I'm sure you agree that understanding the causes of diabetes, and what lead you down this road in the first
place, is extremely important. If you don't, you can't possibly hope to reverse the condition
permanently.
The problem with diabetes is that in its early stages it has no
specific symptoms. Most people don't even realize they're developing it
until, perhaps, they have a routine test at their doctor's surgery.
So if diabetes runs in your family or you're suffering from frequent episode of low blood sugar or you're wondering about what your diet is doing to you, read on, you'll be thankful that you've spared the time to consider the causes of diabetes.
It all starts with how the body handles glucose, the smallest and simplest sugar molecule. All the
carbohydrates we eat - found in fruit, vegetables and grains - are turned into glucose in the digestive
system and then absorbed into the bloodstream.
Glucose is essential to life. It's the fuel that
all your cells need to produce energy. It powers your movements, your thoughts and, more or less, everything
you do. In other words, you cannot live without glucose!
You might think that because glucose is
so important to all the cells, it would be very easy for it to gain access to them. Well that's not the
case. All our cells are surrounded by a membrane that jealously guards the entrance into the cell and it's
very selective. For very good reasons, not everything is allowed to enter.
This is where insulin comes in. After a meal, the body responds to the rise in blood glucose levels by secreting insulin.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and released into the bloodstream to travel to every cell of your body.
When insulin reaches the cells (see diagram), it lands on insulin receptors on the cell's surface and acts like a key that opens a lock, opening the glucose channels and allowing glucose to gain access to the cell.
So what could go wrong?
If the glucose is released slowly, moderate levels of insulin are released and have time to 'think' about where that glucose is needed most and send it there.
When high levels of glucose enter the bloodstream all at once, the body 'panics' as too much glucose can be harmful. To compensate, the body releases huge amounts of insulin, which quickly transfer glucose to the fat stores where it can do no harm, leading to weight gain.
In people with type 2
diabetes, there seem to be another problem: insulin doesn't work
properly. It is as if the 'lock' has somehow become jammed and the 'key'
no longer works. This is called insulin resistance and, in the long
run, leads to diabetes.
When the cells don't get the fuel they
need and go hungry, it causes fatigue, dizziness and many other symptoms
that people normally don't attribute to diabetes... read more about the Symptoms of Diabetes.
All this
sugar that remains in the bloodstream becomes toxic, eventually causing
cell damage which contributes to aging and furring of the arteries.
Blood vessels will be damaged, which in turn, may cause eye disease,
heart disease, nerve damage in the limbs and internal organs and kidney
disease (diabetic nephropathy)... read more on the Complications
of
Diabetes.
So, it's extremely important to find out the causes of diabetes and adopt a
strategy that can reverse the problem.
There can be two reasons:
By the way, this is the reason why it was given the name Diabetes Mellitus.
It comes from a Greek word meaning "pass through" and mellitus,
a Latin word for "honey" or "sweet".
As glucose passes through your kidneys, it carries water along with it, hence the frequent trips to the
bathroom.
What follows naturally is thirst. Also as your cells are deprived of
fuel, you'll experience fatigue. If your muscles don't have the glucose they need for power, you tire
easily.
This is why the main symptoms of diabetes are:
Read more about the signs and symptoms of
diabetes.
We've seen that when the cells become insensitive to insulin, you tend to put on weight but being
overweight and obese is also one of the major causes of diabetes type 2. So it's a catch 22 situation.
How does fat play a role in the development of this condition? The main reason is that body
fat releases several substances into the blood - free fatty acids, resistin, leptin, tumor necrosis
factor, which have several undesirable effects:
About 80 to 90% of type 2 diabetics are obese. The good news is that achieving the ideal body weight is
linked to restoring normal blood sugar in most cases.
The problem is, it's not always easy for
people with diabetes to lose weight, as diabetes itself will encourage the body to turn excess sugar
into fat very quickly, but we will discuss ways that can make losing weight easier.
Research shows that even with the strongest genetic predisposition, diabetes mellitus can be avoided in most cases.
