What is Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is a protracted terminal ailment that affects the way your body processes glucose for your body. Insulin is a hormone responsible for controlling movement of sugar (glucose) into your cells. What type 2 diabetes does is to inhibit your body from properly expending insulin.

Type 2 diabetes either counterattacks insulin effects or it makes it unable to produce enough insulin to normalize proper level of glucose.

READ ALSO: Symptoms Of Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is an incurable disease. It formerly used to be diagnosed in adults, but more children are now being detected with the disease owing to childhood obesity and other factors.

Though type 2 diabetes cannot be cured, but it can be managed by engaging in proper exercise that can help you achieve weight loss and stay fit. Also diabetics don’t eat every kind of meal. There are diet that people with type 2 diabetes needs to eat to properly manage the condition. Apart from exercise and diet, there are medications to help control the disease as prescribed by a doctor.

In this article, we examined:

The causes of diabetes
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes
Best diet for type 2 diabetes
Treatment of type 2 diabetes
Preventing diabetes
Before a person is diagnosed with diabetes, there’s a condition called prediabetes which he or she may have been unaware of. Prediabetes occurs when a person’s level of blood glucose is not normal, but is not also high enough to trigger onset of diabetes. Prediabetes is the first stage leading to diabetes.

What are the Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes?
At the initial stage, the symptoms of type 2 diabetes often come on gradually. When they start to manifest, symptoms may include:

Frequent passing out of urine
Sores and wounds that heals slowly
Increased thirst
Recurrent infections
Involuntary weight loss
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Areas of darkened skin, usually in the armpits and neck
Increased hunger

What Causes Type 2 Diabetes?
When there’s difficulty for the pancreas to make sufficient insulin, or when the body develops insulin-resistance, it results to type 2 diabetes. Researchers are yet to establish what really triggers this, however they suspect genetics, obesity, and inactivity to be responsible.

READ ALSO: 5 Worst Foods For Type 2 Diabetes

Normally, the pancreas discharges insulin into the blood, and the insulin circulates, making it easy for sugar (glucose) to gain access into the cells. The Insulin function by lowering the quantity of sugar in your bloodstream. The insulin secretion dwindles as your blood sugar lowers too.

Conversely, your liver produces glucose apart from the glucose derived from food. When sugar gets into the bloodstream, insulin permits it to enter the body cells. Glucose is also stored and produced in the liver. When you are very hungry, it means your glucose level has dropped. This triggers the liver to break down the glycogen in its storage, just to maintain a normal glucose level.

However, this whole insulin and glucose activities doesn’t function in the system of people with type 2 diabetes. Glucose or sugar doesn’t move into body cells for type 2 diabetes, but it gathers in the bloodstream. Increase in blood sugar causes more insulin to be automatically released by the pancreas. Finally these cells become weakened and become incapable of makin enough insulin for the body.

Risk factors
The following are possible factors that may increase a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes. They include:

A family member with type 2 diabetes can increase risk of a related member developing the condition.
Fat distribution.People who are fatter around the middle are at an increased risk of getting the diseases. A man with a waist circumference above 40 inches (101.6 centimeters) or a woman with a waist measurement greater than 35 inches (88.9 centimeters), are both at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Obesity increases risk of type 2 diabetes. However, you don’t necessarily have to be overweight to develop type 2 diabetes.
Sedentary lifestyle or Inactivity.A person is more prone to having type 2 diabetes if they lead an inactive lifestyle. Regular exercises and other physical activity helps keep your weight in check.
Darkened skin areas. People with parts of darkened skin, such as in the armpits and neck hints at insulin resistance.
Although it’s vague why some race are more at risk of developing diabetes compared to other races. For instance, Hispanic, Blacks, American Indian and Asian-American people, have a high likelihood of develop type 2 diabetes compared to the Whites.
As a person gets older, usually from 45 and above, the risk of developing diabetes increases. Most people exercise little and add on weight as they age, this could be responsible for increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Pre-diabetes.Untreated pre-diabetes will progressively develop to diabetes in long run.
Gestational diabetes.A woman’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases if she develops gestational diabetes while pregnant.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome.Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) also increases a woman’s risk of having type 2 diabetes. Read HERE for symptoms of PCOS
Complications of Type 2 Diabetes
Controlling blood sugar is essential if you must control type 2 diabetes. If type 2 diabetes is left uncontrolled or not managed, it can severely damage the blood vessels, kidneys, heart, and eyes.

