Every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes April 7th as World Health Day, a day that is meant to draw worldwide attention to a particular subject pertaining to global health.
Even though their focus changes on a yearly basis, we have a staff of family practitioners that will treat any conditions or symptoms whenever you encounter them.
This year, WHO is focusing on diabetes – a disease that has widely spread through numerous countries due to malnutrition and sedentary lifestyles. Estimated at nearly 350 million cases worldwide, diabetes can be effectively delayed and prevented by making a few health and lifestyle changes:
Exercise:
Staying physically active is one of the most pivotal parts in helping offset diabetes. Excess body weight/obesity are instrumental in the development of diabetes, so reducing belly and body fat can significantly decrease your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
Trimming 7-10% of your current body weight can reduce your chances of developing diabetes by over 50%, so get outside, stay active, join a gym or plan workouts with a friend or family member.
Reduce Your Sugar Intake:
This may take some research and will power, simply because sugars are in virtually everything we eat and drink. Having some sugar in your diet is fine; generally the natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables are so complex that our bodies can only extract a small portion of the sugar itself, making them a much more acceptable form to consume.
What you need to watch out for are simple sugars, which appear as additives that corporations include to help sweeten what you eat and drink. This type of sugar is easily absorbed by the intestine and into the bloodstream, causing the body to secrete significant amounts of insulin to counteract the sugar. Dietary and plant sugars break down significantly slower, resulting in a much lower production of insulin.
Eating fruits like strawberries, blueberries and bananas still allow you to get your sugar fix but in a much healthier way. Just always remember: consume everything in moderation.
Maintain A Healthy Weight:
Keeping yourself at a healthy weight is important in preventing the onset of diabetes and comes as a result of incorporating both exercise and proper diet into your life. Studies have shown that reducing fat, particularly belly fat, radically reduces the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
This World Health Day, be mindful of the growing pandemic that is diabetes and how small lifestyle changes can greatly decrease or completely eliminate your chances of developing the disease. We’re only given one body, so take care of it.
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