There is an epidemic amongst Americans and if we don’t stop it now, the spread could be deadly. I am talking about type-2 diabetes, or the body’s resistance to insulin, which helps regulate our blood sugar. More than 20 million Americans have it and more than 57 million are pre-diabetics. What’s even scarier is that more than 1/3 don’t even know they are at risk, which leads to other risks like heart attacks, strokes, blindness, and nerve damage. And who is to blame–the American diet. Dr. Angela LaSalle, MD says “We are simply eating too much processed foods like refined sugar and white flour.” Our choice of beverages isn’t helping. A 2009 study found a link between diet soda and the development of Type 2. “Its’ clearly a misconception that diet drinks help you avoid diabetes,” says LaSalle. Research actually shows that the fake sweeteners they contain is linked to weight gain, which is a risk factor for developing diabetes.
93% of you can reduce the risk of diabetes with lifestyle changes!
Luckily, 4 key lifestyle changes can help. People who didn’t smoke, maintained a healthy body weight, exercised on a regular basis, and ate a diet of fruits, veggies and whole grains and less red meat had a 93% lower risk of diabetes.
Getting plenty of sleep may be helpful too. In a study, people who got up to 8 hours of sleep in a 2-week period were less prone to insulin resistance than those who only got 5.5 hours of sleep. It’s thought that more sleep makes your cells more sensitive to insulin, whereas less sleep can raise your hormone levels, which can be linked to higher blood sugar.
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