W hat is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a kind of disease which the body has trouble controlling its blood sugar levels. This can lead to other health conditions, such as poor blood flow. There is no cure for diabetes, but with the right treatment it can be managed and people with diabetes can live long, healthy lives.
Diabetes happens because the pancreas does not produce enough of a hormone called insulin, or the body does not respond well to the insulin that is produced. Insulin plays an important role in turning sugar (glucose) into energy that the body uses. When you eat, your blood sugar levels rise and when they do, your pancreas releases insulin into your blood. The glucose in your blood fix to a receptor on your cells and enters the cell for use as fuel for energy production.
Insulin is a hormone that your body makes from one of the other cells of your pancreas, the beta cells. Insulin controls how much sugar (glucose) is taken up by the cells in your body. When you eat, the amount of food or drink you take in helps to pull blood sugar from the digestive system into the bloodstream. This causes a rise in glucose levels, which triggers your pancreas to release insulin into your bloodstream. Insulin attaches to receptors on liver, muscle, and fat cells, opening channels that allow the glucose to enter those cells.
When glucose is released from the food we eat into our bloodstream, the pancreas releases a certain amount of insulin. The insulin binds with that glucose in the blood and escort it to different places in our body. When those places are filled up with glucose, then insulin turns and goes back to the liver where it remains until another time when more sugar is present in our bloodstream.
In diabetic patients, the effects of insulin are different than in healthy people. When glucose attaches to the cells, they take up more of it than normal. The pancreas then releases too much insulin. It is this excessive release of insulin and the body's inability to control its blood sugar levels that leads to type 2 diabetes.
While there is no cure for diabetes, type 2 diabetes is often completely controllable. It can take some time, effort, and commitment to keep your blood glucose at healthy levels. But you can greatly reduce the complications of diabetes and enjoy a healthy life if you have strong management strategies in place.
Diabetic dishes are made with fewer calories and fat because our body does not properly process carbohydrates. When you have diabetes your body cannot respond to the insulin that is secreted, so it is able to convert only a small amount of glucose into energy.
Attempting to eat normally can be difficult for people with diabetes, as eating can cause blood sugar to spike upwards quickly. Overeating can also cause spikes in blood sugar. Diabetic recipes are low in fat and low in calories, making it easier to eat until you feel full without consuming too many calories.
For people with diabetes, recipes that are high in fiber are preferable. High-fiber foods take longer to digest than do other foods, so they're better for maintaining a consistent blood sugar level. Fiber usually found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains (such as bulgur wheat and brown rice), legumes (such as dried beans), and whole-wheat breads and pastas.
It is also important for people having diabetes to avoid foods that are high in refined carbohydrates and sugars. Sugary foods can cause high blood sugar levels, which can lead to health complications.