Diabetes: A Gateway to Heart Disease and Other Health Complications

Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide. While it is primarily known for its impact on blood sugar levels, diabetes also significantly increases the risk of heart disease and a variety of other health complications. Understanding the relationship between diabetes and these issues is crucial for prevention and management. 

Diabetic patients in India:  As of the latest estimates, around 77 million people in India are living with diabetes. This figure is expected to rise due to factors like urbanization, lifestyle changes, and an aging population. India has one of the largest diabetes populations in the world, making it a significant public health concern. It's always good to refer to reliable health organizations or government health data for the most accurate and up-to-date statistics. 

Understanding Diabetes: Diabetes is categorized mainly into two types namely  Type 1 and Type 2. 

A. Type 1 Diabetes: It is an autoimmune condition where the pancreas produces little to no insulin, a hormone essential for regulating blood sugar.

B. Type 2 Diabetes: It accounts for approximately 90-95% of all diabetes cases, and occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin. Lifestyle factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, and poor diet are significant contributors to its development. 

The Link Between Diabetes and Heart Disease: 

1. Increased Blood Sugar Levels: Chronic high blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels and nerves that control the heart and blood vessels. Over time, this damage can lead to coronary artery disease, where the arteries become narrowed or blocked. 

2. High Blood Pressure: Many individuals with diabetes also experience hypertension (high blood pressure), which further increases the risk of heart disease. The combination of high blood sugar and high blood pressure can lead to severe cardiovascular complications. 

3. Dyslipidemia: Diabetes often alters lipid metabolism, leading to high levels of triglycerides and low levels of HDL (good cholesterol). This imbalance contributes to atherosclerosis, the buildup of fats and cholesterol on artery walls, which can result in heart attacks and strokes.

4. Inflammation: Chronic inflammation is a common feature of diabetes. Elevated inflammatory markers can contribute to the development of heart disease by promoting atherosclerosis.

5. Obesity: Many individuals with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. Excess body fat, particularly around the abdomen, is a significant risk factor for both diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Other Health Complications Associated with Diabetes: Diabetes doesn’t just affect the heart; it can lead to numerous health complications: 

1. Kidney Disease: Diabetic nephropathy is a serious condition where high blood sugar levels damage the kidneys' filtering system, potentially leading to kidney failure.

2. Nerve Damage (Neuropathy): High glucose levels can damage nerves throughout the body, leading to pain, tingling, and loss of sensation, especially in the feet and hands.

3.  Eye Complications: Diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness. It occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the blood vessels in the retina, leading to vision problems.

4. Dental Issues: People with diabetes are more susceptible to gum disease, tooth decay, and infections due to compromised blood flow and immune responses.

5. Skin Conditions: Diabetes can lead to various skin conditions, including bacterial and fungal infections. Poor circulation can also lead to slow healing of wounds. 

Prevention and Management: 

1. Lifestyle Changes: Adopting a healthy lifestyle is critical. This includes a balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, along with regular physical activity.

2. Regular Monitoring: Individuals with diabetes should regularly monitor their blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels to manage their health effectively.

3. Medication: For many, medication is necessary to manage blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Adherence to prescribed treatment plans is essential.

4. Education and Support: Understanding diabetes and its complications is vital. Support groups, counseling, and educational resources can help individuals make informed health decisions.

5. Regular Check-Ups: Regular visits to healthcare providers for screenings and check-ups can help detect and address complications early. 

From the above it is understood that Diabetes is not just a metabolic disorder; it is a significant risk factor for heart disease and a variety of other serious health complications. Awareness of the links between diabetes and these issues is vital for effective prevention and management. By embracing healthier lifestyles and adhering to treatment plans, individuals with diabetes can significantly reduce their risk of heart disease and improve their overall health.

Stay healthy, stay safe...

