Diabetes is a deadly disease. It occurs when our body stops using the insulin hormone. As a result of diabetes harmful blood sugar builds up in our body.
There are different types of diabetes. The most common one is Type 1 diabetes. There are also Type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes.
There is a connection between what we eat and diabetes. You must be wondering how diet affects diabetes. Well, there is a connection and when you have diabetes in most cases you are not allowed to eat certain foods that can harm your body.
What causes diabetes?
There can be many causes of diabetes. It is important to know about these causes so you can take precautions to prevent them.
1. Weight: One of the most common causes of diabetes is obesity. The insulin would be more resistant when the weight of your body would be higher. You can lower your weight with the help of proper sleep, a proper diet, and some exercise.
2. Age: Often older people have diabetes. As you age, the chances of you getting this disease increases. Most people who have diabetes are over 45 years old.
3. Hereditary: You can get diabetes from your parents. There is nothing you can do about it but it is better to know if someone in your family has diabetes. It helps to identify the disease quickly and take action to prevent it.
4. Pregnancy: It is observed that gestational diabetes only occurs during pregnancy. It has been reported that the disease goes away after pregnancy. It has been observed that women who had gestational diabetes often develop type 2 diabetes in the future.
5. Smoking: Smoking can also be a cause of diabetes. It is better for you if you can stop smoking completely for a better and healthy lifestyle.
6. Drinking: Consuming alcohol can also be a cause of diabetes. You should try to lower your drinking habits to stay away from diabetes. It is better if you can completely stop drinking which would not only save your diabetes but also from other deadly diseases as well.
How Diet Affects Diabetes?
Poor diet and diabetes go hand in hand. It has been found by research that people who consume more fats and carbohydrates are at a higher risk of getting affected by diabetes. It has been found that when foods are eaten in limit the disease is not observed.
It has been found by a study that diabetes happened mainly in the rich families of India due to a high intake of oily foods, fats, and flour-based foods.
After the world war, two countries like Germany faced a shortage of food. It was observed that those countries had a lower rate of diabetic patients.
Other various types of research were conducted where people were exposed to more foods that contained sugar developed diabetes more than those that had a healthy diet.
Based on the evidence, there is no doubt that our diet plan and diabetes have a connection. If we don’t eat properly, we can end up having diabetes.
How Can You Prevent Diabetes?
There are many steps you can take to prevent diabetes from ever becoming a problem in your life. Taking those steps is not easy. We have listed down some of the ways you can improve your diet to prevent diabetes.
1. Limit your carbs:
High carbs based foods are one of the most prime causes of diabetes. They have a massive effect on the blood sugar level. Carbs can be present in many starchy foods, dairy products, and many other unhealthy foods.
Carbs are still important for our bodies to function properly. You can eat green leafy vegetables to obtain the required carbs for your body. Foods like spinach, cauliflower, and other green vegetables are very good sources of carbs.
You can make a diabetic diet that includes a low amount of carbs. This would help you live a healthy life.
2. Rely on both food and medicine
There are some medications that can help combat diabetes. Some of the medicines improve the effectiveness of insulin. It is important to properly take those medicines along with proper food. Food and medicines are both very important to control diabetes in your life.
If you don’t take enough carbohydrates then your blood glucose level would be very low. On the other hand, if you take an excess of it then it would become very high. You can visit your doctor so they can give you proper advice to match the food and medicine in your life.
3. Make sure you have a healthy weight
Obesity is one of the major reasons for diabetes. It is very important to control your weight before it becomes a serious problem in your life. There are many ways you can reduce your weight.
The easiest way is to control your diet. Make sure you are eating healthy. The second most important thing to control your weight after the diet is exercise. You would need to exercise daily to have a healthy weight. Walk in the morning regularly or go to the gym daily to get some regular exercise.
You also need to make sure that you are getting a proper amount of sleep daily. Sleep is very important to have a healthy life. Make sure that you are sleeping on time and having a good quality of sleep.
4. Eat Smartly
To make sure you don’t get diabetes you need to choose the right food to include in your diet plan. You have to make many sacrifices in order to prevent diabetes. Eat whole-grain foods like oatmeals, brown rice, and others. Make sure you are eating lean protein foods like chicken and other poultry animals.
Avoid sugar if you want to live a healthy life. Instead, you can eat more fruits which are more natural and nutritious.
After knowing How Diet Affects Diabetes, you should take more care of your diet than ever. What we eat can make our life much healthier and also can make us more vulnerable to diseases like diabetes.
Related: What Diet Is Best For Diabetics? Things You Should Know
