Type 2 diabetes, a form of diabetes mellitus, is likely one of the better-known chronic diseases in the world — and that's no surprise. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest in the United States alone, 30.3 million people, or 9.4 percent of the U.S. population, has diabetes, and the majority of these people have type 2.
Among those people with diabetes, 7.2 million don't even know they have it, and now, more and more children and adolescents are being diagnosed with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Whether you've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or have a family history of the disease, this condition can be scary. And with the required diet and lifestyle changes, as well as an increased risk for complications like amputations and heart disease, we don’t blame you for fearing it.
But living with type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to be devastating. In fact, when you know the facts about the disease, like how insulin resistance develops and how to mitigate it, how to spot the signs of diabetes, and what to eat if you receive a diagnosis, you can get the prompt treatment and diet resources you need to thrive.
Indeed, an increasing amount of research suggests you may even be able to reverse type 2 diabetes by making adjustments to your diet and lifestyle.
In this article, you’ll get a deep-dive primer on that information and more. So sit back, read up, and rest assured that type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to derail your life plans.
What Is Insulin Resistance, and How Can It Cause Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes?
For starters, it’s important to understand exactly what type 2 diabetes is. This type of diabetes is marked by high blood sugar that your body can’t bring down on its own. High blood sugar is called hyperglycemia; hypoglycemia is low blood sugar.
High blood sugar in type 2 diabetes is due to a condition called insulin resistance, which your doctor may have mentioned during your diagnosis, and a corresponding drop in insulin production. These two factors are what make type 2 diabetes different from type 1 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and other types of diabetes.
Insulin — the hormone that allows your body to regulate sugar in the blood — is made in your pancreas. Essentially, insulin resistance is a state in which the body’s cells do not use insulin efficiently. As a result, it takes more insulin than normal to transport blood sugar (glucose) into cells, to be used immediately for fuel or stored for later use. A drop in efficiency in getting glucose to cells creates a problem for cell function; glucose is normally the body’s quickest and most readily available source of energy.
Insulin resistance doesn’t develop immediately, and often, people with the condition don’t show symptoms — which may make getting a diagnosis tougher.
As the body becomes more and more insulin resistant, the pancreas responds by releasing more and more insulin. This higher-than-normal level of insulin in the bloodstream is called hyperinsulinemia.
Insulin resistance sends your pancreas into overdrive, and while it may be able to keep up with the body’s increased demand for insulin for a while, this ability wanes. And when it does, your blood sugar levels will elevate — leading to prediabetes, the precursor of type 2 diabetes, or type 2 diabetes itself.
A prediabetes diagnosis doesn’t mean you’ll definitely develop type 2 diabetes. Catching the diagnosis quickly and then changing your diet and lifestyle can help prevent your health from worsening.
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Among those people with diabetes, 7.2 million don't even know they have it, and now, more and more children and adolescents are being diagnosed with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Whether you've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or have a family history of the disease, this condition can be scary. And with the required diet and lifestyle changes, as well as an increased risk for complications like amputations and heart disease, we don’t blame you for fearing it.
But living with type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to be devastating. In fact, when you know the facts about the disease, like how insulin resistance develops and how to mitigate it, how to spot the signs of diabetes, and what to eat if you receive a diagnosis, you can get the prompt treatment and diet resources you need to thrive.
Indeed, an increasing amount of research suggests you may even be able to reverse type 2 diabetes by making adjustments to your diet and lifestyle.
In this article, you’ll get a deep-dive primer on that information and more. So sit back, read up, and rest assured that type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to derail your life plans.
What Is Insulin Resistance, and How Can It Cause Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes?
For starters, it’s important to understand exactly what type 2 diabetes is. This type of diabetes is marked by high blood sugar that your body can’t bring down on its own. High blood sugar is called hyperglycemia; hypoglycemia is low blood sugar.
High blood sugar in type 2 diabetes is due to a condition called insulin resistance, which your doctor may have mentioned during your diagnosis, and a corresponding drop in insulin production. These two factors are what make type 2 diabetes different from type 1 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and other types of diabetes.
Insulin — the hormone that allows your body to regulate sugar in the blood — is made in your pancreas. Essentially, insulin resistance is a state in which the body’s cells do not use insulin efficiently. As a result, it takes more insulin than normal to transport blood sugar (glucose) into cells, to be used immediately for fuel or stored for later use. A drop in efficiency in getting glucose to cells creates a problem for cell function; glucose is normally the body’s quickest and most readily available source of energy.
Insulin resistance doesn’t develop immediately, and often, people with the condition don’t show symptoms — which may make getting a diagnosis tougher.
As the body becomes more and more insulin resistant, the pancreas responds by releasing more and more insulin. This higher-than-normal level of insulin in the bloodstream is called hyperinsulinemia.
Insulin resistance sends your pancreas into overdrive, and while it may be able to keep up with the body’s increased demand for insulin for a while, this ability wanes. And when it does, your blood sugar levels will elevate — leading to prediabetes, the precursor of type 2 diabetes, or type 2 diabetes itself.
A prediabetes diagnosis doesn’t mean you’ll definitely develop type 2 diabetes. Catching the diagnosis quickly and then changing your diet and lifestyle can help prevent your health from worsening.
For More
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