Food Vs Beauty and health

In my village, my grandmother always tells us " Jaisa khaoge ann, waisa hoga mann" which means as you eat food, it will nourish your body like that. Nowadays everybody wishes to have beauty look but no one wishes to cook. 

The majority of women feel proud if their husbands arrange for a person to cook their food or take them outside for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The majority of times, arguments happen among the couple if both working. They will even not compromise to prepare a cup of tea for her soulmate. They will state "Me too work outside and got tired." As a result, the conversion reached on peak of fighting and some bought food from a food supplier company and others got angry and started dieting particularly for that night by skipping food.         

[Say NO to Junk food]

Do you know? skipping food is more dangerous for health. it will collapse your body's metabolism. Please don't compare skipping food with fasting because fasting has some rules to do with a calm mood as you prepare yourself to make fasting and accordingly you plan it for light food, juice, etc in a very calm mood however, when you are skipping the food due to angerness it gives very bad effect to the body and is very harmful too. 

Now you think what would be better? Eating outside the junk food, semi-processed or processed food, flavored food with enhancing taste by using Monosodium glutamate -  MSG?  OR just put some effort into sharing your kitchen with your soulmate to prepare some easy and healthy dish to eat and in this manner, you have to spend time with each other. 

Dear young generations, I am sharing my own experiences and request you to change your habit of going out and fast food that is by name is fast but slow your life by all means because one thing you have to consider in your mind even a hotel maybe 5 stars or many more will never through the remaining food that was not served the last dinner time, it will remain to be kept in freezers and the next day with the help of  MSG, the food taste enhancer, it will be served to someone plate. 

Have you ever thought about the effect of Monosodium Glutamate on health aspects? I know your answer will be NO. Because you have no time to think even a moment about your health because you have come from duty, you get tired, and you are hungry, have no time to cook, so immediately make an order to food delivery and eat Is It?  Think really you have no time even to cook your food that is highly important to your health? 

Yes! you have no time because if you spend all the time cooking, then no time will remain to watch mobile, real, Instagram, or Facebook. After all, many of your friends waiting for you and your lovely and stylish posts. Is it? So, you are joking about your health. 

Please note that you are driving a car that also needs to change its engine oil, and make general servicing. While changing the engine oil you are enquiring about the brand of the best engine oil for good milage and smooth engine functioning with best riding performance but even you think even a single time about your body engine when no replacement of engine oil i.e. blood is required to our body to run. If we serve junk food and processed food to our bodies, the smoothness of the function will be questionable. Am I correct? The imbalanced diet, I mean to say processed food even chips, meat, fish, etc has no such power that nourish our body but it works in the opposite direction to make you bulgy, fatty, obese, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and ultimately defigured you from your beauty. there are many chances of a life-threatening disease like liver failure, kidney failure, and other cardiovascular diseases including cancer. So, Please try to curtail junk food and start to have your own cooked kitchen food made at home. 

Stay healthy, stay safe...  

Many Habits That Make You Fat; How to Break Them - some Important Tips

Be aware, the following regular habits make you ugly and fatty, so must not to do. 

1. Eating while watching TV: If you are eating while watching TV, then you forget the quantity how much and quality of food to eating? You do not pay attention to this, due to which you often eat more and gain weight. Apart from that watching more than two hours of TV in a day increases the chances of obesity by 20 percent, and Continuously watching serials on TV can also cause problems related to heart and blood pressure.

What to do? Obesity can be reduced by doing exercises like jogging, stretching, breathing etc.

[Obesity and Junk Foods]

2. Starvation for a long time: While leaving the house in a hurry, many times we go out hungry. Even after staying at home, many times we remain hungry for a long time. In such a situation, due to the long gap, there is a deficiency of nutrients in the body.

Disadvantages of Prolonged Starvation: The chances of reducing the amount of blood sugar in the body increases.Due to not getting glucose to the brain at the right time, the nature becomes irritable. Eating a lot of food after being empty stomach for a long time can also cause complaints of acidity, laziness etc.

