What is diabetes and how can I help prevent it?
/Diabetes is a disease that happens when your blood sugar is too high. Blood glucose is another name for blood sugar. Your blood glucose is the main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin. This helps glucose from foods get into your cells to be used for energy. For one reason or another some bodies can’t make enough insulin or any at all. When this happens, glucose tends to stay stuck in your blood and can't reach your cells. Overtime, having glucose stuck in the blood will cause many health problems like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, dental disease, nerve damage and many more.
Even though there is currently no cure for diabetes, there are 3 main ways to manage it and help prevent it.
Get active! You can help prevent or delay diabetes by losing weight in a healthy way. A good way is exercise. Get at least 30 min to an hour of physical activity daily. Do not skip a day. You can talk to a health care practitioner to help with what exercises can help or a personal trainer. They can start you slowly and help you build a goal.
Drink water instead of sweet drinks. Reduce sugar and salt.
Eat right. Eating a healthy diet daily and maintaining it can help in losing weight. Choose foods with less fat, and eat smaller portions. Some food options could include…
Non starchy veggies such as asparagus, broccoli, spinach, peppers and mushrooms
Fruits like blueberries and grapefruits
Lean protein like Fish, Turkey, Eggs, tofu and yogurts
Unsweetened beverages…just drink water!
Nuts
Oatmeal
Chia seeds
