Diabetes. Are you at risk?

Today 100 million Americans are pre-diabetic.  90 million don’t know it.

Blood sugar is a huge issue with pre-diabetes as a modern day epidemic.

First, let me be clear:

It is best to minimize refined, processed sugar, but I do not recommend avoiding everything sweet.  Deprivation is the quickest way to sneak and crave processed sweets.  Some of the best types of natural sugars are found in fruit and vegetables.

Type 2 Diabetes vs. Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 aka juvenile - typically occurs before the age of 20 accounting for 10-15% of all diabetics in the country.

Type 2 diabetes aka adult onset - accounts for 85-90% of all diabetics in the country and can be reversed with a lifestyle change beginning with diet and exercise.

People don’t know better yet.  We’re beginning to get educated on how to live and eat with good nutrition and how that can impact how we feel and prevent chronic disease.  

Type 2 is associated with heart disease, blood pressure and cholesterol.  

You can get it at any age.

HOW TO TEST YOUR BLOOD SUGAR

Buy a glucometer at your local drugstore for $10-$15, learn how to use it.  Prick your finger every morning.  You can avoid your doctor’s message once a year, but you see this number every morning and it will change your life.

OPTIMAL LEVELS

70-85mg/dl in the a.m. 

lower than 125mg/dl after a meal

126mg/dl indicates diabetes

BLOOD SUGAR RANGES

If your blood sugar goes over 85mg/dl you have a 40% increased risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke.

If your level is lower than 85mg/dl you are healing arteries and your skin.  If you are above 85mg/dl it’s not good.

If your blood sugar level is over 100mg/dl there’s a good chance you are pre-diabetic. 

Good Vs. Bad Sugar - Effects

When unprocessed, sugar contains a variety of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and proteins.  When brown rice or other whole grains are cooked, chewed and digested, the natural carbs break down uniformly into separate glucose molecules.  These molecules enter the bloodstream, where they are burned smoothly and evenly, allowing your body to absorb all the good stuff.

Refined tables sugar, aka sucrose, is very different.  Extracted from either sugar cane or beets, it lacks vitamins, minerals and fiber, and thus requires extra effort from the body to digest.  The body must deplete its own store of minerals and enzymes to absorb sucrose properly.  Therefore, instead of providing the body with nutrition, it creates deficiency.  It enters the quickly into the bloodstream and wreaks havoc on the blood sugar level, first pushing it sky high causing excitability, nervous tension and hyperactivity - and then dropping it extremely low--causing fatigue, depression, weariness and exhaustion.  

Sugar qualifies as an addictive substance for two reasons:

1. Eating even a small amount creates a desire for more.
2. Suddenly quitting causes withdrawal symptoms such as headache, mood swings, cravings and fatigue.

The USDA recommends we get no more than 40 grams or 10 teaspoons of added sugar per day, yet most Americans eat about 30 teaspoons per day.

To calculate the tsp of sugar in a product, take the grams and divide by 4.