Obesity and Diabetes

Being overweight increases the chances of developing the common type of diabetes, type 2 diabetes. In this disease, the body makes enough insulin but the cells in the body have become resistant to the salutary action of insulin. Why does this happen?

New Research: A report this week in Science proposes that being overweight stresses the insides of individual cells. Specifically, overeating stresses the membranous network inside of cells called endoplasmic reticulum(ER). When the ER has more nutrients to process than it can handle, it sends out an alarm signal telling the cell to dampen down the insulin receptors on the cell surface. This translates to insulin resistance and to persistently high concentrations of the sugar glucose in the blood -- one of the sure signs of diabetes.

How does my weight relate to type 2 diabetes?

There are many risk factors for type 2 diabetes such as age, race, pregnancy, stress, certain medications, genetics or family history, high cholesterol and obesity. However, the single best predictor of type 2 diabetes is overweight or obesity. Almost 90% of people living with type 2 diabetes are overweight or have obesity. People who are overweight or have obesity have added pressure on their body's ability to use insulin to properly control blood sugar levels, and are therefore more likely to develop diabetes. The number of diabetes cases among American adults increased by a third during the 1990s, and additional increases are expected. This rapid increase in the occurrence of diabetes is mostly attributed to the growing prevalence of obesity in the United States.

What can you do to prevent diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. Studies have found that lifestyle changes and small amounts of weight loss in the range of 5-10% can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes among high-risk adults. Lifestyle interventions including diet and moderate to intense physical activity (such as walking for 150 minutes per week) were used in these studies to produce small amounts of weight loss. The development of diabetes was reduced by 40% to 60% during these studies, which lasted three to six years. Preventing weight gain, increasing activity levels and working toward small amounts of weight loss if you are overweight can have a big impact on the likelihood that you will develop diabetes in the future. Thus far, weight management is the best thing you can do to prevent the development of diabetes.

What can you do if you already have diabetes?

You can have a positive influence on your blood sugar and your overall health by choosing foods wisely, exercising regularly, reducing your stress levels, making modest lifestyle changes and using medications to lower blood glucose levels. Type 1 diabetic patients must have insulin exogenously applied to maintain healthy blood glucose levels. Type 2 diabetic patients, however, can use insulin or drugs that sensitize their bodies to insulin, which work quite well in lowering blood glucose levels. Unfortunately, these drugs are not without risk as they, as well as the exogenous application of insulin, can often cause diabetic patients to suffer from low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia) if taken improperly, which may result in seizures, unconsciousness, or death. Small amounts of weight loss (losing 10 pounds or more) can decrease the amounts of these medications needed to keep your blood sugar levels within a healthy range by lowering your blood glucose levels, which furthermore reduces the risk of diabetic complications. Ultimately, better nutrition, increased physical activity, and control of blood glucose levels can delay the progression of diabetes and help prevent the complications associated with the disease.
Credit: obesity.org

Author notes: I have posted about the health effect of Obesity before and even have told you about my parent's situations. That's why I will try to research more about how to reduce the effect of Diabetes as less as possible. I have even asked Dr Anh (the owner of DAS method) that if I have any chance to cure Diabetes by following DAS and he said yes. However, I still need to discuss with him more about the research to prove what he said is true (I will post it later). Anyway, you have to try your best to stay healthy. Exercie and eating "healthy food" is all you can do to prevent yourself from any diseases.