Diabetes cases are rising at an alarming rate across the globe. Asians especially being predisposed to diabetes tend to develop the metabolic disorder at a younger age as compared to rest of the populations. The good news is that diabetes risk can be curtailed to a huge extent with lifestyle modifications. If you are leading an active lifestyle and consuming a balanced diet while staying away from junk food, deep-fried stuff, sugar-laden treats, refined flour, you can avoid getting the disease. Also, stress is one of the lifestyle factors that could be raising your risk of diabetes, and it's imperative to adopt practices that can help you manage it.
How diabetes can be damaging to health?
Adults who suffer from diabetes generally have insulin resistance at the onset of diabetes. When there isn't enough insulin or there is insulin resistance, glucose (sugar) can't get into your cells, and they can’t produce energy to perform various activities. The sugar levels instead build up in your bloodstream, damage many areas of the body and the excess sugar gets stored in the body as fat leading to obesity.
Will I get diabetes if my parents are suffering from it?
Diabetes has a strong genetic predisposition, which means if an individual's family members are diabetic, there are higher chances of that person becoming a diabetic in the future. Having said that, it is primarily our lifestyle habits which have caused a sharp rise in the number of diabetic cases in the past few years.
Poor diet:
If you are not eating mindfully and going overboard on food items prepared with white flour, junk foods, refined carbs, carbonated drinks, sugar-rich processed foods, this can significantly increase risk of diabetes. This practice can lead to obesity, which is one of the strongest risk factors for diabetes. This can lead to excess body fat, especially around the abdomen, which increases insulin resistance and raises blood sugar levels.
Sitting too much and not moving your body
The majority of those belonging to the working population are employed in jobs which have erratic work timings and entail sitting for long hours. Inactive lifestyle coupled with unhealthy eating habits, poor sleep and high stress can increase the level of stress hormones cortisol and desmopressin in our body. All these factors are the foundation of diabetes. Regular simple exercise of any kind like walking, running, yoga, aerobics at least of five days a week will help burn calories and improves insulin sensitivity.
Eating refined carbs:
Food items such as wheat flour and refined sugar are the biggest culprits in promoting obesity and diabetes. Since refined sugar and wheat flour are already digested forms of carbohydrates, they get rapidly absorbed into our blood stream and cause a sugar spike, which promotes erratic release of high amounts of insulin. In comparison, if we eat complex carbs, they are digested slowly and the sugar levels in our blood rise slowly and the insulin secretion is more physiological.
Smoking :
Smoking whether in the form of cigarettes, bidi, hookah or vaping is extremely detrimental to a person's health because the smoke contains a lot of hazardous chemicals and carcinogens which affect each and every organ of the body and can increase the chances of diabetes. It can also lead to insulin resistance and impair production and utilization of insulin in the body.
Stress :
If you are leading a high-stress lifestyle and are not finding ways to handle your stress well, it could affect your blood sugar levels and contribute to the development of diabetes.
It's important to note that making positive changes to these lifestyle habits can significantly reduce your risk of developing diabetes. People with a family history of diabetes should plan regular medical check-ups from the age of 45 years.
Excess alcohol intake :
Liver is the detoxifying and sugar-stabilizing organ of the body. Excess alcohol can damage the liver, which can cause sugar imbalance in the body. Also, alcohol is basically empty calorie without any nutritional benefit. This promotes obesity and diabetes.
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