Food is a component which is very much essential for one to survive and generate energy in the body. It is a fuel for the entire body and the process starts right from the time we start consuming food. What happens normally once the food is consumed. The body breaks it down to glucose and it is uses them for energy in our cells.
Process in healthy Human Body:
- Now all of us are aware of the organ called Pancreas in the body. This a corn shaped organ right behind the stomach will helps in digestive processes.
- To accomplish the conversion of glucose into energy and send it to cells, our pancreas needs to create a hormone called insulin.
- Insulin is what facilitates the process of pulling sugar from the blood and putting it in the cell for usage of energy. Insulin is made of cells which reacts to blood sugar.
- Now if we consume more sugar and the level of sugar rises, then converts glucose to glycogen and increases the metabolism of glucose in cells. This is how the glucose levels falls and blood sugar level goes back to the normal.
- If there is less sugar levels in the body due to long hours of starving or fasting, then the pancreas secretes less insulin to balance the sugar level. It decreases the glucose metabolism and gives chance to the sugar level to increase and return the blood sugar level to normal. This balance system is very much well organised in a healthy human body
Now what happens when Diabetes occurs? Diabetes in Simple language:
Diabetes occurs when the insulin production is deficient. This results in high level of blood sugar in the body. Without insulin in our body glucose cannot enter into our body cells and is excreted through urine. This results in its loss.
Whenever the blood glucose level increases, the pancreas responds by secreting insulin. People with diabetes has problem with their pancreas. Here there two of things can happen. Either there is inefficient insulin production or no production at all. This hampers its effectiveness to process of glucose. Due to this the blood sugar goes high as it is not properly addressed. Meanwhile the rest of the cells are in need of energy but are not supplied any. The cells depravation of energy which it needs leads to consequent problem in nearly every major body system.
Types of Diabetes you need to know:
Type 1:
Our own immune system attacks the insulin producing cells in the pancreas destroying our body’s ability to make insulin. One may have it from young age or might be inherited. Its symptoms include frequent urination, thirst, fatigue, dizziness, paleness, sweating. At times Type 1 can be considered as Auto-immune or Chronic disease
Type 2:
Insulin resistance. Mostly suffered by old people. But lately, this is also found in younger people. Obesity is the prime factor of Type 2 diabetes. It is a result of poor lifestyle, Lack of exercise, Stress, Junk eating. Its symptoms include poor vision, fatigue etc.
Pre- Diabetic:
This is early stage where the blood sugar level is higher than the normal level which is supposed to be. This is not high enough to be categorized under Type 2 but then it is an initial warning for one to take situation under control. This might also be caused due to obesity, excess body weight, conditions like Pcos etc. One needs to seriously look into bringing in lifestyle changes.
Gestational Diabetes:
Developed during Pregnancy and it can lead to Pregnancy complications if not kept under control. It is good to be under healthy diet, eat healthy food, check on diabetes level every now and then and enjoy pregnancy phase with zero stress. This kind of diabetes is temporary and will go off when one completes pregnancy stage.
Be Aware of some of these warning and early signs:
- I am Hungry
- I feel fatigued
- I feel thirsty and urinate frequently
- I feel the dryness in skin and mouth
- I feel the weakness and blurriness in vision
- These days I am prone to infections more
- My wounds and cuts doesn’t heal quickly
- I feel frequent pain in my legs and numbness
- I am having sudden weight loss
- Nausea and vomiting
Here are the Top 3 things you should do to keep your Diabetes under control
Exercise Regularly:
Healthy diet:
Food can either be medicine or poison to body. Let us not make it difficult for body to process food and burden its processing by eating unhealthy food. Include fresh vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, Dry fruits and nuts, Citrus fruits, Whole grains etc.
Lose weight:
It is good to keep weight at check not only to bring diabetes under control but also help avoid other harmful diseases
Give up Sedentary lifestyle and get physically active:
Try to keep your body moving and avoid being a couch potato. Either we indulge in long hours of watching tv, movies, spending time on social media or even sitting in same position for long working hours. This can indeed invite lot of problems. Keep yourself moving and stretch every fifteen minutes. Take walk and talk calls. Move around for some time after eating. Do not immediately sleep after food.
Reduce Stress:
When there is high level of stress hormones released in the body, then there is risk of pancreas not functioning to its optimal. Try to meditate at least 15mins per day and keep yourself away from stress causing circumstances, conversations and conflicts. Try to maintain a good personal and work life balance. Its indeed okay to be workaholic, but simultaneously balance it out by becoming health conscious and positivity driven
Diabetes is a lifestyle disorder and cannot be cured overnight. One of the best ways to follow in such case is to make changes in daily habits. One must try and keep it under control by using natural ways and avoiding as much as medicines. One can even check with the doctor to understand their own system in a much deeper way, understanding the dos and don'ts, understanding suitable diet etc. than just relying on any half cooked knowledge.
