In an American society where fast food, processed meat, bleached enriched flour and high fructose corn syrup rule the roost, it’s no wonder that the vast majority of Americans are headed for Type II diabetes. Type II is the diabetes that people acquire from long-term poor eating habits. This nutritional trend is also contributing to the epidemic of obesity in our nation. Luckily, the Atkins diet offers a solution that addresses both issues. It offers a way to delay, even prevent the acquired disease as well as weight loss.
To begin with, Type II diabetes is a disease that is a direct result of insulin resistance. This means that the body can no longer produce sufficient insulin to lower blood sugar levels. In youth, our bodies were able to digest and metabolize food more efficiently. A then-healthy pancreas worked to produce and release adequate amounts of insulin, no matter how many carbohydrates or sugar we ate. Of course, there may have been other consequences of unhealthy eating habits such as weight gain or mood swings but it didn’t matter that much at the time.
We are able to more readily digest these foods as children, because our bodies function more efficiently in our youth. There may have been side effects, like weight gain and mood swings, but they didn’t stand out. As we age, however, these symptoms begin to grow and become more prevalent. The nation-wide obesity epidemic is a result of high-carbohydrate diets and unstable blood sugar levels.
A family doctor can help asses our situation and determine if we are at risk for the disease. Luckily, gaining control of blood-sugar levels can be as simple as changing what and how much we eat. The Adkins diet lays the foundation for this healthy solution.
In addition, as we age insulin resistance becomes more pronounced and aggravated. Long term damage can occur to the heart and circulatory systems even in the pre-diabetes stage. There are warning signs and tests that can be performed by a family doctor to determine if you are at risk for Type 2 diabetes. In most cases, gaining control of your blood sugar levels is the first step in effectively preventing or delaying the onset. Studies show that low-carb diets such as the Atkins can help an individual achieve stable blood-sugar levels by decreasing the spike and valley pattern.
Eating a low-carb, no-carb diet will reduce the extreme blood-sugar fluctuations that a body experiences when highly processes foods are digested and metabolized. The Atkins diet emphasizes a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Proteins are metabolized differently than carbohydrates in the body. They have less of an affect on the blood-sugar level. The effect is a more stable, continual level. This is the most desired insulin-sugar balance.
However, there are easily identifiable warning signs to diabetes that appear early. Your family doctor can perform insulin level tests that will let you know if you are at risk for pre-diabetic conditions, and studies show that low-carb diets like Atkins can help. Controlling your blood sugar is one of the most effective methods to controlling pre-diabetic conditions.
Your body will work the way it was designed to. Who wouldn’t want that?