What is Sugar Diabetes?

Sugar diabetes can affect anyone, no matter what their age, gender, or lifestyle is.

The number of people being affected by sugar diabetes has been dramatically increasing all over the world. In the last ten years, the case on individuals living with diabetes increased by 50 per cent. Worldwide, there are currently 422 million people who have been diagnosed with sugar diabetes.

The main issue is that people who have diabetes end up suffering from other medical and health issues, with the leading complications being blindness, heart failure, kidney failure, and amputations.  Some of the most common symptoms of diabetes include increased urine output, excessive thirst, weight loss, hunger, fatigue, skin issues, slow healing wounds, yeast infections, and feet tingling or tumbling.

Many people aren’t aware they have diabetes, especially in their early stages when symptoms aren’t present. There isn’t any way of knowing if you have sugar diabetes with going through blood tests to measure your levels of blood glucose. You should contact your doctor if you have any symptoms related to diabetes or you’re worried about your diabetes risk.

Living with sugar diabetes can place a significant physical, emotional, and monetary burden on the patient and the entire family as well. Finding the right food for diabetics is essential as well. You can replace from conventional cane sugar to organic agave syrup to make daily food or any type of food for diabetics we provide at Siha & Afia International click here.

So what exactly is diabetes?

To correctly answer this question, you first have to understand insulin’s role in your body. When you consume food or drinks, your body will turn food into sugar or glucose.

At this point, your pancreas should release insulin without any issue. Insulin serves as a ‘’key’’ to open cells, to enable the glucose to enter and enable you to use the glucose for energy. However, with diabetes, this doesn’t take place and this is the main reason why many people have low energy levels.

Many things can go wrong- resulting in the onset of diabetes. Type 1 and 2 are the most common disease forms, but there are also other types, like gestational diabetes, which generally takes place during pregnancy, as well as other types.

What is glucose?

Glucose is a pure sugar found in most food. Glucose is an essential nutrient that offers energy for the effective functioning of the cells in the body. Carbohydrates are then broken down in the small intestines. The glucose in the food that was digested will then be absorbed by intestinal cells and then transported into the bloodstream. The bloodstream will then carry the glucose to all the body’s cells where it is utilized.

However, the truth is that glucose can’t enter the body’s cells on its own and needs insulin to help it is being transported into the cells. Without the right insulin levels, the cells will become starved from glucose energy, even though the existence of abundant glucose is abundant in the bloodstream. In specific types of diabetes, the inability of cells to use glucose results has several impacts. The abundant and unutilized glucose will then be wastefully released in urine.

What is insulin?

Insulin is a hormone that is released by the pancreas’s specialized cells, also known as beta cells. The pancreas is one of the most essential organs in the body. Other than helping glucose enter the body’s cells, it is also essential in strictly regulating the glucose levels in the blood.

After a meal, the levels of blood glucose increase. In reaction to the increased level of glucose, the pancreas usually releases more insulin into the bloodstream to assist glucose to enter the blood cells and decrease levels of blood glucose after a meal.

When the levels of blood glucose decrease, the insulin release from pancreas will be turned down. It is essential to note that even in the fasting condition, there is a low steady insulin release that changes a bit and assists in maintaining a steady blood sugar level throughout the fasting process.

With people who don’t have diabetes, this regulatory system assists to keep levels of blood glucose in a tightly controlled range. As mentioned above, in patients who have diabetes, the insulin is absent, relatively insufficient for the needs of the body, or not used effectively by the body. All of these factors result in elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia).

What is Type 1 Diabetes?

The more severe type of diabetes is type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes. It is known as ‘’juvenile’’ diabetes, as type 1 diabetes usually develops in children and teenagers, even though it can happen at any age.

Immune system attacks

With type 1 sugar diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks its pancreas. Scientists aren’t sure why this happens until now. However, the immune system mistakenly considers the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas as a foreign element and destroys them. This attack is called “autoimmune” disease’’.

These cells, also known as ‘’islets’’, are the ones that detect glucose in the blood and, as a reaction, produces the required amount of insulin to normalize blood sugars.

Insulin serves as an essential key to open your cells, to enable the glucose to enter and enable you to use the glucose for energy. Without the insulin, there isn’t any key. Therefore, the sugar remains and builds up in the blood. The result to this is that the body’s cells starve from not getting enough glucose to function effectively. When left untreated, the high ‘’blood sugar’’ levels can damage eyes, kidneys, the heart, and even comas and death.

Insulin Therapy

So, an individual with type 1 sugar diabetes treats the disease by taking insulin injection. This outside insulin sources now consider being the ‘’key’’, bringing glucose to the cells of the body.

The challenge with this type of treatment is that it isn’t possible to know precisely how much insulin has to be taken. The amount needed depends on various factors, including food, exercise, stress, and emotions.

Balancing Act

These factors move significantly throughout the day. Therefore, deciding on which insulin dose to take is a complex balancing act.

If you end up taking too much, your body will burn excess glucose and the blood sugar can drop to a dangerously low level, also called hypoglycemia. When left untreated, this can be life-threatening.

