Cause And Consequence: Type 2 Diabetes Explained

There are two main reasons for type 2 diabetes.

Reason #1: The body does not produce enough insulin.

Reason #2: The body's cells are resistant to insulin.

Insulin has important jobs inside the body. One of them is to help carry sugar (the broken-down foods you eat) into muscle and liver cells to be used for energy. Another is to push fat into fat cells to be stored for later use.

The pancreas is the organ where insulin is produced. Beta Cells reside in the pancreas and are responsible for creating the insulin. If your doctor says you do not produce enough insulin, this is likely due to Beta Cell damage or destruction.

Beta Cells are damaged and destroyed in many ways including; excess weight, diets rich in fats, sugars and starches, stress, steroid use, prescription medications and lack of exercise. If they are destroyed, the body does not replace them. Beta Cells simply get more exhausted and produce less and less insulin, usually to the point where insulin injections are needed to stay alive.

Insulin resistance is when the body's cells don't accept the insulin that is made by the body. This means that when a person eats, insulin is injected into the bloodstream by the pancreas to carry the sugar and fats away into the proper cells. The cells resist the insulin and the sugar and fats remain in the bloodstream, resulting in high blood sugar and high blood fats. Hence, this is why most type 2 diabetics are overweight or obese.

Type 2 diabetes, like heart disease and stroke, is a silent killer. It doesn't come on overnight, it isn't painful (at first). In fact, most people who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are done so while being treated for something else. Millions of people have this disease right now and are not even aware they have it. For many thousands this year, it will be too late to reverse the damage already done by this quiet but deadly disease.

At first, some of the signs include; constant thirst, weight loss or weight gain, tingling in the hands and feet, increased hunger, blurry vision, ect.

Untreated, type 2 diabetes moves on to more severe complications such as increased urination, retinal damage, wounds that don't heal, gangrene, amputations, blindness, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, dialysis and death...to name a few.

It is vital that everyone with type 2 diabetes learn all they can about this disease and what they can do to reverse the causes instead of medicating the symptoms. Type 2 diabetes can be reversed...the damage already done by this disease cannot.

So what is a healthy blood sugar level? This number varies greatly from doctor to doctor. In the past, a person was not considered to be diabetic unless their fasting blood sugar was over 150. Today those numbers have changed from 80-130, depending on the doctor. Why? We can only explain this constant changing as a way for the healthcare industry to be able to diagnose more people with type 2 diabetes and prescribe money-making drugs to control the symptoms.

Recent studies done with more than 100 diabetic heart disease patients proved that 100% of them had diets that included fast food at least 2-3 times a week. Interesting fact. We are a society of fast everything... fast cars, fast lifestyles, credit cards that allow us instant gratification, microwaves for faster cooking, fast food for faster suppers...

Changing our way of life can be difficult, but it can be done. It is our way of life that is killing hundreds of thousands every year. Our environment, our stressors and our diets all play out in the big game of life. Strive to make small and meaninful changes every week. Walk for 15 minutes a day, add more raw vegetables to your diet, drink more pure water and less soda, ect.

By making small changes every week, you'll become accustomed to them slowly and won't feel like you are doing an abrupt 360. Learn all you can. Read books, get online and talk to others with type 2 diabetes. Find what works best for you and if you find something that works...by all means share it with others. You never know whose life you'll save.