Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into the cells in your body for use as energy. If you have type 2 diabetes, cells don’t respond normally to insulin; this is called insulin resistance. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas can’t keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Unlike many health conditions, diabetes is managed mostly by you, with support from your health care team, family, and other important people in your life. Managing diabetes can be challenging, but everything you do to improve your health is worth it! Stress is a part of life, but it can make managing diabetes harder, including controlling your blood sugar levels and dealing with daily diabetes care. Regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, and relaxation exercises can help. Talk to your doctor and diabetes educator about these and other ways you can manage stress.
Type 2 Diabetes & Youth
Childhood obesity rates are rising, and so are the rates of type 2 diabetes in youth. More than 75% of children with type 2 diabetes have a close relative who has it, too. But it’s not always because family members are related; it can also be because they share certain habits that can increase their risk. Parents can help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes by developing a plan for the whole family:
Drinking more water and fewer sugary drinks
Eating more fruits and vegetables
Making favorite foods healthier
Making physical activity more fun
Healthy changes become habits more easily when everyone makes them together.
Lifestyle Recommendations
• Reduce lifestyle stressors and establish boundaries for emotional well-being. • Avoid a sedentary lifestyle; incorporate high-intensity interval training in a physician-approved exercise program to improve insulin sensitivity, metabolism and mitochondrial health. • Monitor fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin levels regularly; consider testing for environmental toxins which have been linked to alterations in glucose tolerance. • Stay well-hydrated with plenty of pure, filtered water. • Make relaxation a priority; add meditation, yoga, and/or prayer daily; consider use of biofeedback devices.
Dietary Tips and Caveats
• Replenish blood sugar by eating a healthy high protein breakfast, preferably by or before 10:00 am or within 2 hours of waking; eat every 4 hours to keep insulin and glucose levels normal • Eat an anti-inflammatory diet that is rich in omega-3 fats; include olive oil, raw nuts and seeds, wild caught fatty, cold-water fish, grass-fed beef, nut butters, omega-3 eggs, 2 ounce of dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa). • Eat low glycemic foods that are high in fiber (add ground flax or chia seeds) and legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and edamame beans. • Have several servings of colorful, organic vegetables and low sugar fruits; concentrate on low-glycemic vegetables such as rainbow chard, kale, bok choy, spinach, purple cabbage, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and broccoli sprouts, and endive as well as low-glycemic fruits such as berries, plums, apples, peaches, pears, pomegranates and cherries. • Snack on healthy proteins and fats such as raw nuts, seeds, avocados, coconuts flakes to balance blood sugar throughout the day; divide 3 meals into 5-6 smaller meals if digestion is sluggish or if fatigued. • Use herbs and spices high in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties such as turmeric, rosemary, ginger and basil • Avoid foods that spike blood such as high-sugar snacks and beverages (includes sodas, processed fruit juices), refined carbohydrates, and high fructose corn syrup. • Avoid high-glycemic cooked vegetables such as potatoes, corn, parsnips and turnips, and high glycemic carbohydrates such as cereals, sweetened granola, bagels, pastas and pastries.
Chiropractic Care and Diabetes
Spinal nerve interference has been acknowledged in scientific literature to be a contributing factor of endocrine and metabolic disorders including diabetes. Chiropractic care is founded on the principle that a good working nervous system is vital to the general well-being and function of the human body.
If the nerve supply from the upper neck or middle back (the two areas that supply the pancreas) are disturbed, pancreatic function suffers; maybe in it's ability to produce enzymes to digest proteins, fats and carbohydrates, or maybe insulin production, or both. Blood sugar and digestion become unbalanced, resulting in either in diabetes or hypoglycemia.