Many would like to know how to prevent diabetes today.
Diabetes or Diabetes Mellitus is defined as an insulin disorder of the body that diminishes its ability to metabolize sugar, by absorbing it into your cells for energy, or into the liver and fat cells to store excess energy for future use. Diabetes is the most common glandular condition in North America today.
Insulin is a hormone produces in your pancreas to process sugar and other nutrients into energy for use in your body. With diabetes, either there isn’t enough insulin being made by the pancreas, or the insulin being produced is not metabolized properly. Sometimes it is a combination of both factors.
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And as you read in our
about us
page, you know that I lost my father due to diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, so this issue is close to my heart because as you will learn, diabetes is largely preventable.
I am going to give you the knowledge you need for preventing diabetes, so that you can take control of your own health, and be around to see your children and grandchildren grow up. My dad missed out, but you don’t have to.
Here are some facts about diabetes: As of Jan 26,2011, according to the
American Diabetes Foundation,
(this link opens in a new window) there are 25.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 8.3% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 18.8 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, 7 million people are unaware that they have the disease.
Pre-diabetics are even more numerous with an approximate 79 million people falling into this category. Learning how to prevent diabetes for this group of people is very important. There were 1.9 million new cases of diabetes diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010, so the number is continually rising.
There are four major types described on this official ADA website, and I will briefly sum them up here:
Type 1 diabetes - characterized by the body’s failure to produce enough insulin
Type 2 diabetes - the most common form in America - results from a combination of insulin resistance and deficiency.
Healthline recently published an infographic that shows the increasing impact type 2 diabetes has on everything from pregnancy to national health expenditures. For a breakdown of this impact, please consult the graphic here.
Gestational Diabetes - may show up after or as a result of pregnancy
Pre-Diabetes - when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. There are 57 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 23.6 million with diabetes.
If you fall into the latter category, which is over twice as large as those with Type 2 diabetes, you may be very interested in how to prevent diabetes. This will be the focus of our page.
The first thing you will notice about those with pre-diabetes
is they have higher than normal blood sugar levels. So that would be a logical place to start. How can a pre-diabetic person learn how to prevent diabetes by keeping their blood sugar level within normal range?
How To Prevent Diabetes - Monitoring Blood Glucose Levels
First of all, for how to prevent diabetes, one should regularly have their blood glucose levels checked. This may be done with your annual physical, and if your numbers are high, you will want to monitor your numbers more closely following the suggestions outlined here until you see your numbers return to closer to a normal range.
The number one method for preventing diabetes- know your numbers!
Then, do something about it if your blood sugar levels are high. What can you do?
How To Prevent Diabetes - Good Nutrition, Regular Exercise, and Healthy Weight
One of the first changes for preventing diabetes has to do with your diet. What we eat is a major factor influencing our blood glucose levels, since the body metabolizes this food into sugar and other necessary nutrients in our system.
It is a good idea to avoid refined sugars as much as possible, and try to eat a varied diet of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and high quality lean protein. You can learn more about this
Another good recommendation is to get plenty of regular exercise. 30 minutes a day of regular physical activity, such as walking, is very beneficial for all who can safely engage in it. (Note: Please seek medical advice before beginning any exercise program and be sure to view our
Medical Disclaimer here.
If you are overweight, a reduction in weight combined with exercise should also yield good results in lowering your blood glucose levels. There is more information on diet and exercise on the above mentioned American Diabetes Website
Some of this may or may not be new information for you.
The rest of the page contains lifesaving information that you may not have heard about before, for how to prevent diabetes. Read on for what you really need to know!
How To Prevent Diabetes : Improve Your Immune Function By Raising Glutathione
If you are saying, "gluta - what?" Don't worry, you can catch up with a short primer right
here
before going on. I'll wait right here.....
Regarding diabetes and immune function, diabetics are generally considered immunocompromised, or deficient in their immunity by definition. They are prone to more infections than they can generally resist.
When a bacterial infection takes over, it is generally more serious for the diabetic since gangrene and sepsis can set in. For this reason, it is important to prevent and treat infections right away.
Even more importantly, for how to prevent diabetes in the first place, keep your immune system strong. If you are less prone to infection, then you are less likely to suffer some of the above complications of diabetes.
Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of elevated glutathione (GSH) levels in the following conditions taken from the above - mentioned chapter on Diabetes:
Atherosclerosis (as well as heart disease and stroke)
Nephropathy (kidney damage)
Retinopathy (retinal damage)
Neuropathy (nerve damage)
How To Prevent Diabetes : Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke By Raising Glutathione
It is well known that diabetics have an above-average risk for heart disease and stroke, which are the leading causes of death in the United States and Canada. So it would make sense that in a discussion on how to prevent diabetes, we would also discuss how to prevent heart disease and stroke.
According to Dr. Jimmy Gutman in his book, “Glutathione, Your Key To Health” , in his chapter on Diabetes, “Most illness and death in diabetics is due to circulatory damage from heart disease, myocardial infarction, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, stroke, renal failure, neuropathy, blindness, and other effects of impaired blood circulation. In fact, diabetic complications are the major cause of blindness in the USA. Diabetics are also more prone to cataracts and glaucoma.”
Regarding heart disease, we can see that poor circulation is the most common cause of illness and death among diabetics. Why is that true?
Poor circulation may be caused by a number of factors. This affects all of our organ systems, since they all depend on an adequate blood supply to receive necessary nutrients.
One of the main causes of poor circulation is the oxidation of fats, or lipid peroxidation. You learned about oxidative stress, earlier in the page. When fats are oxidized in our system, they become sticky and stick to our arterial walls.
This in turn leads to atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, which is a major risk factor for heart attacks and stroke.
So how do you prevent lipid peroxidation? By raising and sustaining your glutathione levels.
Interestingly, there was a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found when you increase glutathione levels, your risk for a heart attack goes down. This is accomplished by a related enzyme named glutathione peroxidase.
When you raise your levels of glutathione, you also raise glutathione peroxidase, which this study shows prevents lipid peroxidation, which leads to heart attack and stroke!
To view the study entitled “Glutathione peroxidase 1 activity and cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease”, click
here.
(this link opens in a new window)
There are more studies available for your own research. Some are included below, but please
contact us
if you would like to learn more.
How To Prevent Diabetes : Medical Studies With Glutathione
To view some of the medical studies that show how to prevent diabetes online, please choose from the following, which is just a sampling of the many published studies available:
For a study demonstrating that high blood pressure in diabetics is aggravated by high glucose plasma levels, see the study entitled “Hyperglycemia counterbalances the antihypertensive effect of glutathione in diabetic patients”
For a study concluding antioxidants may be a helpful therapeutic adjuvant to reduce the vascular complications of diabetes, see the study entitled “SOD and GSH inhibit the high glucose-induced oxidative damage and the PDGF increased secretion in cultured human endothelial cells”
For a study highlighting that glutathione inhibition showed increased glucose related cell death and necrosis, see the study entitled “Glucose may induce cell death through a free radical-mediated mechanism”
For a study highlighting the relationship between glutathione synthesis and oxidative stress, see “Weakened cellular scavenging activity against oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus: regulation of glutathione synthesis and efflux” by clicking
here.
(this link opens in a new window)
So in conclusion, what are the best ways for how to prevent diabetes?
First, know your blood glucose levels, and if they are high, take preventive steps to bring them back into the normal range. This can be accomplished through proper nutrition and diet, regular moderate exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Additionally, since diabetics are immunocompromised, you should keep your immune system strong by taking a glutathione enhancer.
Additionally, since diabetics suffer from poor circulation, attention must be given to preventing heart disease and stroke, as well. Much research has shown that raising glutathione levels does much to reduce lipid peroxidation, thus forming a very protective and preventive role in how to prevent diabetes.
Note how this medical journal summed up the role of glutatione in how to prevent diabetes here:
"Diabetics are prone to infections and circulatory problems leading to heart disease, kidney failure, and blindness. Glutathione protects against the complications of diabetes."
- Clinical Science 91: 575-582, 1996
Now that you have learned that good nutrition, regular moderate exercise, boosting your immune function and improving circulation with glutathione are important factors in how to prevent diabetes, you can also see how the likelihood of your developing diabetes is largely up to you.
Eat right, exercise, and keep your glutathione levels high for how to prevent diabetes!
Dr. Jimmy Gutman is the world's most published author on the subject of glutathione. His current bestseller, referenced above, is entitled "Glutathione - Your Key To Health."
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Insulin is a hormone produces in your pancreas to process sugar and other nutrients into energy for use in your body. With diabetes, either there isn’t enough insulin being made by the pancreas, or the insulin being produced is not metabolized properly. Sometimes it is a combination of both factors.
