How to reduce the risk of getting diabetes
Did you gain weight during the quarantine time? Did you know that being overweight will actually increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, and it will suppress your immune system too which in turn can open the door for other diseases?
In the US alone over 10% of the population, or around 30 million people, have type 2 diabetes. In addition, if we look at pre-diabetes then over 84 million US adults are pre-diabetic, with most people not even knowing that they have it.
Your blood sugar levels are mainly affected by what you eat. The body releases a hormone in the pancreas called insulin which helps the glucose from your food get into your cells where it can be used for energy. However, if this happens too often — in other words if you’re consuming too much sugar — then insulin becomes unable to answer the demands that the body is putting on it, and you will become insulin resistant and the sugar will stay in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells. This can lead to constantly high blood sugar levels, and ultimately weight gain and other complications too.
Pre-diabetes is defined as a higher than normal fasting blood glucose level — between 100 to 125 mg/dL (or 5.6 to 7.0 mmol/L). A fasting blood sugar level of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or higher indicates type 2 diabetes. Most pre-diabetics already have some insulin resistance, or the pancreas is not making enough insulin to keep blood glucose in the normal range.
Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes is mostly a lifestyle disease. So what you eat, how active you are, and how high your stress levels are can play important roles.
So how can you prevent it? Or if you are already pre-diabetic or diabetic, can you reverse it? Here’s a few tips:
1 - You must eat low-glycemic index carbohydrates, such as veggies (see the related articles below for more details).
2 - Stay active, at least 8000 steps day as well as some type of resistance training, for most people maybe 20 to 30 minutes, 4 times a week (see example home workout below).
3 - Eat 3 meals per day, no snacking between.
4 - Practicing at least 12 hours fasting a day.
5 - Consume enough water and salt.
6 - Eat LOTS of lean protein.
7 - Don't be afraid of fat, which can make you feel fuller and also helps balance your hormones.
8 - Even once restaurants open again try not to eat much outside, start to cook more at home.
9 - Practicing daily meditation.
10 - The most important one — stay consistent. Motivation requires meaning! Find the meaning in what you’re doing.
Improvement can happen only with demands.
Example home workout:
- 2 Body weight squat ( or sit down and stand the chair)
- 2 jumping jacks (or on and outs)
- 2 walk to toe touch with the full rach to sky
- 2 sit-ups
- 2 supermans
- Then repeat for 20 minutes and see how many sets you can do. If it’s too easy then add 2 burpee's and 2 push-up’s.
Related articles:
- https://healthangelwarrior.com/you-can-heal-type-2-diabetes
- https://healthangelwarrior.com/do-carbohydrates-make-you-fat
- https://healthangelwarrior.com/glycemic-index
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