Dietary and Exercise Tips for Managing Diabetes
By Michael Sakarya [Get Well Clinic]
Introducing diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a term encompassing various disorders characterized by hyperglycemia, meaning increased blood glucose levels. It arises due to a combination of insulin resistance and dysfunction of the cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin1. In type 1 diabetes, the cells in the pancreas that secrete the hormone signal insulin are attacked by the body’s own immune system, causing a complete lack of insulin secretion. In type 2 diabetes, genetic and lifestyle factors can cause insulin resistance where the body’s cells do not respond to insulin as normal. As a result, there is reduced uptake of blood glucose by the body’s cells and increased glucose production by the liver. The pancreas compensates by excessively producing insulin, but in the long term, the pancreas begins to fail, and insulin secretion decreases. Hyperglycemia manifests in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.