Adapt These Lifestyle Changes To Control Your Diabetes

How diabetes affects your body

Though Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are slightly different, they both affect the human body's use of insulin.

Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood sugar. Diabetes develops when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or the human body cannot use insulin the gland produces.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is closely linked to obesity, high cholesterol, poor dietary habits, sedentary lifestyle, and a family history of diabetes.

Diabetes destroys human body’s ability to sense pain.

It often leads to non-recognition of early symptoms of serious diseases like cardiac arrest and stroke.

Hyperglycaemia, or high blood sugar, harms many organs, including the nerves, kidneys and blood vessels, and causes permanent vision loss, kidney failure, cardiac arrest, stroke and lower limb amputation.

The two major conditions that contribute to diabetes are insulin resistance and visceral fat.

Insulin resistance

Insulin helps remove excess glucose from blood and store it into cells so that it can be used later. If the pancreas produces enough insulin to manage blood sugar levels, the condition is healthy.

But insulin resistance makes things complicated. Insulin resistance is a complex medical condition in which human body doesn't respond to insulin.

The body cells can't effectively use or store the glucose. It results in high blood sugar levels, which is called hyperglycemia. Gradually, hyperglycemia can cause prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes.

When the cells can't store the glucose, it accumulates in the blood. As a response, the pancreas produces more insulin to control the rising blood sugar levels. This will lead to another condition called hyperinsulinemia.

Notable reasons for the insulin resistance are obesity (or excess body fat around the belly), and sedentary lifestyle.

Visceral Fat

Visceral fat is a body fat that deposits deep inside the abdominal walls. It is different from subcutaneous fat, which appears just below the skin.

Some levels of visceral fat are good and healthy, and it helps protect nearby organs. However, too much fat can be dangerous. It may cause serious health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Largely, genetic and environmental factors determine the amount of visceral fat the body collects. A poor diet with fatty foods and sugars, and a sedentary lifestyle can lead to an increase in visceral fat.

Stress is another factor. It activates a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol controls the human body’s acute stress response, which results in the storage of more visceral fat.

Early detection through regular screening

Early detection and intervention assume greater significance in diabetes management.

Regular screening is an effective tool to detect the disease early and bring it under control. It helps people choose early treatment options and adopt lifestyle modifications much before the disease becomes worse.

Lifestyle modification is the best strategy

India is fast becoming a ‘vast minefield’ of diabetes due to the country’s rapid urbanization and resultant lifestyle changes among the people.

However, a big positive is that the disease can be controlled from getting worse by medication as well as lifestyle modifications.

Obesity, genetics, and lack of physical exercise largely contribute to this disease. Unhealthy habits such as increased consumption of high calorie foods, less physical activity, and long hours of gadgets use lead to obesity, which in turn aggravates diabetic conditions.

Apart from the genetic factor, most drivers are lifestyle-related and thus the disease is manageable to a greater extent.

Healthy diet, regular physical activities, maintenance of normal body weight, and avoidance of tobacco and alcohol are the most effective steps to prevent the disease.

Follow these healthy habits

If you are at the risk of getting diabetes, or at pre-diabetic stage where blood sugar level is about to touch the diabetic mark, lifestyle modifications can effectively delay the onset of the disease. The following are the steps that might help people avoid diabetes complications:

Do regular exercise

Regular exercise and physical activities help people lose weight, lower cholesterol, and keep blood sugar level within the healthy range.

Eat healthy

Eat lots of fiber-rich foods that include fruits, vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables, peas, and whole-grain rice and oats. Try to avoid high-fructose juices, processed foods, and carbohydrates (like white rice and bread) that contain high sugar and starch.

Choose foods with unsaturated fatty acids

Unsaturated fatty acids are good for heart and vascular health, and they help maintain good cholesterol level.

The foods that carry unsaturated fats include sea fish, nuts (almonds, peanuts), seeds, and oils such as olive, sunflower, cottonseed and rapeseed.

Dairy products and meats contain high saturated fats. So, limit red meat, and consume low-fat chicken and dairy items whenever necessary.

Avoid excess drinking and tobacco use

According to a USFDA report, cigarette smokers have 30-40 per cent higher chances of developing Type 2 diabetes than people who don’t smoke. The more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk for diabetes.

The reason is, the high levels of nicotine from smoking can make the body cells less responsive to insulin, which makes your blood sugar levels higher.

There are possible risks due to alcohol consumption if you are diabetic.  Alcohol can impact diabetes management by making blood sugar levels fluctuating, and sometimes react with diabetes medicines, which invite serious medical complications.

This article is authored by Dr. Bilal Thangal T M, Medical Lead at NURA - AI Healthcare Screening Centre, India.

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