When you take too little insulin, your body will be starved from the energy it requires, and your blood sugar can increase to a dangerously high level, also called hyperglycemia. This also increases the possibility of long-term complications.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?

The most common type of sugar diabetes is called type 2, or non-insulin dependent diabetes.

This is also known as ‘’adult onset’’ diabetes because it usually develops after the age of 35. however, an increasing amount of younger people currently have type 2 sugar diabetes.

People with type 2 can produce their insulin to some extent.  However, usually, it isn’t enough. In some cases, the insulin will attempt to act as a ‘’key’’ to open the cells of the body to allow the glucose to enter the body, but this might not work as well. There are some cases where the cells won’t open at all, also known as insulin resistance.

In most of the cases, type 2 diabetes is connected to individuals who are overweight or live a sedentary lifestyle. Treatment can focus on the right food for diabetics and exercise. When blood sugar levels are still high, oral medications can be used to help the body utilize its insulin more efficiently. In many cases, insulin injections are needed.

What is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes develops in many women when they’re pregnant. The good news is that unlike other types of sugar diabetes, it goes away after the baby has been born. However, when you have had gestational diabetes, you have a more significant opportunity of developing type 2 diabetes later on in life. Most of the cases related to gestational diabetes are type 2 diabetes.

No matter what type of diabetes you have, it is essential that you always take care of your weight, but it’s essential to have foods you enjoy as well. Other than the healthy food for diabetics we offer at Siha & Afia International, you should eat enough so you don’t lose excess energy levels and avoid overeating.

Take care of below points during Gestational Diabetes during pregnancy:

• Eat the right Carbohydrate
• Eat a Healthy Breakfast
• Drink Cinamon Tea
• Take prescribed medicines on time
• Monitor Blood Sugar level regularly
• Opt for a Sugar-free or No Added Sugar Diet
• Sleep Well

Here are seven types of food that can help keep your blood sugar levels in check:-

• Cooked and roasted vegetables

These vegetables add colour and flavour to any meal. The ideal choice would be low-carb veggies such as Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Brussels, and Zucchini.

• Greens

It’s time you go beyond the traditional greens you put in your salad and use other types like kale and chard for example. Not only are they tasty and delicious, but they’re also healthy and low-carb.

Roast kale leaves with olive oil for quick and crunchy chips. You can mix greens with roasted veggies to add texture and a different flavour. You can serve the greens of your choice with a little protein like salmon.

• Low calories drinks

Plain water is good, but water infused with fruits and vegetables is refreshing as well. Cut up a cucumber and put it in water, or make flavoured ice cubes. Cold tea with lemon is a great idea as well. Hot drinks are a good choice as well for people who have sugar diabetes. These dinks are low-carb. They can also help fill you up so you don’t crave other types of food.

• Melons and berries

Did you know that one cup of either is equivalent to only 15 grams of carbs? It is a little more costly, but it is a healthy treat that consists of nutrients and fibre. For an added twist, mix the melon and berries with greek or regular yoghurt.

• Whole grain and higher fibre foods

Always fill up on these types of food as they’re healthy, have exciting flavours, and you have many options to choose from like dried beans and lentils. Oatmeals for breakfast is also an excellent idea for a healthy living.

• Healthy fats- but not a lot

Good fat options include avocado, olive oil, and fatty fishes like salmon. A great meal option would be salmon with lettuce for example.

• Protein

Examples of this would be Greek yoghurt, eggs, and lean meats. Don’t forget to indulge in some treats every now then. Peanut butter on celery sticks is a healthy fat and protein mix for a healthy snack.

Overall, the eating plan for sugar diabetes doesn’t have to be boring. It has to include meals you enjoy eating with a balance of maintaining your health.

Monitoring your blood glucose

Whatever type of sugar diabetes you have, it is essential that you monitor your blood glucose levels. Many factors contribute to it increasing or changing. For example, glucose levels in the body will increase after:-

• Eating the wrong types of food.
• A side effect to another illness or viral infection.
• Emotional stress or going through a traumatic event.

Understanding how your blood glucose levels change is essential as consuming the right food for diabetics. This will enable you to plan your food and day, and change your treatment to help control your diabetes. Monitoring will also enable you to understand how well your treatment is doing. For example, if your blood glucose levels are stable and improving, this means that the medication and lifestyle changes you’re following are changing.

Writing down the levels of blood glucose in a log book will offer you useful information when you’re making decisions about how you can better manage your diabetes.

Risk of High blood levels of glucose

Keep in mind that being unaware of extremely high blood levels of glucose can place you at risk of instant medical complications like diabetic ketoacidosis. Equally essential when you’re on insulin injections for diabetes is being aware of how quick you should treat dangerously low levels of blood glucose, which can result in hypoglycemic coma.

At Siha & Afia International, we care deeply about sugar diabetes and this is why we try as much as possible to offer the best food for diabetics possible. Feel free to contact us. If you have any questions about the products we have or how you can buy them.