How Does Obesity Increase Diabetes Risk?
Did you know that yesterday was World Diabetes Day?
Millions of people live with diabetes, so if you're reading these words, chances are you have diabetes or know someone who does.
Diabetes means that your blood glucose (blood sugar) is too high.
There are two main types of diabetes.
In Type 1 diabetes, the body does not make insulin, which is dangerous because insulin helps the body use glucose from food for energy. People with type 1 need to take insulin every day.
With Type 2 diabetes, the body does not make or use insulin well. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes.
There's also gestational diabetes, which sometimes occurs during pregnancy. It raises a woman's future risk of developing diabetes, mostly type 2. It may increase her child’s risk of being overweight and developing type 2 diabetes.
And make no mistake, diabetes is serious disease.
Diabetes raises your risk of heart attack and stroke, nerve damage (diabetic peripheral neuropathy), kidney disease, gum disease, and tooth loss, and eye problems (diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, cataracts, and glaucoma).
People often ask me about diabetes risk factors. Being overweight or obese are two of the most significant diabetes risk factors. Obese people are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is also known as insulin-resistant or adult-onset diabetes. This is a condition where your blood glucose level is persistently high.
In obese people, fat cells are tasked with processing more nutrients than they can manage. The stress in these cells triggers an inflammation that releases proteins known as cytokines, which block insulin receptor signals and gradually cause the cells to become insulin resistant.
Since insulin allows your cells to use glucose for energy when you're insulin resistant, your body can't convert the glucose into energy, and you end up with a persistently high blood sugar level.
Persistently high sugar levels trigger inflammation, putting you at risk of all the diseases mentioned earlier.
Bottom line: If you're overweight or obese, you can reduce your risk by losing weight. Losing just 5-10 percent of your body weight will lower your risk of developing diabetes by 58 percent.
I know it's hard, but it's also worth the effort.
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