Diabetes Risk

The Risk of Diabetes

Everyone seems to think that eating too much sugar will will increase the risk of a person to get diabetes.  Guess what?  Not true.

The risk factor for getting diabetes is not increased with by the amount of sugar your eat.  Doctors, scientist, and researchers really don’t understand why some people develop the disease while others do not.  One thing is certain, lifestyle and certain health conditions can increase your risk for diabetes.

Family History and Diabetes

The chance of getting diabetes (type 1 or type 2) will increase if someone in your family has diabetes, whether that person is a parent, brother, mother, or father.  You can be certain that genetics plays a role in the disease.  The mystery is that nobody can say with certainty how certain genes may cause diabetes.

People who develop diabetes may certainly have an inherited tendency toward the disease, some type of environmental factor is usually the trigger that puts the inheritance factor into play.

Weight and Diabetes

Being overweight or obese is one of the most common risk factors for type 2 diabetes.  More than 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.  Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Gee, am I overweight or obese?”  If you answer yes, then you are at a high risk of getting type 2 diabetes.  The more fatty tissue you have, the more resistant your muscle and tissue cells become to your own insulin.  This is really true if your blubber is really piled up around your abdomen and your sorry body is an apple shape.  Learn more about Diabetes and Obesity by understanding why one effects the other.

Way too many people that suffer from type 2 diabetes are fat….That’s right fat!!  They are overweight or obese.  People can improve their blood sugar  levels simply by losing weight.  Let’s repeat that for you slow learners.  PEOPLE CAN IMPROVE THEIR BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS SIMPLY BY LOSING WEIGHT.

Even small weight loss can have large effects on reducing the risk factors associated with diabetes.  It will certainly reduce blood sugar and very well may allow diabetes medication to work better.

Inactivity and Diabetes

When we say inactivity we are really saying that you are a lazy couch potato that would lay around like a beached whale rather then do the slightest bit of physical activity.  I don’t have anything against potatoes, heck I even write a blog that is dedicated to Easy Potato Recipes.  But there is a time and place for everything. 

The less active you are, the greater the risk is that you will contract type 2 diabetes.  Physical activity will help control weight, will use up sugar as energy, makes your cell more sensitive to insulin, increase blood flow and improve circulation.  Exercise will also help build muscle mass.  This is important because most of the glucose in blood is absorbed by muscles and burns as energy.

Age and Diabetes

The risk of type 2 diabetes increases as a person gets older.  It really increase quite a bit after age 45.  One in five people in America age 65 or older has diabetes.  When people grow older they tend to become less physically active, and they gradually lose muscle mass and gain weight….Sound familiar??

Race and Diabetes

About 8 percent of the US population has diabetes. 

Type 1 diabetes is more common in white Americans than in black Americans or Hispanics.  If you happen to be a black American, Hispanic-American you are 1 1/2 times more likely to have type 2 diabetes than somebody that is white.

American Indians and Alaska natives risk of type 2 diabetes more than double compared to whites.

Diabetes risk is real.  Prevention is the best cure.

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