Attention couch potatoes

[QuilterMom]

http://www.publix.com/wellness/green...1&childId=1341

Attention Couch Potatoes!
You hold the control to diabetes prevention

Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Forty-one million more have "pre-diabetes" - a condition that can be prevented or delayed with a healthy diet and exercise.
Type 2 diabetes is "the ultimate disease of a sedentary lifestyle," says Robert Rizza, M.D., president of the American Diabetes Association and director of research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Over the long run, too much couch time and too many trips to the fridge set the stage for the condition, which, like obesity, is affecting more and more young people. "We used to see type 2 diabetes only in people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s," says Dr. Rizza. "Now we're seeing it in teens and people in their 20s and 30s."

There's great news, however, to balance that startling trend: With the right eating and exercise plan, you can dramatically reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes Defined Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, stems from the body's inability to produce enough insulin or its failure to use it properly. Insulin enables the cells of the body to remove glucose, or sugar, from the blood. Inside the cells, glucose is used for fuel. When the body's ability to produce or use insulin goes awry, blood sugar levels skyrocket. Over time, the excess glucose wreaks havoc on blood vessels, causing complications such as heart disease, blindness, and nerve and kidney damage.

Type 2 diabetes tends to be a silent disease. Symptoms such as blurry vision, thirst, fatigue, and frequent urination can be vague and easily attributed to age. By the time a person notices them, the disease has most likely been damaging the body for a while. One way to stop type 2 diabetes in its tracks is to know whether you are at increased risk for the disease. Advanced age and obesity are two such factors. If your weight is normal but you have other risk factors for diabetes, ask your doctor whether testing is appropriate.

Test for Diabetes To check for diabetes, your doctor can use the Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). For the FPG test, blood is drawn first thing in the morning after an overnight fast, and then measured to see the concentration of glucose in your blood - think of it as measuring the number of packets of sugar you put in your coffee. Levels of 100 mg/dl or less are considered normal, whereas levels of 126 or more indicate diabetes. If the level falls between100 and 126 mg/dl, the diagnosis is pre-diabetes. People with pre-diabetes run a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and their high blood glucose levels may already be taking a toll on the body's blood vessels. In fact, pre-diabetes also raises a person's risk of suffering a stroke or heart disease by 50 percent.

For the OGTT test, blood glucose is measured after an overnight fast and then again two hours after drinking a sugary beverage. Levels of less than 140 mg/dl are deemed normal, and levels of 200 or greater indicate diabetes. Levels between 140 and 199 indicate pre-diabetes.
5 Lb. Difference Even if you have pre-diabetes and run a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight can prevent or delay the onset of the disease, according to the Diabetes Prevention Program, a landmark study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

You don't have to reach your ideal weight to reap benefits, echoes Dr. Rizza. "People at increased risk who lose just 5 or 6 pounds reduce their chances of getting type 2 diabetes by 60 percent," he says. Those who take it a step further to get - and stay - lean and physically fit can reduce their risk by 90 to 95 percent, he says.

To lose weight, the National Diabetes Education Program also recommends following a low-fat, low-calorie eating plan. Start off by reducing the amount of food you eat. "We need to downsize the plate," says Anne Schreiner, a registered dietitian at the Joslin Diabetes Center at the Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida. "It's the volume of food that packs on the pounds, which make your body unable to use insulin properly." In restaurants, eat half the meal and take home the rest, or ask for lunch-size meals (which are typically smaller than dinner portions) in the evening.

In the supermarket, focus your shopping in the produce and whole-grain products sections. Fruits and vegetables rank high in nutrients, low in fat, and high in fiber - which some studies have shown controls blood-sugar levels. Choosing low-fat foods is particularly important for people at risk for diabetes because the disease often goes hand in hand with heart disease. (Dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, boosts blood cholesterol levels, which in turn elevates risk of heart disease.)

Sugar Myth: Busted It's not true that eating sugar causes diabetes. While particularly sugary foods such as soda pop may cause a temporary spike in blood-glucose levels, they don't cause the insulin problems that underlie type 2 diabetes. Granted, sugary foods tend to be high in calories, particularly when they are also high in fat. Still, high-sugar foods are not likely to cause significant problems for people at risk for type 2 diabetes unless they are eaten in excess - adding the extra calories that lead to obesity, which boosts diabetes risk.

Get Moving To shed excess pounds, the American Diabetes Association recommends regularly engaging in at least 30 minutes of physical activity at least five times a week. Exercise not only burns calories, which enhances weight loss, but also bolsters the body's ability to use insulin.


If you have difficulty finding enough time to exercise, "Do it in small increments," recommends Schreiner. She suggests tracking mileage on foot with a pedometer, shooting for 10,000 steps a day.
Incremental steps - literally, paired with the benefits of a healthy diet - can lead to large strides in reducing your risk of developing pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. So get up off that couch and take charge of your health.

TO LEARN MORE: www.diabetes.org/type-2-diabetes.jsp.



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Are you at risk?
If you have one or more of the following risk factors for type 2 diabetes, talk to your health care provider:
Age 45 years or older
Overweight (as defined by your doctor)
One or more close blood relatives (parent or sibling) with diabetes
African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Hispanic/Latino heritage
Personal history of gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby weighing more than nine pounds
High blood pressure (140/90 or higher)
High blood cholesterol (HDL cholesterol less than 40 for men and less than 50 for women; triglyceride level of 250 or higher)
Sedentary lifestyle (exercise fewer than 3 times a week)


Calorie Goals
Ideal calorie consumption varies depending on a person's height, weight, gender, and activity level. A dietician can offer specific goals for individuals. The National Diabetes Education Program offers this guide:

WEIGHT (POUNDS) FAT GOAL (GRAMS) CALORIE GOAL(g)
120-174 33 1200
175-219 42 1500
220-249 50 1800
250+ 55 2000

[dndylfe]

And I would like to add, if improving your health isn't motivational enough, any kind of diabetes will sucker-punch your checkbook. If you develop full blown diabetes, it is very expensive and only gets more expensive the older you get. And it's pretty horrible to watch someone die from it (think amputation, etc)---my dh's cousin died young from mixing drinking with his diabetes.

And P.S. insurance companies hate you and will do everything in their power to avoid paying to help you out. My husband's had type I for 20 years.

So get out there and exercise!!