THE DIABETES THREAT

I have decided to include a piece on Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes and its effects on your life and body. Pre-Diabetes means that a sufferer has excessively raised blood glucose levels, but hasn’t quite reached the levels of Type 2 Diabetes. However, it has been discovered that even though Diabetes levels have not yet been reached, long-term damage, notably to the heart and the circulation system may still occur.

If you take steps to manage your glucose levels, by changing your eating habits and taking more regular exercise, you can prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

Before we go into prevention of Type 2 Diabetes, let’s look at the three types, Type 1, 2 & 3;

  • Type 1: Is usually diagnosed fairly early in children or young adults, it is an autoimmune disease which attacks and destroys the Beta cells in the Pancreas which produce insulin. This is why anyone diagnosed with insulin have to have daily injections of insulin.
  • If you imagine insulin as a key, and your muscle cells as locked doors, insulin unlocks the cell doors allowing sugar and starch (glucose) in the blood, to enter the cells which give your body energy. Unfortunately, there are currently no methods to prevent the onset of Type 1 Diabetes, and although you would need to undertake a strict nutrition and exercise program, administer daily insulin injections and blood glucose tests, none of these can reverse the condition. Symptoms of Type 1 include a raging thirst, and the need to urinate often, extreme tiredness, and poor skin conditions, infections and itchiness.
  • While this sounds serious and scary, and yes it is a serious condition, people with Type 1 can and do live a normal, healthy life.
  • Type 2: This is the most common type of diabetes, and if we use our locked cell door and key analogy again, the body is not producing enough keys to open the cell doors for the glucose to enter, and some of these may not fit the locks at all. When glucose builds up in the body, apart from the resulting tiredness because your muscles aren’t getting enough ‘food’, long term damage can be caused to your major organs, heart, kidneys, nerves, and can even result in blindness. Again, whilst very serious, it can be controlled, and you can live a long, healthy life.
  • Type 3: This is a very new form of diabetes, and effect the brain. Brain insulin levels are lower normal, and scientists believe this to be a contributory factor in Diabetics developing Alzheimer’s.

So to get back to Pre-Diabetes, you should understand by now, that there is plenty you can do to prevent yourself developing full-blown Type 2.

First and foremost is to look seriously at your diet, and by that, I don’t mean the latest ‘lose 50lbs of unsightly fat by tomorrow’ fad diet that grace every book shelf in the country. I’m talking about your general eating habits and overall nutrition. If you are eating one or two huge meals a day, with sugary snacks and drinks and sweets in-between these meals, then you’re onto a loser. Now many personal trainers and nutritionists will tell you, you have to eat six small meals a day, i.e. every 3 hours of your waking day. Have you ever tried it, it’s not as easy as it sounds! Even if you love food, it can and does get to the point where it becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. Well what’s the point in that? You only get one life; you just as well enjoy it while you’re here! Plus, if you have to work for a living as I do, how on earth do mange that? Yes you can plan in advance, but you would spend so much time cooking, I love cooking but come on people get a life.

Personally, I eat 3 good main meals a day, breakfast (NEVER TO BE MISSED) lunch, and dinner. I then intersperse these with healthy snacks of apples (a fantastic fat burning secret) mixed nuts (containing essential fats and proteins) mixed bean salads, or low-salt healthy cereals with raisins to sweeten.

However, I’m not a dietician or nutritionist, and what works for one person may not work for someone else, if you can mange 6 healthy meals a day, great keep at it as this will control your blood sugar spikes. There are some very good nutrition plans out there, you notice I don’t say ‘diets’ That’s because I don’t like diets, 95% of them fail, and why would you want to restrict yourself from the joy of food (not to be confused with the joy of sex, that’s a totally different book and website heh-heh) no, you should be thinking in terms of a lifetime nutrition plan, something that will take small changes and that you can sustain happily for the rest of your life. Remember, small changes add up to big results!

The next, is one that frightens a lot of people off; exercise. A soon as this word is mentioned, people imagine having to shell out for high priced gym fees, making a fool of themselves in front of bulked-up bodybuilders. For a start many gyms are no longer like that, they’re more about health and fitness than muscle, with excellent personal trainers. But if you really don’t like the idea of a gym, and you have a bit of space, buy yourself a basic bench and a couple of dumbbells. There are many great fat burning exercises you can do with this simple equipment. However, you don’t even need to buy these basics, you can use bodyweight exercises and cardio to burn your fat, (notice, burn fat not lose weight two very different things, burn fat healthy, lose weight not always, I’ll go into that another time) in the future I’ll perhaps include a page on this.

So to sum up, you can’t prevent Type 1 Diabetes but you can prevent or delay Type 2, by adopting a healthier, more active lifestyle, just 3 hours a week exercising can make a huge difference to you, if you want start off slow, try walking for 35-45 minutes a day, increasing this over time to twice per day, just start doing something, and keep Diabetes at bay.

For more information on Diabetes check out http://www.diabetes.co.uk http://www.diabetes.org.uk http://www.diabetes.org/

Please note I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice, if you are overweight and feel you may some of the symptoms expressed above, arrange to see your family doctor at you soonest convenience.

Paul.
More articles to follow, enjoy the rest of the site.

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