Health Tips

Diabetes Causes & Prevention

These Days all the health related problems are caused because of an unhealthy lifestyle and stress. One of the most common lifestyle disorders is Diabetes – it is a health condition in which the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, a hormone that helps transfer sugar from your blood to cells for energy and better functioning. With diabetes, the blood sugar levels of a person rise due to impaired processing of the blood glucose, causing further problems.

There are different types of diabetes, being Type 1 diabetes, where the immune system causes problems destroying the cells in the organs where insulin is produced, the pancreas. Then we have Type 2 diabetes, which is the most common type of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, blood sugar levels rise due to the body’s resistance to the insulin hormone.

Another condition is prediabetes, where the blood sugar levels are moderately high, but not more than that of a patient with type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a condition that takes place during pregnancy. This health problem is caused when the placenta produces too much estrogen, placental lactogen, and cortisol hormones that cause insulin resistance in the body.

Causes of Diabetes

While the causes of diabetes differ from body to body, some of the most common factors that can lead to diabetes are obesity, unhealthy diet, alcohol consumption, and an inactive lifestyle. Age plays a crucial role too, more often than not. Diabetes can also be inherited genetically.

Other causes of diabetes can be:

Having a high blood cholesterol.
having a high blood pressure problem.
having polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Biologically, when the pancreas fails to release the insulin hormone, which helps your body retain sugar from food, diabetes occurs. It can happen due to a lack of insulin production, no production by the pancreas, or insulin resistance by the body.

During a lack of insulin hormone, the retained blood glucose from food fails to get into the cells and ends up building in the bloodstream. This causes high blood sugar levels.

Symptoms of Diabetes

The symptoms of diabetes vary from common and general symptoms to rare ones. However, all of these symptoms are fairly evident and must be consulted with your doctor over frequent occurrences.

The most common symptoms of diabetes include:

Increased appetite
Unexpected weight loss
Persistent thirst
Frequent urination
Fatigue
Low libido
Itchy and dry skin
Yeast infections

How to Control Diabetes

Even though diabetes cannot be cured completely, it can always be controlled by taking some imperative measures. These measures can be simple lifestyle changes that help you in the long-run. However, these changes must always be made after taking your doctor’s advice.

Here are some ways in which you can control diabetes:

Exercise: Make sure that you find time to sweat it out every day. Daily physical activity not only helps you with your physical appearance, but it also helps you become healthier, feel better, and avoid chronic diseases. Working out for at least 20-30 minutes per day helps stabilize your blood sugar levels, improving the production and functioning of insulin in the body. Make it a habit to move every day, but start it gradually. You don’t want to do an intense workout one day and skip the next three days. Start slow, but be consistent. Plan out workouts, target each area in your body, and don’t forget cardio exercises.
Stay Hydrated: This is one of the easiest ways to stay healthy and avoid health problems, yet we fail to do it. Drinking enough water not only helps you control your high blood sugar levels and prevent dehydration, but it also helps you flush out toxins faster from your body and control your diabetes. You should try to drink at least 8 ounces of water per day or more, depending on your body-weight. To reap more benefits, drink copper treated water every day. This will help your aid and control the symptoms of diabetes. Copper water has many other health benefits too but one of the most important is its diabetes-controlling abilities. Fill water in a copper utensil and leave it overnight. Drink the copper-charged water first thing the next day. This traditional method can do wonders for your health.
A Well-Balanced Diet: Your diet plays a crucial role in controlling your diabetes. Make sure to have a healthy, fiber-rich diet and control your carb intake to reduce blood sugar levels. You should include lots of fresh vegetables and fruits in your diet while balancing it with a diet of whole-grain foods.
Good-Quality Sleep: A good night’s sleep is the cure for most of the health problems. To keep your diabetes in control, make sure to get at least 8 hours of sound sleep every night. It helps you relax better and has both mental and physical health benefits. Sleep-deprivation can worsen your problems as it can result in weight gain, poor brain functioning, insulin sensitivity, and high blood sugar levels. So remember to have a good sleep schedule to control high blood sugar levels in your body.
Control Stress: For diabetic patients, stress may result in high and uncontrollable blood sugar levels. To control your diabetes, remember to manage stress with activities like meditation, exercise, and yoga. Other ways of doing so can be spending time with loved ones, trying to introspect rather than stressing over situations, etc.

How to Prevent Diabetes

The preventions of diabetes are mostly related to lifestyle and diet changes. For someone who has been diagnosed by prediabetes, you must take necessary measures to prevent or just delay the chronic stage of type 2 diabetes.

Here are some measures and changes you can make to prevent diabetes:

Exercise for 30 minutes at least 5 days a week. You can also include cardio, cycling, swimming, or walking in your routine.
Increase your whole food intake. Eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain as much as you can.
If you’ve obesity, work on losing your body weight, but in a healthy manner.
Drink plenty of water and avoid sugar-sweetened beverages.
Avoid consuming trans fats, refined carbohydrates, or saturated fats.
Work on reducing your portion size. Make sure that you do it gradually to avoid binge-eating.
Get regular check-ups to recognize any forewarning and signs and take precautions on time.

One must remember that diabetes caused by genes or age factors cannot be prevented. If you have a family history of diabetes, you can inevitably inherit the disease. Also, if you are older than the age of 45, there are narrow chances of avoiding your diabetic condition.

However, maintaining a healthier lifestyle, cutting down on sugar & processed carbs, and by improving eating habits one can prevent the onset of diabetes.

Dr Jambu Jain