Today is the American diabetes alert day. It’s a day that highlights the seriousness of diabetes and the importance of understanding your risk. They call it a day for a “wake up call” to assess how likely you are to develop type 2 diabetes in particular.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is when there is too much sugar in your bloodstream. Type 1 is a genetic condition, whereas type 2 is from your lifestyle and usually happens over time. With type 2 diabetes, your pancreas can’t produce enough insulin or your cells don’t respond well to the insulin so the cells take in less sugar.
Many of the symptoms of both types of diabetes are similar. They include an increase in thirst, an increase in urination, increased hunger, and unintended weight loss. Other symptoms include fatigue, blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing sores. You may also experience a numbness in your hands and feet. Some of your skin may also darken, particularly your armpits and neck.
Diabetes Alert Statistics
Why do we need an alert day? Well, because the incidence of diabetes is growing and continues to grow. Right now there is about 11% of the population in the United States who has diabetes. About 1 out of 5 people with diabetes are unaware of it. 96 million people over the age of 18 have prediabetes – and about 80% of them do not know they are at this high level of risk.
Many see diabetes in industrialized countries as an epidemic. The prevalence is growing constantly and it shows no signs of slowing down. Why is that? Well, let’s look at the risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes
People who are over the age of 35 and are overweight or obese are at a higher risk. People who are not very active are also at risk. Family history plays a part in it, as does a history of gestational diabetes. Basically, if you are eating foods that are not nutritious (particularly added sugar) and you are not exercising, you are at risk of being obese and of developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2, in particular, is a concern because we can do something about it. If we live a healthy lifestyle, we can avoid or perhaps even reverse type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes Alert and Keto
But, the Diabetes Association will not tell you to switch to keto if you are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They will tell you to cut out sugar, eat fewer carbs (especially simple carbs like white bread or white rice), and watch how much fruit you eat. They will tell you to lose weight. The fact that all these things happen with keto is not discussed.
But, here’s the thing. As keto people, we don’t eat sugar and we eat very few carbs. Our blood sugar is level because we don’t take in sugar or carbs that turn to sugar. We have lost weight and we have lots of energy from being in the state of ketosis. Funny – it seems like keto would be the way to go. But, for some reason, keto is still considered a fad diet by many health professionals.
Why Diabetes Alert Day is Important to Me
Type 2 diabetes is a topic near and dear to my heart, because I was very overweight before I started keto. Every time I had bloodwork done and got a call from my doctor, I was sure they would tell me I had type 2 diabetes. It was just a matter of time. Now, I feel confident that when I have bloodwork done, it will show that I am healthy.
We did a series on keto and diabetes. After doing lots of research for the articles, it baffles me why keto is not recommended for people with diabetes. If you’ve read this blog, you likely know that I believe added sugar is the worst culprit for harming our health. Giving it up has been the best thing I could have done. If my blood sugar doesn’t spike, I don’t need to produce insulin, and my body stays happy with me!
Wendy
