It’s not always a good thing when we get sick. The thought of being held down by a disease and the burden of undergoing a lot of hospital treatments that come with being sick is not at all pleasing. That’s why it is always a good idea to be prepared when situations like these happen. Sometimes, it is alright to be your doctor as the only person who knows your body better is none other than yourself.
How do we get ahead of our health problems?
As many people would say, “better be safe than sorry.” Getting ahead of your health is always a good idea. Below are two ways to beat potential illnesses.
- By knowing the symptoms – read up or research on health conditions and be aware of the symptoms that associate with them. There are plenty of books available in stores and online.
- By resorting to organic or alternative medicine – since our body is organic, it is fitting that everything we put inside it should be organic as well. The best thing about incorporating organic food and supplements into our diet is that we liberate ourselves from the invasion of harmful bacteria and viruses by getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals we need.
Nowadays, more and more people are getting different types of health problems because of the lifestyle we lead and the food we eat. As processed foods and stressful situations take over our lives, our vulnerability to diseases has increased every year. Stroke, heart diseases, cancers are just a few of the many illnesses around the world.
One particular health problem that is a common downfall for a lot of people is diabetes. The prevalent type of diabetes is Type 2 Diabetes. In America alone, approximately 27 million people have Type 2 diabetes.
What is Type 2 Diabetes and what causes it?
When you have diabetes, it is a lifelong disorder that affects how our body carries a kind of sugar called glucose into our blood. Another name given to this type of diabetes is hyperglycemia. There are also cases where people experience prediabetes – which is a condition where the glucose in the blood is not at a normal level, but it is also not too high to call it diabetes yet.
When our body is working normally, our pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. The insulin in our body allows our cells to transform glucose into energy from the food that we eat. However, when a person has type 2 diabetes, their bodies make insulin but not enough to produce the energy required thus causing a build-up of sugar in the blood instead. This condition is known as insulin resistance.
The pancreas at first produces plenty of insulin in trying to make the cells absorb the glucose. However, when it is not functioning properly, chances are the accumulated sugar builds up in the blood and subsequently flows through the entire body causing the organs to malfunction.
There are a lot of reasons why diabetes can happen to anyone at any time especially if not conscious of keeping oneself healthy. Some of these reasons include:
- When you gain excess weight
Being obese or overweight can cause a lot of problems with the health and diabetes is the most common of all. This is because the extra fat around your body can increase the chances of insulin resistance. Obesity and diabetes are now not only affecting adults but children and teenagers as well.
- When genetics play a part
When a family member, especially immediate ones, is affected by diabetes, chances of the condition can be passed on to the next generation. This is because scientists have discovered that different pieces of our DNA can affect how the body produces insulin.
- When our liver makes too much glucose
Often, when our pancreas produces too little blood sugar, the liver steps in and produces the glucose instead. However, for people who are suffering from type 2 diabetes, instead of storing the glucose for later, it continually sends out excess glucose causing the sugar to build up.
- When you consume too much food and drinks that contain high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates
While we need food for survival, often the food we eat can also become our downfall. Nowadays, a lot of food and drinks are processed, and a lot of preservatives are added to it, therefore, increasing sugar levels that are beyond our bodies’ capacities.
- When we lead a sedentary lifestyle
Keeping fit and active decreases the risk of diabetes for a lot of reasons: 1) we tackle obesity and excess weight and 2) toxins and excess glucose get secreted through our sweat. For people who are fond of sitting or lying for hours being inactive increases their risk for diabetes.
- When you’re stressed and put into stressful situations
Stress is also a number one risk factor for diabetes. This is because when we are highly stressed, our body becomes susceptible to a lot of external attacks and lowers our immune system.
How can you tell that you have diabetes?
The symptoms of diabetes may precede as an underlying condition. Depending on a person’s susceptibility, there are a lot of signs that indicate you have diabetes. Some of these symptoms that are common for diabetic patients can also be a cause of chain reaction and may often be mild unless treated early. These symptoms include:
- Extreme feelings of fatigue
- Always feeling hungry
- Urge to urinate frequently
- Increasingly thirsty
- Having dry and parched lips and mouth
- Inconsistent weight loss or weight gain
- Vision becomes blurred
- Skin becomes itchy
- Erratic moods
- Constant headaches and migraines
When diabetes is left untreated, the symptoms can become potentially harmful and even irreversible. As diabetes progresses for an extended time, severe symptoms will show including:
- Cuts and sores heal slowly
- Dark patches on the skin will show
- Body extremities will start feeling numb and tingly
- The growth of yeast infections
- Feeling numbing pains on the foot
When you start feeling two or more of these symptoms, it is important to have yourself checked with the doctor. Diabetes can be life-threatening as it can affect your heart consequently causing heart attacks and stroke. It can also cause blindness due to the eyes becoming covered with plaque. Pregnant women will also experience complications when they have diabetes.
