Type 2 diabetes can be a confusing disease in terms of causes and treatments. For example, patients may be told sugar has caused diabetes and therefore, avoiding sugar is the fix for their diabetes. Additionally, there has been much talk about obesity putting people on a direct path to diabetes. Decades of consuming processed food, fast food, and sugary beverages have contributed to the obesity epidemic. Within the last five decades, obesity rates have more than doubled: in 1970, the obesity rate of adults in the U.S was 15%. Currently, 42.4% of adults are obese.
What Is Really Causing Type 2 Diabetes?
Sugar is indirectly involved in the lead up to type 2 diabetes. The ingredients in processed food contain unhealthy fats and are laden with sugar or refined carbohydrates, which quickly break down into sugar once they are in your system. When the body has more food than it needs, the excess is turned into fat and ends up in organs not designed for fat storage, such as the liver and pancreas.
Low-glycemic diets have touted reversing diabetes as well. Followers of low-glycemic diets ditched the carbs, assuming all other food items were healthy to consume, which resulted in many of those “dieters” turning to unhealthy fats to fill the gap of missing carbohydrates. Furthermore, years of yo-yo dieting can increase your body fat percentage, causing fatty liver, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. And when you tire of “starving” yourself you may return to those unhealthy lifestyle habits, making matters worse.
Eating unhealthy foods and following fad diets very often results in inflammation, which causes insulin resistance—the precursor to type 2 diabetes. Chronic inflammation also increases your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease and results in damage to healthy cells, and also interferes with the metabolic functions of fat tissue—you may have trouble converting carbohydrates into energy and your fat and muscle cells become desensitized to insulin, generally resulting in abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Weight loss also becomes difficult, making you feel like a mouse in a wheel—the cycle never ends!
It’s Time for Consistent Lifestyle Changes
With reasonable goals and consistency, you can begin to reverse the process that brought you to where you are today. Don’t set the unrealistic goal that you need to reverse your diabetes in 30 days—although you may see great results in the short term, those results likely will not last. Your goal should be long-term results.
- Think about reversing diabetes from the inside out and the outside in.
- Make healthy food choices with whole, fresh options.
- Limit carbohydrates, including fruit, and make sure you consume complex carbs, not refined carbs.
- Eat until you are 80% full.
- Flush your system and those unhealthy fat cells by drinking plenty of water. A good rule of thumb is to divide your weight in half, then drink that number of ounces of water each day. For example, if you weigh 120 pounds, you will drink 60 ounces of water daily.
- Exercise. Activate your muscles and burn some calories.
- Reduce stress—try meditation 15 minutes each day.
Finally, it is important not to put off seeking out assistance in creating healthy habits for long-term success. We all need guidance, encouragement, accountability, and tools for success when making major lifestyle changes. Reaching out to a holistic health/life coach is an excellent place to start.
Denise A. Pancyrz is a Diabetes Reversal and Holistic Lifestyle Coach, speaker, and best-selling author of The Virgin Diabetic, Reverse the Effects of Type 2 Diabetes, Reduce Medication, and Improve Your Glucose Levels, available on Amazon. Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Denise was prescribed four daily insulin shots along with oral medication for diabetes and heart disease. This protocol helped to bring her glucose levels down; however, she did not feel as healthy and vibrant as expected. After changing her protocol by learning to rest and preserve her pancreas, she was able to eliminate all medication and insulin, regaining her energy.
Visit www.ReverseMyDiabetes.netto book a free consultation.
Contact Denise by calling 888.848.1763 or email her at: Denise@ReverseMyDiabetes.net.