Weight Loss Helps Lower Chance of Developing Diabetes

Wed, 21 Oct 2009
Take a walk down any busy street and you can't help but notice how dangerously overweight some people are. It is of little wonder that we are facing an obesity and diabetes epidemic; obesity being the main cause of type 2 diabetes .

Should you be very overweight, diabetes with all its complications, like kidney problems and blindness, could be the future. Some G.P.s would define you as pre-diabetic, the case for a staggering 7 million of us.

Pre-diabetic means you have an elevated blood sugar level which could develop into full-blown diabetes unless we make some key alterations to our diet and exercise habits.

Recent research even highlights that being pre-diabetic can lead to long-term damage, especially to your heart health. Obesity is a sign of risk of developing type 2 diabetes for one reason: over-eating places a great deal of pressure on your blood-sugar balancing mechanism, insulin .

When you eat a lot, your blood-sugar levels increase and your body cannot produce enough insulin to balance them. Your body becomes exhausted. Hence, your blood sugar remains permanently high and you get diabetes.

The high risk groups are:

White and 40 plus; black or South Asian and 25 plus; you have a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes; you are overweight and your waist measure is 31.5 inches plus for women, 37 inches plus for men.

You have high blood pressure or you have had a heart attack or a stroke

You are a woman with polycystic ovary syndrome.

You have had diabetes during pregnancy .

Weight loss leads to a balance of your blood-sugar levels which normally cures the problem. It is important for this weight loss to be slow and steady. A good way to do so is to request a diet sheet from your G.P.

By being more active you ensure your muscles work hard to remove excess sugar from your blood, enabling your body to become sensitive to insulin again.

Brisk walking is the ideal solution. If you invest in a pedometer, you can aim at a target of 10,000 steps per day.

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