Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms, Causes, Tips
Diabetes is a chronic medical condition in which sugar or glucose, levels build up in your bloodstream. We have insulin hormone that helps us to move our sugar from the blood into the cells to be stored or to use for our energy. When you have diabetes, your body is not producing insulin that causes high blood sugar. If left untreated, it can damage your nerves, eyes, kidneys, and other organs.
Diabetes has different types. One of them is Type 2 diabetes. In the case of Type 2 diabetes, the body becomes resistant to insulin that causes sugar buildups in blood. In that case, your body will be relying on alternative energy sources in your tissues, muscles, and organs that cause them to damage.
Type 2 diabetes can develop slowly but there are early symptoms that may include such as constant hunger, a lack of energy, fatigue, weight loss, excessive thirst, frequent urination, dry mouth, itchy skin, and blurry vision. As the disease progress, symptoms are becoming more severe and are potentially dangerous. If your blood glucose level has been high for a long time, you may experience symptoms such as infections, slow-healing cuts or sores, dark patches on your skin, a condition known as acanthosis nigricans, foot pain, feelings of numbness in your extremities, or neuropathy.
The cause of Type 2 diabetes is because of the damaged cells in your pancreas. When it is damaged, you cannot produce any insulin anymore. Insulin is a naturally occurring hormone. It helps you to transport your glucose from your bloodstream to the cells throughout your body for energy use. Your pancreas produces it and releases it when you eat. When it is already damaged, instead of moving it into your cells, sugar is building in your bloodstream.
Good thing, you can still manage Type 2 diabetes. Doctors will teach you how to check your blood glucose levels and will recommend you have a good diet. According to Ann Pietrangelo from Healthline, there are several tips to manage type 2 diabetes and diet that can help.
Managing Type 2 Diabetes:
Include foods rich in fiber and healthy carbohydrates in your diet. Eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will help keep your blood glucose levels steady.
Eat at regular intervals
Only eat until you are full.
Control your weight and keep your heart healthy. That means keeping refined carbohydrates, sweets, and animal fats to a minimum.
Get about half an hour of aerobic activity daily to help keep your heart healthy. Exercise helps to control blood glucose, too.
Diet for Type 2 Diabetes:
Foods to avoid: foods heavy in saturated or trans fats organ meats(such as beef or liver
processed meats), shellfish, margarine and shortening, baked goods such as white bread, bagels, processed snacks, sugary drinks including fruit juices, high-fat dairy products. pasta or white rice
Foods to choose: whole fruits, non-starchy vegetable legumes such as beans, whole grains such as oats or quinoa, sweet potatoes, tuna, sardines, salmon mackerel, halibut, cod, flax seeds, oils(such as olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil), and nuts (such as almonds, pecans, and walnuts) and avocados.
However, with all these tips and information, it is still the best way to contact your doctor if you have Type 2 diabetes for your specific needs and medication.
Bibliography:
Stephanie Watson, Everything You Need to Know About Diabetes https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes
Ann Pietrangelo, Understanding Type 2 Diabetes https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes#causes
Mayo Clinic, Type 2 diabetes https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20351193