Diabetes and Weight Management
Overcome Obesity to Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors
Are you overweight? Is your blood sugar out of control? Find out if you are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes?
Obesity is the number one risk factor for becoming diabetic. Weight management, therefore, is the key to controlling diabetes and lessoning your risk factors for the disease.
How does weight effect diabetes?
Being overweight makes it harder to control you blood sugar. Over time you can develop insulin resistance from eating a poor diet, not exercising enough and carrying excess weight. Losing weight, even 10% of your body weight, can reduce your chances of getting Type 2 Diabetes and becoming insulin resistant. By increasing your daily exercise and making small changes in your diet you can control your blood sugar.
Risks for Diabetics
Diabetes is a condition that occurs when your blood sugar levels are high. Because of this, your body has problems turning food into energy. Diabetes can lead to:
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Blindness
- Kidney Disease
- Nerve Damage
- Gum infections
- Amputations
Who is at Risk for Becoming Diabetic?
44 million Americans can officially be labeled obese. Overweight people are seven times more likely to decome diabetic than those at a healthy weight (www.bpdiabetes.com.)
There are a set of traits that make some people more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes. The two main factors are having pre-diabetes and obesity. Other factors include:
- A family history of diabetes
- Having gestational diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Women with PCOS
- Being inactive
- A history of heart disease
Signs That You Have Diabetes
- Hungry all the time
- Thirsty all the time
- Tried frequently
- Urinate a lot
- Unable to lose weight
- Blurred eyesight
- Sores that don’t heal
Diabetic Medication
There are several types of medicines available to help those with Diabetes. Metformin is one such drug that helps your pancreas make more insulin and helps your body use the insulin correctly. (www.BDdiabetes.com) The problem with this type of medication is that it carries serious health risks as well. One side effect that isn’t helpful for obese people is weight gain. The last thing you want to do is gain weight while you are treating your diabetes.
And for overweight people, it means you will have an even tougher time losing the weight and regaining your health.
Managing Diabetes
Perhaps the smarter way to control your insulin levels is to manage your diet and increase your daily exercise to include more aerobic activity. Counting your carbs is one way to be sure you are following a healthy diabetic diet. The Diabetic Food Pyramid offers a good starting point to learn how you should eat to control your blood sugar and manage both your weight and diabetes.
