Today is November 14 and it’s World Diabetes Day. This event is led by the International Diabetes Federation that promotes diabetes awareness and advocacy. Diabetes is a disease that results in higher-than-healthy sugar levels in the blood and can lead to some disastrous outcomes-including blindness, kidney disease, and heart disease. So, we have carefully selected some important facts that we think you need to know about diabetes.

You Up Your Risk When You Skip Breakfast

A study found that full-time workers who sometimes missed their morning meal had a 54 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes than those who ate it daily. When you go to bed, your insulin level is stable, and when you don’t eat in the morning, your insulin level drops and then spikes and crashes when you eat at lunch. This constant yo-yo-ing in insulin levels can cause your body to build up insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Apart from Diet and Exercise, Pay Attention to Sleep and Stress

It is true that dropping at least 10 pounds significantly slashes your risk of diabetes.  Monitoring your diet and exercise sometimes overshadows two other important things that need your attention: Sleep and Stress. Chronic stress can make your blood sugar levels skyrocket, and regularly getting less than six hours of shut-eye can double your diabetes risk. To stay at your healthiest, eat well and get your exercise, but also find a source of relaxation and make sure you’re getting enough sleep.

You need to pay attention also by daily monitoring your blood sugar level using a blood glucose monitor. A very good example is the BGCheck.

There are other factors that will help you to know the symptoms of diabetes, they include:

• Urinating often
• Feeling very thirsty
• Feeling very hungry even though you are eating
• Extreme fatigue
• Blurry vision
• Cuts and Bruises that are so slow to heal
• Weight loss- even though you are eating more (type 1)
• Tingling pain, or numbness in the hands/feet.

When you see or observe any of these signs we advise that you talk to your doctor and get a blood sugar monitor.

REFERENCES

Anna Borges for Women’s Health.

Alessandro R. Demaio, Harvard University.