Although longstanding difficulties of diabetes develop steadily, they can end up being fatal. Some of the potential complications of diabetes include:

Kidney damage
Heart and blood vessel disease
Eye problems such as glaucoma and cataracts
Nerve damage
Slow healing of minor cuts, leading to severe infections that may require amputation of affected part
Sleep problems
Alzheimer’s disease
Hearing problems
Skin disease
READ ALSO: How is Bad Breath Linked to Diabetes?

What is the Best Diet for Type 2 Diabetes
The DASH Diet
Most diabetics also suffer from hypertension, this is where the DASH diet comes into play. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is beneficial to people with diabetes as it helps control hypertension by lowering blood pressure to a normal level.

2. The Biggest Loser Diet

The Biggest Loser Diet is fit for diabetics. This diet plan comprises of specific percentage of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. The plan restricts consumption of refined carbs and other foods high in carbs.

The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet for people with diabetes consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, grains, beans, fish, diary, small quantity of red wine and meat. Mediterranean eating plan helps keep blood sugar and heart-related disease in check, according to the American Diabetes Association. A dietician can help you with a proper Mediterranean diet plan.

4. Ornish Diet

The Ornish diet, also called The Spectrum, is strictly a vegetarian diet which immensely helps in weight loss. According to studies, the Ornish diet helps people with diabetes to lose weight and later switch from diabetes medication to oral drug.

5. Mark Bittman’s VB6 Diet

Mark Bittman’s VB6 diet is a vegan diet. (VB6 means vegan before 6 p.m.) It is a plant-based diet plan which facilitates consumption of more fiber and less trans-fat.

6. The Volumetrics Diet

This diabetes diet plan involves you consuming more water-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, and broths. The volumetrics diet is highly nourishing and keeps you fuller for longer since it is filling.

7. American Diabetes Association Carbohydrate Counting

This is not basically a diet, but a form of carb counting, that helps you keep levels of your blood glucose in check. Most high-carb foods contains high calories, such that reducing intake of these foods would mean losing weight. cutting back on them often leads to shedding pounds.

How Can You Treat Type 2 Diabetes without Medication?
At the initial stage, it is possible for you to control type 2 diabetes without having to be on medication. Some ways you can naturally keep type 2 diabetes in check includes:

Exercise regularly. Going for workouts regularly can help you achieve weight loss thereby increasing your sensitivity to insulin.

Consume lots of water. Consuming lots of water can help keep your blood sugar in check by getting rid of excess sugar in your body via urine.

Check blood sugar levels. You can properly manage your blood sugar levels if you measure or check in regularly. Check it daily and keep track of the measurements in a log.

Go for foods with low glycemix index. Foods with low glycemix index comprises of eggs, oats, legumes, beans, corn, non-starchy vegetables, lentils, seafood, meat, yam, and sweet potatoes. Several studies have shown that consuming these foods helps to cut down long-term blood sugar levels in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Don’t joke with your sleep. It is no longer news that a person’s risk of developing high blood sugar increases with poor quality sleep. When you don’t get sufficient sleep, it causes increase in levels of cortisol and decrease in growth hormones.

Eat more fiber. Consuming for fiber helps slow down carb digestion and increase sugar absorption, thereby promoting a slower rise in blood sugar levels. High fiber foods includes legumes, vegetables, whole grains, and fruits.

Prevention
You can increase your chance of keeping type 2 diabetes at bay by inculcating a healthy lifestyle and eating healthy meals. People with family history of diabetes can cut down the risk of developing the disorder by practicing healthy lifestyle choices. Even with a diabetes diagnosis, you can use healthy lifestyle choices to help prevent the disease from progressing and avoid complications.

A healthy lifestyle includes:

Consume foods low in fat and calories, but high in fiber.
Getting active.Exercise regularly for about one hour every day or at least 3 to 4 days in a week.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Avoiding sedentary lifestyle by sitting for extended periods of time at a stretch.
For type 2 diabetes, your doctor can recommend Metformin (Glucophage, Glumetza, others), an oral diabetes medication. However, it is still essential for you to maintain healthy lifestyle choices to keep diabetes in check, even with medication.

Source: https://healthdiary365.com/type-2-diabetes-all-you-need-to-know/