What Is The Difference Between Type One And Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes results from the human immune system mistaking the body’s beta cells, which produce insulin, for foreign cells and causing their destruction leading to complete pancreatic failure.
Insulin is a protein that allows the transport of sugar into cells to provide energy. When sugar can’t get from the blood into the cells, the cells have no access to the glucose they need and cannot function correctly. Our blood composition also gets off balance, with high blood sugar levels leading to detrimental effects on other organs of the body.
Injecting synthetic insulin solves this problem because it keeps blood glucose levels in the right range and helps glucose reach our cells.
Type 2 Diabetes
Although type 2 diabetes is much more common than type 1 diabetes, its causes aren’t fully understood. Doctors and scientists know that diet, excess weight, inactivity, age, and genetic makeup contribute to developing the disease.
Patients with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but the body cells cannot respond to it adequately, so they cannot take up glucose, leading to insulin resistance. Later on, especially when treatment fails, type 2 diabetes is aggravated by exhausted beta cells, decreasing their insulin production resulting in further increases in blood sugar levels. Since beta cells aren’t killed off in type 2 diabetes, at least initially, blood sugar levels often become elevated at a slower rate than with type 1 diabetes. This means that someone can have high blood sugar for quite some time without realizing it and may only find out they have type 2 diabetes when complications of diabetes appear, such as damage to the eyes, the kidney, and nerves. Long-term complications from high blood sugar include heart disease, strokes, diabetic retinopathy, kidney failure, and low blood flow to your extremities, leading to loss of limbs.
Additionally, this means that treatment for type 2 diabetes varies from case to case. While insulin therapy may be needed for some people with type 2 diabetes, most can use alternative medications. Lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise, have also been shown to help type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a type of diabetes characterized by high blood sugar and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the inability of cells to respond adequately to normal levels of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, increased hunger, fatigue, and sores that don’t heal.
Type 2 diabetes primarily occurs due to obesity and lack of exercise; however, some people are more genetically at risk than others. Type 2 diabetes makes up about 90% of cases of diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, there is a lower total insulin level to control blood glucose due to a loss of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
Type 2 diabetes is mostly preventable by staying active, maintaining a normal BMI, and eating correctly by lowering carbohydrates and eliminating sugar. The treatment for this condition involves increased activity, dietary changes, and adding specific supplementation.
Rates of type 2 diabetes have increased markedly since the 1960s and have run almost parallel with the increase in obesity. According to the 2020 National Diabetes Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34.2 million people, or over 10 percent of the U.S. population, have diabetes, and 24.2 million Americans age 65 and older have prediabetes. Typically, it begins in middle age, but because of diet and our access to fast food, the rates of type 2 diabetes are increasing in young people.
How Do I Know If I Have Type 2 Diabetes?
The first thing you need to do is have a blood test to determine your blood sugar level. The two most important blood tests are:
A1C
This test measures your average blood sugar level over the past 90 days. An A1C at or below 5.6% is normal, between 5.7 and 6.4 is prediabetes, and 6.5% or higher indicates that you have diabetes.
Fasting Blood Sugar
This test measures your blood sugar after an overnight fast (not eating). A fasting blood sugar level of 99 mg/dL or lower is average, 100 to 125 mg/dL indicates you have prediabetes, and 126 mg/dL or higher means you probably have diabetes.
Dietary Changes For Type 2 Diabetes
Practice portion control. Everyone that has type 2 diabetes tends to overeat. If you’re overweight, losing as little as 5-10% of your body weight will help lower your blood sugar levels.
Choose foods rich in nutrients and avoid junk food, fast food, and foods high in simple carbohydrates. It is vitally important to limit or eliminate your consumption of refined carbohydrates like sugar-sweetened foods, white bread and pasta, and fruit juice. Instead, concentrate on foods high in both nutrients and fiber.
Is There Anything I Can Take To Offset The Onset Of Type 2 Diabetes?
Yes. Two of the best supplements we here at Doctor’s Nutrition recommend are Berberine Max and Glucose Support Formula (GSF). Both of these natural supplements, along with a good diet, can help lower your blood sugar.
To learn more about what you can do to treat type 2 diabetes naturally, call us at 228-897-0070 today. The call and consult are always free.
