Do you suffer from diabetes? | Diabetes facts & advice is here!
What is diabetes
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high. In the UK, diabetes affects approximately 2.9 million people. There are also thought to be around 850,000 people with undiagnosed diabetes. The two main types of diabetes are:
Symptoms of diabetes
The main symptoms of diabetes are:
- feeling very thirsty
- urinating frequently, particularly at night
- feeling very tired
- weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly, over weeks or even days. Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because early symptoms tend to be general.
What causes diabetes?
The amount of sugar in the blood is usually controlled by a hormone called insulin, which is produced by the pancreas (a gland behind the stomach). When food is digested and enters your bloodstream, insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into cells, where it is broken down to produce energy. However, if you have diabetes, your body is unable to break down glucose into energy. This is because there is either not enough insulin to move the glucose, or the insulin produced does not work properly.
Managing your diabetes
Making changes and fitting the demands of diabetes into your lifestyle can be extremely challenging at times.
Effective diabetes care can only be achieved through working closely with your diabetes healthcare team – they are there to support you in self-managing your diabetes. The most important person in the team is YOU – because the decisions made will affect you. Taking responsibility for your diabetes will enable you to manage your diabetes more effectively.
Advice on diet
In the UK, current 2013 NHS diabetes diet advice is that there is no special diet for people with diabetes. Many people with diabetes focus on the carbohydrate content of their meals and prefer a low-carb diet for tight blood glucose level control.
The NHS (and Diabetes UK) recommend a healthy, balanced diet that is low in fat, sugar and salt and contain a high level of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Here is a video for ‘NHS Diet Advice for Diabetes‘
Published by Jason Finch