Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce insulin. There are two types of diabetes, as you may or may not be aware. The first type, Type 1 is only had by 5 to 10 percent of the population with diabetes. It is often genetic, but can develop in adolescence or into adulthood.
When people have diabetes it means that their pancreas, the organ which sits behind the stomach isn’t able to produce insulin, the hormone which tells the body to take food and use it as energy or transfer it into fat. Type 1 causes the immune system to attack the pancreas so it can’t do its job. This can be fatal if not monitored.
Type 2 diabetes is the kind that is often related to people with unhealthy lifestyles that are overweight or seriously obese. Type 2 is often only seen in adults, but can be seen in children as well. Diabetes is a serious condition and if you don’t have Type 1, you can keep yourself and your family risk free from contracting Type 2 by doing these things:
Don’t Raise Your Children On Processed Foods
Processed foods are responsible for so many of the health related crisis in the world, especially in the United States. Processed foods are often engineered to have a bliss point. This is when foods are just salty enough or just sweet enough that they leave you feeling unsatisfied and so you eat more. Because processed foods are often stripped of much of their nutrients as well, you’re left feeling hungry shortly after consuming a high amount of calories.
Processed foods are highly addictive, so if you’re raising your children on them, you’re potentially setting them up for a lifetime struggle with foods that could cause them to get diabetes. They can’t stop eating the foods, the body can’t process the foods, the body stores fat, the pancreas can’t handle the amount of sugar in the body, so it develops diabetes. That’s a stripped down explanation of what happens, but the best thing you can do is limit processed foods as your children are growing up.
Encourage Activity
Standard as it is, and you’ve heard the same message preached time and time again, diabetes is mostly linked to people who are obese or have a very unhealthy lifestyle that contains high amounts of toxic foods. Other than adjusting diet, you should encourage activity within your household. Limit the watching of television and get out with the family to encourage movement.
When you foster this lifestyle from a young age into your children, they’ll win the battle before it even begins. For yourself, teaching your kids the importance of food and activity in order to live a healthy life will help you practice the same theories for your own life. Type 2 diabetes ends when you take control of what you’re putting in and putting your body through.
