Diabetes is a common life-long health condition. There are 3.5 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 549,000 people who have the condition but don’t know it. Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in your blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. This is because your pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin, or not enough insulin, to help glucose enter your body’s cells – or the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance).
Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas that allows glucose to enter the body’s cells, where it is used as fuel for energy, so we can work, play and live our lives. It is vital for life. Glucose comes from digesting carbohydrate and is also produced by the liver. If you have diabetes, your body cannot make proper use of this glucose, so it builds up in the blood and can’t be used as fuel.
There are two main types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes develops when glucose can’t enter the body’s cells to be used as fuel. This happens when either: There is no insulin to unlock the cells (Type 1) There is no enough insulin, or the insulin is there but not working properly (Type 2).
Nearly 25% of Nigerians between age 30-70 are thought to have type 2 diabetes – a condition of elevated blood sugar levels and insulin resistance but only 4% of people know it. What’s worse is, of those who are aware, less than half try to reduce their risk by losing weight, eating less, and exercising more.
Here are few of the good-for-you habits that can help you kick diabetes out naturally and ensure you never get sentenced to a lifetime of drugs and blood sugar monitoring, an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other scary health threats.
1. Lose weight
Shedding even 15 kg can significantly reduce your risk. Even extremely overweight people were 70% less likely to develop diabetes when they lost just 5% of their weight—even if they didn’t exercise. If you weigh 175 pounds, that’s a little less than 9 pounds! Use our calorie calculator to see how many calories you consume—and how many you need to shave off your diet—if you want to lose a little.
2. Pick the right appetizer
I strongly recommend the salad. Eating greens before a starchy meal has been found to help control blood sugar levels. In an Arizona State University study, people with type 2 diabetes or a precursor condition called insulin resistance had lower blood sugar levels if they consumed a plate of salad with vinegar just before a high-carb meal. “Vinegar contains acetic acid, which may inactivate certain starch-digesting enzymes, slowing carbohydrate digestion,” says lead researcher Carol Johnston, PhD. In fact, vinegar’s effects may be similar to those of the blood sugar. Before you eat the next carb meal, enjoy a plate of salad dressed with vinegar, and you are simply closing the door on diabetes.
3. Walk as much as you can every day
You’ll be healthier—even if you don’t lose any weight. People in a Finnish study who exercised the most—up to 4 hours a week, or about 35 minutes a day—dropped their risk of diabetes by 80%, even if they didn’t lose any weight. This pattern holds up in study after study: The famed Nurses’ Health Study, for example, found that women who worked up a sweat more than once a week reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 30%. And Chinese researchers determined that people with high blood sugar who engaged in moderate exercise (and made other lifestyle changes) were 40% less likely to develop full-blown diabetes.
Why is walking so wonderful? Studies show that exercise helps your body utilise the hormone insulin more efficiently by increasing the number of insulin receptors on your cells. Insulin helps blood sugar move into cells, where it needs to go to provide energy and nutrition. Otherwise, it just sloshes around in your bloodstream, gumming up blood vessel walls and eventually causing severe health problems.
4. Be a cereal lover
Selecting the right cereal can help you slim down and steady blood sugar. A higher whole grain intake is also linked to lower rates of breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke—and cereal is one of the best sources of these lifesaving grains if you know what to shop.
Some tips: Look for the words high fibre on the box; that ensures at least 5g per serving. But don’t stop there. Check the label; in some brands, the benefits of fibre are overshadowed by the addition of refined grains, added sugar, or cholesterol-raising fats. Decode the grains: Where that fibre comes from matters too, so check the ingredient list to find out precisely what those flakes or squares are made from. Millet, amaranth, quinoa, and oats are always whole grain, but if you don’t see whole in front of wheat, corn, barley, or rice, these grains have been refined and are not as healthy.
5. Watch for hidden sugar
The “total sugars” listing doesn’t distinguish between added and naturally occurring sugars; the best way to tell is to scan the ingredients again. The following terms represent added sugars: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sugar, and sucrose. Skip cereals that list any of these within the first three ingredients (which are listed by weight).
6. Get hooked on vegetables
Consider red meat a treat—not something to eat every day. A 37,000-woman study at a Brigham Women’s Hospital found that women who ate red meat at least 5 times a week had a 29% higher risk of type 2 diabetes than those who ate it less than once a week. And eating processed meats such as bacon and hot dogs at least 5 times a week raised type 2 diabetes risk by 43%, compared with eating them less than once a week. Scientists suspect the cholesterol in red meat and the additives in processed meat are to blame.
7. Spice up your life with onions and garlic
Chromium available in large quantity in onions helps in high blood sugar reduction. German researchers studied 65 adults with type 2 diabetes who then took a capsule containing the equivalent of 1 g of chromium powder or a placebo 3 times a day for 4 months. By the end, chromium reduced blood sugar by about 10%; the placebo users improved by only 4%. Why? Compounds in chromium may activate enzymes that stimulate insulin receptors. The sweet spice has also been shown to help lower cholesterol and triglycerides, blood fats that may contribute to diabetes risk. Garlic also has concentrated the amount of Zinc.
Laboratory studies have shown that zinc acts like insulin when administered to insulin-sensitive tissue and that it seems to stimulate insulin action. Zinc is also necessary for the correct processing, storage, and secretion of insulin, and it can protect against a ß-cell loss, a hallmark of diabetes. Because zinc is so closely tied to insulin functioning, zinc deficiency is associated with reduced ß-cell function and higher incidences of insulin resistance.
8. Get hooked on natural food supplements
It is no longer news that many Diabetic Nigerians have now regained their sound health using carefully selected combination of food supplements branded DRT. It has effected cure for lots of them who have been bold enough to engage this 30days natural solution. What is it that makes DRT this effective? DRT is a pack of Supplements that help your body heal from diabetes, especially while your body works to gain proper insulin reactions.
