Obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes have reached epidemic proportions. I can safely say that every person who reads this article is directly or indirectly subject to these conditions. However, such common as "diabetes" and related diseases, few people understand how closely they are connected with each other.
It is now clear that these conditions not only share same root causes– and therefore require the same treatment – but they also 100 percent preventable and in many cases completely reversible.
Diabetes and obesity have common causes and in many cases they can be completely prevented. Find out how diabetes has become an epidemic problem, which it is today. #healthylifestyle # wellness #chriskresser
What you should know about diabetes
Diabetes can be defined as metabolic dysfunction, which varies from a moderate imbalance of blood sugar to complete type 2 diabetes.
Diabesity is a combination of features that includes:
- Abdominal obesity (i.e. “spare wheel” syndrome)
- Dyslipidemia (low HDL, high LDL and high triglycerides)
- High blood pressure
- High blood sugar (fasting above 100 mg / dl, Hb1Ac above 5.5)
- Systemic inflammation
- Tendency to form blood clots
Subjective symptoms of diabetes include (but are not limited to):
- Addicted to sugar, especially after eating
- Eating sweets without relief from craving for sugar
- Tiredness after eating
- Frequent urination
- Increase thirst and appetite
- The difficulty of losing weight
- Slow gastric emptying
- Slow wound healing
- Sexual dysfunction
- Visual problems
- Numbness and tingling in the limbs
The term diabetes is misleading in one respect: it assumes that a person must be obese in order to experience the metabolic problems that I have just described above. It is not true. Thin people can suffer from the entire spectrum of blood sugar imbalances, up to true type 2 diabetes. A term sometimes used for people who are thin, but have insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia, "metabolically fatIn short, their metabolism behaves as if they are obese, even if physically it is not.
Is Diabesity number one cause for death in the US?
It is almost impossible to overestimate how serious and far-reaching the problem of diabetes is:
- More than 93 million Americans are obese (2)
- Above 30 million Americans have diabetes (3)
- Above 84 million American adults have prediabetes, characterized by slightly elevated blood glucose (4)
- Worldwide diabetes affects 451 million adults and more 2.1 billion overweight or obese (5, 6)
Diabetes is the main cause of modern chronic diseases. Diabetics have a higher risk: (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
AT The solution for diabetics of Dr. BernsteinDr. Richard Bernstein claims that diabetes is now third leading cause of deathBut death certificates do not indicate diabetes or hyperglycemia as the main cause of heart attacks, strokes or fatal infections. They also do not consider the role of obesity, insulin resistance and inflammation in these conditions. If they did, it is possible that diabetes is not only the main cause of disease, but also leading cause of death,
High cost of diabetes
Diabesity literally bankrupts the American health care system. The direct and indirect costs of type 2 diabetes were 327 billion dollars in 2017 compared to 174 billion dollars just 10 years ago. (13) The annual cost of obesity exceeds 340 billion dollars, (14) Thus, the total cost of diabetes for a society can be conservatively estimated in 650 billion dollars in year. For comparison, the cost of health care in the United States in 2018 amounted to 3.6 trillion dollars. (15) We spend more on one person on health care than any other developed country, but our health continues to deteriorate.
With such numbers, you expect a state of emergency. You would think that we would do everything in our power to find out the cause of these diseases and how to successfully treat them.
But the reality is that traditional diabetes treatment was dismal failureThis is reflected in the shocking growth of conditions that have come under the umbrella of diabetes over the past three decades, not to mention equally troubling predictions for the future.
Children suffer from a diabetes epidemic too
Reports suggest that more one third Americans born in 2000 will develop diabetes during their lifetime. (15) What is especially scary about this statistic is that many of those who get diabetes will Children, Type 2 diabetes used to be a disease of people of middle and old age, but those times are long gone:
- The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in children increased by 30 percent between 2000 and 2009 and continues to grow (16)
- It is expected that the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes in children will increase fourfold over the next several decades (17).
Every year, children gain more weight. Childhood obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s: (18, 19)
- Among American children from two to five years old, almost 14 percent are currently obese.
- Between the ages of six and 11, 18 percent of children are obese.
- 20 percent of adolescents and adolescents aged 12 to 19 are obese
The greatest concern is the rise in obesity in children under five years of age. Studies show that early childhood obesity has doubled since 1980. (20) And this is not because children eat more donuts and cheese doodles, reducing their workouts. Let's see why there is more to a history of diabetes than eating junk food and not enough exercise.
Why we need to change our behavior and lifestyle
From 1993 to 2017, the number of people with diabetes in the world has increased 12 times from 35 million to 450 million and is expected to increase to 690 million by the year 2045. (21) It’s about 18 times more people affected by HIV / AIDS around the world. According to forecasts, in the United States the incidence of diabetes will increase to 60 million by the year 2060. (22)
What explains such an explosion of new cases? One of the reasons is that standard treatment for diabetes is not only ineffective, but also exacerbates the problem.
Once they have developed, diabetes and obesity are characterized by insulin resistance, which, in turn, leads to carbohydrate intolerance. However, well-known organizations, such as the American Diabetes Association, have recommended a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet as a treatment for diabetes for decades. It did not work in 1985, and still does not work today. Einstein once defined insanity as a repetition of the same and expectation of another result. It is clear that we must divert our thinking from the traditional approach, challenge our current beliefs and accept more non-standard options, such as:
Do you have experience with diabetes? Have you taken any steps to reverse the symptoms or prevent them? Comment below and let me know.