The Preventable Epidemic

Dr. Debbie Wallace

Host of True Health Doctors

Adjunct Professor; Morehouse School of Medicine

Are you one of the 84 Million with Pre-Diabetes and don’t know it?

It’s almost certain you have heard the term Diabetes but do you realize just how dangerous it can be to your health? Diabetes Mellitus, commonly referred to as Diabetes, is a chronic metabolic condition in which your blood sugar (glucose) remains high in your blood.  A high blood sugar level is a serious condition that affects approximately 30 million Americans. It can often go undetected for years while wreaking havoc on your body. Normally, your blood sugar levels should be under 100, yet people can walk around looking completely normal with blood sugar levels of 400 or more. That is the problem. Diabetes is virtually undetected yet it is the number one cause of blindness. It can also lead to heart disease, kidney disease or renal failure.  In fact, it is the main reason so many Dialysis Clinics are popping up all over the place. Diabetes is a very insidious disease – you can function normally while all the time it’s killing you.  

So how does this happen? Normally, everything you eat, including protein and fat, eventually breaks down to sugar that provides fuel to the cells. Your cells uptake the blood sugar via the action of insulin; a hormone normally produced by your pancreas.  If this mechanism doesn’t work because your body doesn’t produce enough insulin, then we call it Type 1 Diabetes or Juvenile Diabetes (as most Type 1 diabetics are born with this condition). Or if your body doesn’t utilize the insulin properly, then we call it Type 2 Diabetes. Too much sugar in the blood will spill over into the urine. This was called ‘sweet urine’ because this is how most Type 2 Diabetes was diagnosed.    

There is lots of good news, however.  First, it takes many years for your body to develop Type 2 diabetes.  Before that, there is an opportunity to intervene and change things. This stage is called Pre-diabetes.  However, if you don’t know that you are among the 84 million Americans with Pre-diabetes, then you are not likely to make any changes.  There are some things that will alert you to a potential diagnosis such as having a close family member that has had diabetes, indicating a genetic predisposition. Other things include body weight, and having a child that weighed over 9 pounds. There are easy ways to diagnose Pre-diabetes that doesn’t involve any blood tests. For example, you can simply complete the Pre-Diabetes Test at the end of this article.

However, even if you have full-blown diabetes there is still good news.  You can prevent Type 2 Diabetes which is 90% of all Diabetes. In other words, only about 10% of people with Diabetes, that is Type 1 Diabetes can’t prevent the disease. They are dependent on insulin because their body doesn’t produce enough.  If you weren’t diagnosed with this problem at birth, then it is highly likely that your body produces insulin. So does it make sense to just inject more insulin in your body when your body already produces enough? The answer is No.  

The problem is that your body is not utilizing the insulin properly.  It has become insensitive to insulin. Well how does that happen? Research is showing that it has more to do with a high-fat diet than sugar.  Fat prevents the insulin receptors from being detected – it’s as if the insulin wasn’t even there – so the body cells do not uptake the glucose. Therefore, it is not just sugar that we should limit but also fat intake.  Research is showing that after years and years of eating a high fat and high sugar diet, we are likely to develop insulin insensitivity or Type 2 Diabetes; hence the epidemic.

Unfortunately, while you are indulging in pleasure foods such as donuts, cookies, ice-cream, candy bars and other treats that are high in simple sugars and high in fat, your body is having a hard time keeping your blood sugar levels stable.  When you eat these simple sugars you raise your blood glucose level very quickly. Insulin then thinks you are having a big meal and drops your blood sugar levels below the normal. Meanwhile your brain interprets low blood sugar as hunger. Soon after you eat that treat, you feel hungry and start to eat again. Your body was really not in need of any more calories (this leads to weight gain too).  Yet that sugar-induced hunger is likely to have you grab another snack or candy bar. This repeats the insulin coming out and overshooting below your normal blood glucose level and the cycle repeats, on and on. This constant up and down of the blood sugar level after years takes a toll on your system.  

It is hard to find a snack without disguised sugar content. So perhaps the best answer is to stop snacking or drink some water. In fact, most times when people feel hungry, they are actually thirsty. That is because our bodies don’t have a good thirst mechanism. By the time you feel thirsty, you are dehydrated. Furthermore, just drinking water would satisfy a lot of what I call “sugar-induced hunger pangs.”  

Think about it. When you accidentally pour too much sugar in your drink, you fix it by adding water. The water essentially dilutes the sugar, making it less concentrated. By the way, when you are dehydrated, your urine will be more yellow. If you are properly hydrated your urine will look almost colorless. So please pay attention every time you urinate. Also, if there is any blood in your urine, you need to see your doctor immediately. Drinking water is a great cure for snacking and your body will habituate good practices. 

To summarize, drinking water, eating less of high fat and simple sugars and being more physically active are good habits that not only can help prevent diabetes, but also can help control your blood sugar levels. Well, there is even more good news. Even if you have already developed full-blown Type 2 Diabetes, it is very likely that you can reverse it. Changing your lifestyle is the best fix. In the next magazine issue, I will talk more specifically about how we can Reverse Diabetes.  The information will also prevent one going from Pre-diabetes to full-blown Type 2 Diabetes.

Pills generally only treat the symptoms of diabetes. However, if your faucet is leaking, what would you rather do, get lots of buckets to catch the water, patch the leak or fix the faucet? If it’s possible to fix the problem then why not fix it?  Please don’t forget to take the Pre-diabetes test below. Please share this article with all your loved ones because “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Please take the CDC Pre-Diabetes Screening at: 

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/pdf/prediabetes-screening-test-tag508.pdf

However, until you fix the problem, use the buckets and take your medicine!