I’m a firm believer that knowledge is the key to healing when it comes to any disease. Diabetes is no different. My main goal for writing my book, as well as this blog, is to educate. I want you to understand exactly what diabetes is and exactly how it works. Only then can I properly motivate and encourage you to take the appropriate steps toward healing.
In simple terms, diabetes means high blood sugar. Specifically, 126 milligrams per deciliter or higher. The normal range is 64 to 99 mg/dl. Anything between those two ranges of normal and diabetic is pre-diabetes.
To be more exact, diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body either produces an inadequate amount of insulin or doesn’t respond properly to the insulin it produces. Insulin is essential because it facilitates cell absorption of glucose. Basically, your cells cannot absorb glucose from your bloodstream without it. Glucose comes from the food you eat and is very important because your cells use it for energy and growth.
Let’s paint a picture. Nearly all foods are broken down into glucose during the digestion process. That glucose goes into the bloodstream. A healthy, properly functioning pancreas then automatically produces enough insulin to move the glucose from the bloodstream into the cells where it can be used for energy and growth. As soon as glucose enters the cells, blood glucose levels drop.
Diabetes occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, when the cells don’t respond to the insulin or a combination of both. No matter the cause, the result is that too much glucose remains in the bloodstream. Needless to say, any level of blood sugar above normal can cause havoc on the body. That’s why awareness is key. Everyone should know the risk factors and how to prevent high blood sugar with healthy eating and exercise. We’ll get into that in another post.
But the first step is knowing where you stand. If you haven’t had your blood sugar levels tested recently, why not set an appointment now? This is a disease that affects nearly everyone in one way or another (check out the statistics in my previous post.) You can’t wait for symptoms to appear because there are none in the beginning. That’s why I like to call diabetes a “silent killer”. It’s sneaks in quietly and starts causing lots of damage without a sign. The first symptoms don’t usually appear until you’ve already had the disease for years — by then the disease will have already begun to damage critical organs and body systems. So go get your blood tested!
If you or a loved one already have diabetes, I urge you to order my book The Diabetes Solution. I promise, it will be life-changing!
