I was watching a documentary on obesity rates in America and
was reminded just how out of touch we are today with what it means to be fit
and healthful. Right now, almost 70% of Americans are overweight or obese. This
is an incredible number, yet because it is so prevalent, it has become more and
more socially acceptable and supported. You have probably heard that your
personality, language, income, and outlook on life are very closely linked to
the five people you spend the most time with. Well, your weight and health are
influenced just the same. When your whole family and community are overweight,
you are most likely going to be overweight as well. Yes, there are genetic
factors, but genes are only expressed in the presence of the proper
environment. It is the social norms and food availability that has led to the
dramatic increase in weight and disease in this country, and the sad part
is…most of these issues are almost completely PREVENTABLE.
The Preventable
Disease
In this article I will review one of the most common
preventable diseases for those who are overweight: Type II Diabetes. This is
different from Type I in that Type II is your body’s natural response to
overconsumption of sugar and carbs. Type I on the other hand is your body’s
inability to adequately produce insulin, a hormone responsible for transporting
sugar into your cells. Insulin is a very important hormone and if your body
cannot produce enough, you can have some serious health concerns. As a Type I
Diabetic you can certainly do things to help the situation, but in the end, it
is rare that you can fully remedy your body’s inability to adequately produce
insulin.
As for Type II Diabetes: this is almost completely
preventable! When you eat sugar or carbs, your body releases insulin to shuttle
the sugar out of your blood and into your cells. This is important for two
reasons. First, it allows your cells to use the energy from sugar to perform
their daily functions. Second, it gets sugar OUT of your blood stream. So how
does this relate to diabetes?
Type II Diabetes is your body’s natural response to
excessive consumption of sugar and carbs. When you eat a high quantity of
carbs, your body must release enough insulin to move this sugar out of the
blood stream and into the cells. Your cells, however, can only handle so much
sugar, and as they become saturated, they start blocking the response to
insulin. This is known as insulin resistance. As more and more of your cells
become insulin resistant, it becomes increasingly difficult to clear out the
sugar in your bloodstream. This leads to a cycle of increased insulin
production, followed by insulin blocking in the cells, leaving the sugar just
sitting in your blood and no longer getting into your cells. What ends up
happening is that cells are so busy blocking insulin, that they lose track of
how much sugar they have to run on. Now you have a situation where even though
your cells NEED sugar, they have a hard time breaking down the wall they have
built up to block sugar in the first place! All the while, that sugar in your
blood has nowhere to go, so it must be converted to fat and stored.
This is where things get really bad. Because your cells
cannot use sugar for energy, your body must now use its fat stores for fuel.
This may seem good because you are using fat but there are two issues with
this. First, you are producing more fat than you are burning because of the
excess sugar, so you are still gaining weight. Second, your body is SO reliant
on fat for fuel that the breakdown of fat becomes toxic. This is a metabolic
state known as ketoacidosis where your body is in an uncontrollable cycle of
fat use for fuel. This should not be confused with the state of ketosis, where
your body is using fat for fuel in a controlled manner (this is what happens on
very-low carb diets, something that can be extremely effective for weight and
fat loss).
In a state ketoacidosis, your internal pH becomes highly
acidic and can result in dehydration, difficulty breathing, confusion, and can
even lead to coma or death. Add to this that many of your cells are still not
functioning properly, potentially leading to nerve damage, impaired vision,
fatigue, immune dysfunction, and more. If this is not enough, you are probably
also starting to develop fatty liver disease and heart disease due to the
amount of fat that is flowing through your blood. In the end, too much sugar
has turned into a painful and life threatening situation.
There are More
I wanted to give a detailed explanation of Type II Diabetes
because it shows two things. One, just how bad it can be, and two, that it is
almost completely a result of dietary and lifestyle choices. This, however, is
not the only disease like this. Many heart conditions, cardiovascular disease,
metabolic syndrome, gout, GERD, arthritis, thyroiditis, and even things
such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s can be dramatically impacted through
dietary and lifestyle modifications and many times are preventable.
This is a dramatic shift in thought from how we normally view
disease, but the fact of the matter is this: your body will respond to how it
is treated. If you provide it with quality food, movement, and recovery, it
will not get sick. If you do not, you will have issues. They do not always
present themselves in the same way, but they will come nevertheless.
Until Next Time…
This is all I want to go over for this week, but please
check back next week to see what my thoughts are on how to remedy this
situation and what you can do to ensure that you and your family avoid the
hardship that can arise from this and other types of preventable disease. Until
then, stay active Bay Area!
No comments:
Post a Comment