What to do? Eat on time and take a certain diet.

3. Eating fast: Eating fast foods and junk foods becomes fashion and prestigious issues nowadays in so called higher societies. There is also a possibility of obesity by eating these foods without chewing properly or eating too quickly. By doing this, the message does not reach the stomach about the types of food that are eaten as a result digestions get affected badly. Apart from this, the information about whether the stomach is full or not also reaches the brain late and you end up eating more than you need.

Disadvantages of fast food: Digestive power decreases. There may also be complaints of abdominal pain.

What to do? Eat in limited quantity according to hunger. Do not do any other work while eating food. If you feel hungry again after a while, you can eat fruits or healthy snacks but not repeat same foods.

4. Skipping breakfast: A gap of 8 to 12 hours between dinner and breakfast weakens the brain and muscles. In such a situation, not having breakfast in the morning or drinking only a cup of tea or coffee increases obesity.

Disadvantages of not having breakfast: Digestive power becomes weak. Calories increase instead of decreasing. By doing this you can also become anemic. Energy also decreases in the body.

What to do? Do take healthy breakfast. Keep more quantity of healthy things in breakfast as compared to other meals of the day.

5. Not getting enough sleep: Sleeping late at night and getting up early in the morning is also a reason for obesity.

Disadvantages of not getting enough sleep: Food eaten at night is not digested. May be a victim of insomnia. The energy level of the body decreases. Depression can also occur due to distraction of the mind.

What to do? Try to do all your work at the right time, so that you can sleep and wake up on time. Take 7-8 hours of sleep daily.

6.Eating fast food: This is also one of the main reasons for increasing obesity. Due to the high amount of calories in fast foods, obesity increases by consuming them.

Disadvantages of fast food: Heart related diseases can occur.There is a fear of getting diabetes.

What to do? Eat fast food only once a week and do not consume extra cheese. Eat roasted or baked fast food instead of fried fast food.

7. Sleeping soon after eating food: Eating late at night, eating in excess and sleeping soon after eating is also a reason for obesity. By doing this, food does not get digested and increases fat in the body.

Disadvantages of sleeping immediately after eating food: Due to not digesting the food properly, there can be a problem of gas. Belly starts coming out.

What to do? A little walk after eating helps in digestion of food. Light exercise after eating is also beneficial.

Stay healthy, stay safe...

Are you Underweight? Know some healthy ways to gain body weight.

 On health grounds, it is mandatory to maintain a healthy weight. Both underweight and overweight can give adverse effects on the body and may prone to acquire many malnutrition or more nutritional disorders to the body. 

Being overweight can cause obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and other health conditions and all of these conditions can damage different vital and important internal organs of the body and that can be fatal. On the other hand, if you are underweight, you might face issues such as low blood pressure, anemia, and low immunity among other tiredness, severe muscular pain, and other health conditions. It is, therefore, important that you maintain a healthy weight so that you don’t have health complications. 

Some people thought, that gaining weight is very difficult, however, on the practice ground, it is observed that gaining weight is too easy in comparison to reducing weight.  

Anyway, some people are interested to gain a little weight to look, not like a very thin personality. It is, however, important that you gain weight in a healthy manner and not just include all sorts of food in your diet to gain weight.

[Are you underweight? check regularly]

One more point I would like to add is that the genetic factors are also involved in making the body fatty or slim, although the genetic impact will not give more value if you are determined to maintain yourself healthy, it is seen in many cases that some people diet is very less in comparison to other but have more body weight whereas some are eating more but no gain of the body weight observed. There are many medical terminologies involving these conditions like imbalancing of hormonal secretion from respective glands like pancreatic glands. The pituitary gland, thyroid glands, etc, and to maintain the hormonal balances in the body or make the good function of the respective glad to work well with the appropriate amount of secretion of hormones, health screening followed by doctors consultation is very important. However, I will suggest a few ways that will help you to add some pounds if you are underweight. 

