Diabetes and overweight: a couple to avoid
Véronique Van den Bossche is a nutrition consultant. She asserts (1) that diabetes is intimately linked to being overweight. For her, it is clear that type II diabetics are, for three quarters of them, obese. Since overweight has become a global scourge, an epidemic of the most tenacious in its effects and findings, the World Health Organization continues to alert the general population. You should know that each year, 2.8 million people die because of their pathological obesity.
The link between diabetes and overweight
Overweight is defined as an accumulation of fat in the body . It is this excess that poses a major health risk by causing devastating, long-term effects in the heart, body, etc.
Type II diabetes is a disturbance of carbohydrate metabolism which multiplies by 3 or 5 the risk of myocardial infarction. You should know that it is the way of life that is the main culprit of this disease.
Excess weight, by itself, is not enough to cause diabetes even if it strongly contributes to it. This form of insidious disease gradually settles in the body. Its principle of action? A less sensitization of the cells with respect to insulin is set up and glucose will, as the years go by, accumulate in the blood and cause increases in glycemia (blood sugar level).
Once again, it is the food manufacturers who have been singled out, as well as this stressful life, which has been ours for more than a decade. Paradoxically, an increased sedentary lifestyle is creeping into our homes.
It is all these elements that allow and generate obesity.
Fighting overweight? Not just words
INSERM (2) reminds us: it is the lack of physical activity as well as the genetic factor which contribute to the appearance of type II diabetes. Sport helps to fight against overweight by burning kilocalories. It has a positive effect on health by exerting automatic control over blood sugar. Thirty minutes of active walking a day is enough. Be that as it may, the “eat/move” campaign should be better listened to and taken more seriously.
The WHO has been raising our awareness for many years now. It is necessary to practice a physical activity, to eat healthy, to move daily, to privilege fibers, vegetables and fruits (400 gr per day), to drink enough water (minimum 1,5l), to fall asleep before midnight, to take sun and leading a rich but not excessive social life. Avoid alcohol, processed foods, saturated fatty acids which are harmful to health while favoring unsaturated fatty acids, mainly omega 3 (herring, sardines, mackerel, walnuts, avocado, etc.). Limit your evenings in front of the television, do not linger too long in snacks at lunchtime, climb your stairs or go down a metro station before your final destination. Common sense !
Foods that claim to be antioxidants really need to be added, on a regular or even daily basis, to the diet. Spices and herbs can easily replace salt. Fibers or legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, red or white beans, split peas… as well as whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, millet or spelt must really be part of our daily meals . Complex carbohydrates (pasta, white rice, bread, etc.) must be consumed in a reasonable way and fast sugars are almost prohibited.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.