Diabetes Diet - The Ultimate Diabetes Diet Guide: Diabetes Diet Plan And Diabetes Diet Recipes (ePub)

This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to beat diabetes by adhering to a diet specially formulated to control blood sugar. This diet also works to improve the body's health, vitality and weight loss.

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a sweet disease - not the easy, charming sweetness, but a disease that many believe to be from eating too much sweet treats. First off, anything in excess is always bad. But when in moderation, that's a different story.

There are two types of diabetes: type 1 or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. In type 1 diabetes mellitus, the body (specifically the pancreas) cannot produce enough insulin. This type was previously believed to occur only in children, hence, a now defunct name juvenile diabetes. Recent studies show that type 1 diabetes can also happen or become manifest during adulthood. Type 1 diabetes is due to the destruction or inability of the pancreatic beta cells to produce insulin. Antibodies are released by the immune system that targets and destroys the beta cells. The reason for this autoimmune reaction remains unknown.

The type of diabetes responsible for the growing epidemic is type 2 diabetes mellitus. The pancreas produces enough insulin. The problem lies in the responsiveness of the cells to the circulating insulin.

The course of type 2 diabetes
The beta cells of the pancreas functions adequately, and insulin is normally produced by the body. The problem mainly lies in the cells. Normally, glucose in the blood enters the cells because of insulin. It changes the structure of the cell membrane (covering of the cell) so that glucose, which is a large molecule, can easily pass through. Whenever insulin attaches to the cell membrane, the cell responds and allows it to make changes in order to let glucose enter. In type 2 diabetes, the cells ignore the presence of insulin.