What You Don’t Know About Your Sugar Levels Can Hurt You
Diabetes is being described as the lifestyle disease of the 21st century, with about 8% of the US population having it whether than have been diagnosed or not. Just over 10% of Americans over the age of 20 have the condition and this prevalence leaps to 23% in those over 60 years.
Afro-American and Hispanic people are particularly vulnerable to diabetes: 10.4% of Hispanics and 11.8% of non-Hispanic blacks over the age of 20 had been diagnosed with it in a 2004–2006 national survey.
Research over the past 40 years has shown that this prevalence has increased dramatically in the US and that a large proportion of the population has undiagnosed diabetes or the prediabetic conditions of impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance. With diabetes comes increased risk of heart and kidney disease and nerve damage.
Our modern lifestyle and diet is thought to be behind this epidemic, similarly to obesity, which often accompanies diabetes. Less exercise and the enormous availability of sugary, carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages are great boons to the march of the disease.
The Encouraging Thing is the Great Majority of
Diabetes Cases are Preventable
Most diagnoses are for type 2 diabetes, which is the sort people acquire as they age; as opposed to type 1, which people are born with or develop in early childhood and requires a shot of insulin before a meal.
When a person has uncontrolled diabetes, the insulin hormone –– produced in the pancreas –– cannot transport glucose into fat and muscle cells. This results in starvation of these cells, leading to an increase in fat and protein breakdown. Diabetes is characterised by elevated blood glucose levels, and general early symptoms include unquenchable thirst, fatigue, blurred vision, passing abnormal amounts of urine and skin problems.
However, some of the complications of diabetes may be helped by supplementation with vitamins A, B complex, C, and zinc, so these have been added to Pancreas Support. Chromium and vanadyl sulfate may assist in the regulation of blood sugar levels, while garlic and fenugreek have also been shown to improve circulation and stabilise blood sugar levels. Collectively, these give the pancreas a rest from having to produce insulin.
Bitter melon extract, which comes from Chinese traditional medicine, is being researched by modern Chinese authorities worried about the ‘ticking time bomb’ of diabetes, which they expect by 2025 to be one of the biggest problems faced in the modern world. It has been found that bitter melon extract helps muscles absorb sugar from the blood, so it is included in Pancreas Support. Alpha-lipoic acid, another fatty acid receiving a lot of scientific attention, is added, along with adrenal and pancreas tissue and the pancreatic enzyme pancreatin.
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