Diabetes and Weight Loss
Nine out of ten people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes are overweight. If you fall into this category, and if you’re overweight, trimming down could help you manage your diabetes.
Losing weight can help you look great and feel better about yourself. However, for people with diabetes, the benefits of weight loss can be even greater. If you already have diabetes, losing just 10-15 pounds may help you lower your blood glucose levels, reduce your blood pressure, and improve your blood fats. Losing this weight may also help you reduce the number and dosage of diabetes medications that you need to take. Here are just a few of the benefits of weight loss with diabetes.
- Lower and regulate your overall blood glucose levels.
- Lower your blood pressure.
- Improve your blood fats if they are not in a healthy range.
- Ease stress on delicate joints such as hips, knees, and ankles.
- Reduce the effort it takes to move around.
- Improve ability to breathe.
- Increase energy levels.
Diabetes Prevention Program Shows Weight Loss Benefits
Recently, a large study sponsored by the American Diabetes Association found that if people at risk for type 2 diabetes lost a small amount of weight and became more active over a three-year period, they could prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes. According to the study, just 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity, coupled with a reduction in body weight of 5-10%, produced a 58% reduction in diabetes. Participants in the study also experienced other benefits of weight loss like lowered blood pressure.
Unintentional Diabetes Weight Loss
Most people with diabetes are encouraged to lose weight, but for some, the weight loss is unintentional. In fact, many diabetic patients find out that they have the disease when they seek medical advice due to unexplained loss of weight. While intentional weight loss in people with diabetes is usually a good thing, unintentional weight loss is not. Occasionally, when blood sugar levels get very high, it may make a person urinate a lot, resulting in dehydration. This dehydration could in turn result in weight loss. In addition, if sugar levels are too high, muscle breakdown can occur causing an unhealthy weight loss.
Body Shape and Diabetes
Did you know that your risk of developing diabetes might be greater depending upon your body shape? People who are apple shaped, in other words, fatter around the middle, are at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease than those who are pear shaped, or fatter around the hips.
Waist circumference is another indication. Wrap a flexible tape measure snugly against your waist, being careful not to pull it too tight. Compare your waist measurement to those listed below.
Waist Circumference – Men: over 40 inches Women: over 35 inches
If you have diabetes, losing weight can make a major impact on your weight and health. Start small by making a few simple changes to your diet and exercise patterns. Don’t be afraid to make the process easier by utilizing weight loss assistance tools. Talk to your health care provider about adding a weight loss supplement, such as Slimirex™, to your diet.
As you follow your new diabetes weight loss program, be sure to reward yourself along the way to stay motivated. For example, after your first week of sticking to your diabetes weight loss program you might buy yourself a new outfit or enjoy a massage or a night out at the movies. When you achieve larger goals such as maintaining your weight loss program for a month, you may want to splurge on a larger reward such as a vacation or a shopping spree.
About the Author
Dr. Edward F. Group III continues to develop, sell and evaluate exclusively high-end natural and organic healthcare products to support a wide range of health conditions. The products we promote are free of toxic tag-along herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, heavy metals, fumigants, irradiation, liver-toxic glues, binders, or gelatin capsules with animal-source risk and toxic preservatives.