1. Add simple carbohydrates to your diet: If you want to add some extra pounds to your diet, it is recommended that you add a bit of carb to your diet and that could be some potatoes or a bit of rice that could help you add some extra kilos. 

2. Add smoothies and shakes to your diet: Smoothies and shakes have calories in them and consuming them can add to your weight. Also, they have good nutrients in them which is again a healthy option. 

3. Exercise: This might sound weird but yes, exercising is important for weight loss as well. When you exercise, you stop the accumulation of fat and work on muscle building which eventually helps in weight gain. 

4. Get good sleep: When you get good sleep, it helps to improve your metabolism and also helps in muscle gain which eventually adds to the weight.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness program or making any changes to your diet.

 

Avoid white foods, they make you sick...............

Maida, Salt, Ajinomoto, and Sugar increase the risk of cancer, diabetes, and obesity, know how they harm the body. 

Eating less and doing more physical work is the most important thing for the health. But the presence of essential nutrients in the food is more important than that too. in the changed and speedy lifestyle, people are searching for automatic and easy solutions to survive; in this, the fast-food was trending to be the best option for them but an increased amount of fast food and packaged food in the diet have reduced the number of nutrients from our food. These include substances such as sugar, salt, maida, and Ajinomoto. The most important thing to know is that the quantity of this material in processed food is up to dangerous levels. 

[Refined wheat flour ]

According to the Harvard Institute of Health, they are not only causing serious diseases like cancer, type-2 diabetes, obesity, blood pressure, heart attack, etc. but also they can reduce the lifespan by at least ten years. 

Food and Dietetic Experts say that the aforesaid four items that are becoming important parts at hotel and restaurant for daily food for increasing taste as per public demand give rise many more life-challenging diseases. 

1. Maida - cause of diseases like obesity, cholesterol: During the processing of wheat to make flour, the tissues found in it called endosperm are destroyed. Similarly, the bran required for digestion is also removed. Overall, almost all of its nutrients are lost while making maida from wheat. In such a situation, it causes serious digestive problems as it is very much sticky and gives trouble to the villi (many small finger-like projections found in the small intestine that make the surface rough and also play a major role to absorb nutrients from food) in our small intestine by sticking over the surface wall of the small intestine and make them smooth and inactive for absorption of food and as a result, the digestion is affecting very badly. 

Acceptable quantity of maida: Foods made from all-purpose flour (maida) can be eaten once a week. That is also just for testing, and, not a full diet. 

2. Sugar: Cause of diseases like cancer, diabetes, etc. Sugar without processing or can sugar is good for health in a limit but nowadays no one likes it. People want only crystal white refined sugar. As we know that the sugar is also called empty calories. It does not contain any nutrients. As soon as it reaches our digestive tract, it breaks down into glucose and fructose. For people who do not do physical work, it gets stored in the liver in the form of fat. It also has a bad effect on insulin, which increases the risk of diabetes. 

Acceptable quantity of sugar: Just 5 teaspoons of sugar per day is enough for an adult. After the age of 40, this should reduce also. 

3. Ajinomoto: Extremely harmful to the heart. Ajinomoto is monosodium glutamate. It is found naturally in tomatoes, grapes. It is mostly found added in Chinese food, soup, etc to enhance the taste. 

Correct dosage: There is no need to take it artificially. If you wish to enhance the taste of your food, just take some tomato, onion, and cucumber slices as a salad or squish the quarter pieces of lemon in the food that is enough. 

4. White salt: Most responsible for high blood pressure: Salt affects the amount of water in the body. If we eat more salt then the extra water stored in the body increases the blood pressure. Apart from this, when salt is refined; the iodine found in it is removed. At the same time, during refining, fluoride is added to it, which causes harm if eaten in excess. 

Correct doses: A maximum of 1 teaspoon of salt should be taken in daily food. If you have BP then definitely consult a dietician.

Stay healthy, stay safe...