Lifestyle Choices

In Type Z diabetes, there is at first no shortage of insulin. In fact, early in the disease, there is more than usual. Yet, despite the insulin making its presence known in the muscle tissue, the muscle remains deaf to insulin’s messages, no matter how many are sent, and does nothing to stimulate the uptake of glucose or the storage of glycogen.

Another hormone which comes from the pancreas, in cells which live very near to those which make insulin, is glucagon. Whereas insulin is the hormone of plenty, glucagon is the hormone of scarcity: so when glucose is taken into the blood from the intestine during digestion of starchy foods, insulin is secreted and glucagon secretion is inhibited. During the night, when there is nothing left in your gut to absorb, glucagon secretion increases and insulin secretion is inhibited. (more…)

Over the last fifty years, the incidence of Type z diabetes (in which too much insulin is produced) has rocketed, in parallel with the incidence of obesity. This is despite us eating less — often a lot less — than our parents and grandparents. Some scientists believe that the availability of refined foods, particularly the increase in the amount of fat from diet from about 25 per cent to the present 35 per cent, plus the lack of physical activity, causes changes in muscle which are responsible for the development of Type z diabetes and obesity. (more…)

1. Diabetes

Insulin is a hormone that controls the provision of blood sugar (glucose) to the tissues of your body where it’s used for energy. Diabetes is a metabolic disease that affects your body’s ability to make or respond to insulin. Type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes, is an inherited disease that affects your pancreas, destroying its ability to make insulin. Type 1 diabetes usually occurs during childhood or adolescence.

Ninety per cent of people with diabetes have type 2 (or non-insulindependent) diabetes. In this type, your body cannot use the insulin properly. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs after age 30.

Take charge, take care, take action

A. If you have a family history of diabetes, watch out for any signs or symptoms. (more…)