule.

Roughly 5 to 10 percent of diagnosed diabetes cases are found to be type 1 diabetes formerly known as juvenile-onset, or insulin-dependent diabetes. It occurs when the immune system attacks and disables the insulin-making cells in the pancreas.

Type 2 diabetes, however, begins when muscles and cells stop responding to “open up” signals by insulin. This is interpreted by the body to make more insulin that tries to ram blood sugar into the cells. The insulin-making cells are overworked making, them exhausted and leading them to fail.

 HOW TO LOWER THE RISK OF DIABETES

Like any other diseases known to man, changing your lifestyle, living a healthy life, and discipline could lower the risks of developing this disease along with the other complications that it might cause.

 WEIGHT

Controlling and watching your weight is a great help. The excess weight is a cause of type 2 diabetes. It makes you 20-40 times prone to the disease. Remember that too much food, especially carbohydrates, are then converted to too much excess of sugar in the blood. Losing the excess weight would not only increase your confidence but will effectively lower your risk of having diabetes.

 EXERCISE

Consult your doctor to recommend the appropriate exercises for you.  You can begin by limiting your non-movement activities such as watching television, sleeping under the sun, or extreme reading. Choose to move your body to avoid storing extra nutrition and sweat toxins away. Also, consider other cardiovascular diseases as well.

 DIET

If you want to live well and long, be wise enough in choosing what you eat. Choose whole grains and whole-grain products over processed ones. They contain minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that may help reduce the risk. The bran and fiber in whole grains make it difficult for the digestive enzymes to breakdown the starches into glucose, which slows the increase of blood sugar and gives lower glycemic index. This causes the insulin machinery of the body to be under less stress.

Most carbohydrates such as bread, rice, doughnuts and most breakfast cereals have high glycemic index, which spikes the blood sugar and insulin levels.

Choose water or tea over sugary beverages due to obvious reasons. Sugary drinks could lead to weight gain. It would be wise to switch from sugary drinks to water and unsweetened beverages to reduce weight.

Choose eating good fats over bad ones. Good fats are polyunsaturated fats found in liquid vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds. Bad fats are found in most kinds of margarine, packaged baked goods, fast foods, and fried foods.

Avoid red and processed meat. Instead, go for poultry, nuts, or fish.

 ALCOHOL

Moderate alcohol consumption every now and then also proves to decrease the risk of having diabetes. It increases the efficiency of insulin getting the glucose inside the cells.