Who are at risk of getting diabetes?
While diabetes can happen to anyone at any time especially when they disregard their health. However, there are also certain types of people who have higher risks of diabetes.
- Adults who are aged 45 or older
- People who are overweight
- People with a family history of diabetes
- People who come from an ethnic group that are genetically predisposed to diabetes
- People who eat a lot of sugary foods and drinks and live a sedentary lifestyle
What are the ways to manage the onset of diabetes?
There are ways to help manage diabetes. A blood test is also available to help diagnose Type 2 diabetes. When the blood is tested, and the level shows that the fasting blood sugar is between 100 and 125, the person may be diagnosed with pre-diabetes. It’s also important to acknowledge the type of diabetes you have and what are the ways to manage it. While there are steps to help anyone manage the problem, list of Kindle books from Amazon is also included so you can identify which books are helpful to you.
When managing diabetes, some of the ways include:
- Following a strict diet plan
When it comes to eating, we are often unaware of the number of carbohydrates and sugar that contain the food that we consume. An excess amount will lead to diabetes over time. That’s why when following the correct diet plan, we help ourselves in eating the right food that has the proper nutrients instead of the ones that are processed. There are a lot of diet plans you can find online, but it is better if you have the proper books to guide you. You can find Kindle editions on Amazon like the following:
In this book, you can find the ultimate guide to diabetes, whatever type it is. The author helps the readers identify the type of diabetes and that it is nothing to worry so much because it is simple to overcome them. In this book, you can learn what type 2 diabetes is and what is the importance of proper nutrition when following a diabetic diet plan. You can also learn how to maintain healthy body weight as well as managing diabetes by motivating yourself.
Rate: 3.7 out of 5 stars
In this book, it informs you that even though having diabetes is frightening, you can still learn to manage it through proper nutrition and changing for a better lifestyle. You can find in this book are simple recipes and meal plan to follow, just like any other cookbook, but for people who need help in managing their diabetes through the food they eat.
Rate: 4.3 out of 5 stars
- Exercise and be more active
To be disease-free and healthy, it is important to exercise and keep an active lifestyle. This is because our blood needs to flow faster from our hearts for it secrete the toxins through our breath and sweat when we exercise. Keeping fit can not only help manage diabetes, but it can help prevent many types of diseases as well. Here are some suggested kindle books from Amazon:
In this book, the author helps you to identify the type of diabetes that you have and assures while it is daunting, it can be manageable. This all-in-one guide helps you with expert advice and motivation to maintain a healthier lifestyle through being active and incorporate more exercise while following a healthy diet plan.
Rate: 4.3 stars
- Keep yourself away from stressful situations
Stress is a number one cause of all health problems. When we get stressed, we make our bodies more vulnerable to diseases. This is because when stress is triggered and approached on simultaneously, a person’s physical and mental state becomes compromised. So, it is important to follow relaxation methods to keep yourself from getting stressed. Here are some kindle e-book suggestions:
This book is written by a doctor and helps patients managing type 2 diabetes. While avoiding stress is one of the approaches to manage diabetes taken from his personal experiences, there is also the way to eating which is scientifically proven to help control type 2 diabetes while including 75 of his recipes. He also includes a scientific approach when it comes to keeping fit and exercise as well as prescribing the required medication when it is necessary.
Rate: 4.3 out of 5 stars
- Constantly monitoring your blood glucose and be aware of symptoms
It is important to be vigilant and have your blood glucose checked that it is at a specified normal range at all times. To effectively keep it at a normal range is to live a healthy lifestyle. Monitoring your blood glucose helps you keep track and manage type 2 diabetes. You only need the following tools: test strips, a blood glucose meter, and a lancet device. Also, here are some kindle e-book suggestions that can help guide you through:
In this book, the author guides readers with step-by-step ways to control diabetes. Also written by a doctor, the book covers a lot of specifics about diabetes and help patients make sense of what the disease is all about.
Rate: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Written by international best-selling author, you can find here a guide on how to lower blood sugar without dependence drugs and medication. This also gives you an awareness of the disease and how to manage it without always resorting to prescribed drugs.
Rate: 3.9 out of 5 stars
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