Many people feel suspicion of diabetes when they start to lose weight for no apparent reason. It has become a common knowledge now that diabetes leads to weight loss. Though it is true to some extent, not everybody knows the real reason behind the weight loss attached to it.
There are three types of nutrients present in the food we eat. Those are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Among these three it is only carbohydrates that is rich in glucose content. When this glucose gets mixed with blood, it induces insulin secretion in the pancreas.
Insulin helps with transportation of glucose to each and every cell in our body. Our body cells supply us with needed energy.
What is Sugar Deficiency?
Just like there is a key to open the door of our home, there are receptors in our cells to absorb the glucose. These receptors in our body cells would have ceased to function for people who are suffering from diabetes. Due to this reason, the glucose will not reach their body cells but instead stays in the blood itself.
When blood glucose levels start to increase beyond 180 mg, it will be released as urine instead of getting converted into energy. Due to this reason, our body will not get enough energy, and glucose will be expelled through urine, resulting in weight loss.
Main reasons for Weight loss
- Polyphagia. (Excessive hunger)
- Polydipsia (Thirst)
- Polyuria (Frequent urination)
Types of Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes patients will not have any natural insulin secretion in their body. Insulin secretion would have completely stopped to function. Most of these people would have undergone some health problems at a younger age. When it happened their body would have developed an antibiotic to destroy harmful bacterias. But this antibiotic instead of destroying harmful bacterias, it would start to destroy the beta cells in the body. This leads to diabetes at a younger age. This problem mainly occurs when their immune system is in the developing stage. Scientifically we call this condition as Auto Anti Body Mechanism. Meaning, our body starts to act against itself. People who suffer from this condition should take insulin from external sources all their life.
Type 2 Diabetes
This type of diabetes affects people above the age of 35 to 40. If your parents are a victim of this type of diabetes, then you have very chances of the same. Apart from this, it can also happen due to wrong food habits and unhealthy lifestyle. When the belly size increases beyond 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women, their body cells will increase its resistance towards insulin. So their body cells will not get enough energy. This leads to diabetes.
How to diagnose?
When a person starts to see signs of diabetes he or she should undergo Glucose Tolerance Test. We can come to a conclusion based on the results of this test.
How to overcome this?
When we detect our body has low glucose level, then we should consume foods that have low Glycemic Index Value. Rice, Maida, All purpose flours, sugars have high glycemic index value. These foods are rich in glucose content. We can consume vegetables and fruits like apple, papaya, sweet lime, guava etc. Diabetes is not a disease but a deficiency. With right food intake and right lifestyle changes, we can effectively keep it under control.
