Excessive food and drink consumption over the festive period could increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes

Overview:
1. Dont take excessive food and drink to avoid developing Type 2 diabetes.
2. Diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation
3. Around half a million people in the UK unaware they have Type 2 diabetes
4. The Type 2 diabetes epidemic is one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK today

Excessive food and drink consumption over the festive period could increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, leading health charity Diabetes UK warns today.

Over-indulgence in too many calorific treats such as mince pies (around 200 calories each), Christmas cake (approximately 250 calories per slice) and mulled wine (about 250 calories in a glass) can leave us all struggling to buckle our belts in the New Year. Having a large waist means you are up to eleven times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes¹ and being overweight or obese is one of the strongest risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes.²

At risk waist measurements are 31.5 inches (80cm) or more for women, 37 inches (94cm) or more for men and 35 inches (90cm) or more for South Asian men. As well as having a large waist, people are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes if they are overweight, over the age of 40, of Black or South Asian origin, or have a family history of Type 2 diabetes. If a person has two or more of these risk factors Diabetes UK recommends they visit their GP for a simple diabetes test.

Recent research found most people perceive themselves to be slimmer than they really are. When 500 people were asked to estimate their waist size, most under-estimated by an average of 2.7 inches. Men were the most deluded and underestimated their waist size by a significant 3.1 inches (7.9 cm), whilst the estimates of South Asian women were generally the most accurate.

Diabetes is a serious condition that can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation. There are 2.5 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK but shockingly more than half a million people have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it.

To reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes Diabetes UK recommends you should eat a healthy balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight and be physically active4. Even a moderate degree of physical activity can reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by up to 64 per cent. Similarly, if you reduce your weight by between 5-10 per cent you reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58 per cent.5

Diabetes UK Chief Executive Douglas Smallwood said: “The Type 2 diabetes epidemic is one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK today. Watching our waistlines at this time of year is vital as we all need to do our best to reduce our chances of developing this often preventable condition. It is important to remember that around 80 per cent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight at diagnosis.

“There are around half a million people in the UK unaware they have Type 2 diabetes. The condition can be undiagnosed for up to 12 years and 50 per cent of people who have it show signs of complications at diagnosis. The sooner Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed and becomes well managed, the better your long-term health is protected and the lower your risk of developing devastating complications.”

Source : Diabetes UK

High insulin level raises breast cancer risk

Insulin is required for all animal (including human) life. In humans, insulin deprivation due to the removal or destruction of the pancreas leads to death in days or at most weeks. Insulin must be administered to patients in whom there is a lack of the hormone.

WHAT'S INSULIN?
Insulin is a hormone that performs a variety of tasks in the human body, and is key to regulating blood sugar levels. Insulin is produced in the pancreas by the Beta cells (or "B cells").

One of insulin's many functions is to store glucose in liver and muscle cells. Those cells can use the glucose for immediate energy, store it in the form of glycogen for later use, or convert it into fat for long-term use.

Insulin resistance (IR) is the condition in which normal amounts of insulin are inadequate to produce a normal insulin response from fat, muscle and liver cells. Insulin resistance in fat cells reduces the effects of insulin and results in elevated hydrolysis of stored triglycerides in the absence of measures which either increase insulin sensitivity or which provide additional insulin. Increased mobilization of stored lipids in these cells elevates free fatty acids in the blood plasma. Insulin resistance in muscle cells reduces glucose uptake (and so local storage of glucose as glycogen), whereas insulin resistance in liver cells results in impaired glycogen synthesis and a failure to suppress glucose production.

HIGH INSULIN LEVEL
If the body needs energy and can't burn fat because of high insulin levels, a person feels tired as their brain starves and metabolism slows to compensate. This occurs because the brain runs on glucose and high insulin levels deplete blood glucose levels. Such a condition, rebound hypoglycemia, causes sweet cravings (which just starts the high-insulin cycle all over again).

OBESITY-BREAST CANCER RELATIONSHIP
BUT Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City compared insulin levels in 835 women who developed breast cancer and 816 women who did not in the Women's Health Initiative study.According to the study, those whose insulin levels were the highest had a 1.5 times greater risk of developing breast cancer than did women with the lowest fasting insulin levels.

In laboratory studies, insulin has been shown to stimulate the growth of breast cells, and overweight has been identified as a risk factor for breast cancer, found by the American Cancer Society.

"These data suggest that hyperinsulinemia is an independent risk factor for breast cancer and may have a substantial role in explaining the obesity-breast cancer relationship," the researchers wrote.

QUESTION
How to regulate insulin to keep it always in optimum level? What type of food supplement that can contribute to regulate you insulin system?