How Does Diabetes Develop?
Diabetes is a health condition that disrupts the body’s normal production of insulin. Currently, more than one million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year, and many others have the disease but are unaware of it. Without proper maintenance, diabetes can have major health complications.
Who Gets Diabetes?
In type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in childhood, a person’s pancreas fails to produce insulin from birth. Therefore, the body does not convert glucose into sugar, which is essential for cell function.
What you eat plays a huge role in your health. Food intake, regardless of a person’s weight, can greatly affect overall health. Specifically, diets high in fat and sugar, as well as highly refined foods, can significantly change the body over time. The fat that gets stored closer to the abdomen is very dangerous and can cause major metabolic changes in the body.
A bad diet (defined by high fat, high sugar, low vegetable matter, and low fiber) can damage the pancreas, which produces insulin. Insulin helps convert food into raw energy, and if abused, the body will store extra fat and stop producing insulin, which will lead to diabetes. If you do not control diabetes through medication, it can destroy many internal organs.
Do You Have Diabetes?
You may have diabetes if you experience excessive thirst, urinate frequently, heal slowly, feel tired more often, begin to lose your vision, or experience leg or back cramps.
The onset of diabetes is dependent on a complex interplay of genetics, each individual’s immune system, the environment, and lifestyle choices. Not everyone with a bad diet will develop diabetes, and not everyone with a healthy diet will avoid it.
Causes and Prevention
It is impossible to point to any one factor as a primary cause of the disease, but there are certain trends that remain constant in most cases of the condition. The best way to avoid developing type 2 diabetes is to maintain a low body weight and incorporate fruits, vegetables, and fiber into your diet.
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