All About Sugar

Olivia Dahan
Mar 9, 2021
2 min read

In this week's post, we will look at obesity and diabetes.

What is Obesity?

Obesity is a complex disease that involves an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity is not just a matter of cosmetics. It is a medical problem that increases your risk of other illnesses and health problems.

Causes Include

-inherited factors

-environment

-personal diet and exercise choices

-obesity occurs when you take in more calories than you burn through exercise and normal daily activities. Thus, your body stores these excess calories as fat.

Symptoms

Obesity is diagnosed when the body mass index (BMI) is 30 or higher.

***Note: to determine your body mass index, divide your weight in pounds by your height in square inches and multiply by 703. Or divide your weight in kilograms by your height in square metres.

Complications

Heart disease and strokes
Type 2 diabetes (Obesity can affect the way your body uses insulin to control blood sugar levels)
Certain cancers
Digestive problems
Gynecological and sexual problems
Sleep apnea
Osteoarthritis

Preventions

Exercise regularly (there are many online platforms that allow you to follow detailed workout and even give you weekly workouts to follow)
Follow a healthy-eating plan
Know and avoid the food traps that cause you to eat
Monitor your weight regularly

I invite you to watch this video :

Change starts with you, but it does't start until you do -Tom Ziglar

Diabetes

How does insulin work normally in the body?

Insulin is a hormone that comes from the pancreas.

The pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream.
The insulin circulates, enabling sugar to enter your cells.
Insulin lowers the amount of sugar in your bloodstream.
As your blood sugar level drops, so does the secretion of insulin from your pancreas.

What is the role of glucose?

Glucose is a source of energy for the cells that make up muscles and other tissues.

Glucose comes from two major sources: food and your liver.
Sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream, where it enters cells with the help of insulin.
Your liver stores and makes glucose.
When your glucose levels are low, such as when you haven't eaten in a while, the liver breaks down stored glycogen into glucose to keep your glucose level within a normal range.

Types of Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes

In this case, your immune system, which normally fights harmful bacteria or viruses, attacks and destroys your insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. This leaves you with little to no insulin. Instead of being transported into your cells, sugar builds up in your bloodstream.

Causes of type I include

-genetic susceptibility

-environmental factors

Type 2 diabetes

In this case, your cells become resistant to the action of insulin, and your pancreas is unable to make enough insulin to overcome this resistance. Thus, sugar builds up in your bloodstream.

Causes of type 2 include

-genetic susceptibility

-environmental factors

-being overweight

Gestational diabetes (GDM)

This type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy. The placenta produces hormones to sustain your pregnancy. These hormones make your cells more resistant to insulin.

Normally, your pancreas responds by producing enough extra insulin to overcome this resistance. But sometimes your pancreas can't keep up. When this happens, too little glucose gets into your cells and too much stays in your blood, resulting in gestational diabetes (mayo clinic).