What is diabetes and how does it affect my weight loss? In this case, we’ll only discuss the most common form of diabetes, type II , which can be largely attributed to a poor diet and inactivity. What happens is that a diabetic’s body is either unable to produce enough insulin in the pancreas or the cells refuse to respond to the insulin that is produced.
Insulin’s role is to help distribute glucose to either the brain, muscles, liver, or if there is too much glucose in the blood, fat stores. And since insulin is being underproduced or is being ignored, your body finds itself with too much glucose in the blood.
While it is disputed as to why type II diabetes develops, one of the most obvious explanations would have to be the likelihood that, just like any piece of equipment, when overworked, it will eventually fail. In this case, the equipment happens to be the pancreas. Sadly, this is not all that is affected by diabetes. Other problems that can arise are heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. In fact, two out of three people with diabetes die due to stroke and heart disease. These resulting complications could largely be controlled if the bloodstream is gradually fed with glucose from components of a healthier diet and the body is exercised regularly.
Now, how does type II diabetes relate to obesity? Obesity is one of the largest environmental triggers for type II diabetes. To put it simply, being obese roughly means weighing 20% more than your desirable body weight.
However, since some people are genetically predisposed to obesity, diabetes may be unavoidable to a certain degree. On the flip side though, it has been proven that excessive amounts of body fat promotes insulin resistance and thus the development of type II diabetes. To be even more specific, those with body fat that tends to gather around the waist as opposed to the hips and thighs happen to be more likely to develop type II diabetes. Be aware of this “central body fat”. A good way to tell if you are at risk is to measure around your hips and around your waist with a tape measure. Now, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. This is your waist to hip ratio. If you are a male, 1.0 scores as a high reading and if you are female, 0.95 is a high reading. Keep it below these if you want to reduce your risk for diabetes and eventual heart failure.
Another factor that has a noticeable effect on one’s likelihood of developing type II diabetes is age. The older you are, the more likely you are to develop diabetes, but this also looks to be the work of our nutritionally lacking diets since our elderly are heavier than ever these days.
Therefore, it is vital that not only should one begin eating better by limiting carbohydrate consumption, especially of the refined, processed kind, but should also direct their focus on regular exercise.
These are the two factors that can be manipulated to your benefit since our genetic makeup is out of our reach, but you’ll be amazed at the difference a solid diet and a good exercise regimen can make.
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