Diabetes: The scary statistics

Diabetes runs in my family. I am told I need to be careful and have been reading various books about insulin resistance. Below are some frightening facts from a book I just read, Sugar Nation. I recommend the book, which is an easy read and can be easily found on Amazon.

• Between 1993 and 2004 hospital stays for diabetes among 29 or younger increased 40%.  (Diabetes Care study).
• One in every three people born in the US in the year 2000 will become diabetic, for minorities the rate will be one in two.
• Cost of diabetes: direct medical expenditures $120 billion/year + lost productivity, $58 billion/year= $178 billion/year
• More money can be made treating diabetes than curing it.
• The ADA is in bed with the pharmaceutical companies, pushing drugs as it is assumed that patients will not make the necessary lifestyle changes that can reverse the disease. Instead there is a focused reliance on drug after drug, none of which look at the underlying problem, insulin resistance due to a sedentary lifestyle an overabundance of refined carb-laden foods.
• 30% of Medicare’s budget goes towards diabetes (which doesn’t take into consideration cardiovascular disease attributed to the disease).
• One person globally develops diabetes every 5 seconds, 17,000/day. 
• This number will double by 2030 (World Health Organization study).
• The overweight now out-number the malnourished.
• Per capita sugar consumption raised from 5 to 160 pounds from late 1800s to today.

The best thing we can do to help fight this disease is to watch our diet and to incorporate exercise into our daily lives.  Below are some extra things you can do to help assist diabetes prevention:

Supplements which improve insulin sensitivity:

Chromium, 1,000mcg daily
Biotin, 8-16 g daily
Magnesium, 500 mg day
ALA, 600 mg daily

Chromium rich foods

-Tomato, spinach, broccoli, onion, garlic, basil leaves, lettuce, fresh chili, green pepper, beet, mushroom, rye, apple, orange and banana.

Exercise Effects on Insulin resistance:

30 min daily strenuous exercise- get sweating!

The liver reacts to exercise by breaking down glycogen and absorbs glucose from the bloodstream.