You may be born with a vulnerability to diabetes, but you need something in the environment, including
diet, to set in motion events that trigger overt symptoms of the disease.
"We know that genetic factors predispose certain people to diabetes. But all of the data suggests that lifestyle factors, particularly diet and exercise, can determine whether those genetic factors actually manifest in the disease."
James Barnard, Ph.D., professor of physiological
science, UCLA
It has been discovered that when some ethnic groups more prone to the
condition (African American, Hispanic, Native American, Native
Australian or New Zelander, Asian American, Pacific Islander) follow the
traditional diet and lifestyle of their original culture, diabetes is
extremely low. It turns out that these groups are simply sensitive
to the Western lifestyle.
Take, for example, the Pima Indians.
Researchers discovered that Pimas who live in Mexico and eat a lot of
corn, beans and fruits are seldom overweight and rarely develop
diabetes. By contrast, the Pima Indians in Arizona eat an Americanized
diet that is high in sugar and fat and, no surprises there, they
commonly develop diabetes by age 50.
There's no doubt that the main causes of diabetes are diet and lifestyle. Lack of exercise, eating
processed foods, not eating enough whole foods, high intake of harmful fat and obesity, are all major
contributors to type 2 diabetes.
Lifestyle changes alone are associated with a 58% reduced risk
of developing diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance or insulin resistance.
Eating foods high on the glycemic index and glycemic load scale
increases the risk of developing diabetes. These tools measure how
quickly carbohydrate-rich foods raise blood sugar.
To find out why this is a problem, follow the
link to read more about them.
Fiber is essential in controlling the rise in blood sugar. Diets with inadequate amount of fiber, as is the
case with junk food, refined and processed food, cause blood sugar levels to rise very suddenly becoming
serious causes of diabetes.
For example, a review of studies about cereal grains found that
people who ate three servings of whole grains a day were 20 to 30% less likely to develop type 2
diabetes than those who ate less.
The recommendation is to consume at least 35 g. or more of
fiber per day from a variety of food sources, especially vegetables.
Consuming the wrong type of fats - saturated fats and trans fats (hydrogenated vegetable oils, as in
margarine, vegetable shortening) - can actually clog up the receptors on the cell membranes, much like
jamming chewing gum into a lock.
Conversely, monounsaturated fats, as in olive oil, and omega 3
fatty acids, found mainly in fish, have been proven to improve insulin action.
Cumulative free radical damage ages cells and contributes to type 2 diabetes. Diets high in fruits and vegetables improve control of blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of developing the condition. Especially foods high in vitamin C and E and carotenoids seem to provide antioxidant protection and lower the risk of diabetes.
People with type 2 diabetes have higher levels of free radicals, which exhaust antioxidant mechanisms while damaging DNA, proteins and membrane fatty acids. High levels of free radicals, high blood glucose and saturated fat activate inflammatory compounds, increase insulin resistance and impair insulin secretion.
I've discussed free radicals and antioxidants
extensively
in one of my Newsletters, click on the link to read it.
Hypothyroidism may be one of the leading causes of diabetes. According to researcher and author Stephen
Land, M.D., many complications of diabetes disappear when thyroid hormone is administered.
Many
of the complications of diabetes and hypothyroidism are a result of clogged arteries, which prevent the
blood from delivering nutrients and oxygen and carrying off waste and debris.
FURTHER READING:
Many different drugs are used to increase insulin sensitivity and/or increase insulin production, but without tackling the causes of diabetes, and the benefits of these drugs pale in comparison with efficacy of diet and lifestyle changes.
Read how you can reverse diabetes by changing your
diet.
Some
of the following facts on the effects that diabetes can have on your
body can give you the motivation you need to make changes in your diet
and lifestyle. Read about the Complications of Diabetes
If you want to read about the Different Types of Diabetes click on NEXT or go back to the Treatment of Diabetes main page to select your next article.
Watch this video to learn about a Simple 3-Step Approach To Totally
Reverse Type 2 Diabetics |
Return to Treatment of Diabetes main
page
Go to Foods' Healing Power Homepage from Causes of Diabetes
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