Diabetes is a growing national health crisis. It’s also the seventh leading cause of death in the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 37.3 million Americans are living with diabetes or are pre-diabetic (a condition if untreated leads to type 2 diabetes).
Diabetes is a chronic disease where the body's ability to regulate blood glucose is impaired. The body naturally turns food into energy, enabling us to live and function normally. Our pancreas produces insulin, a natural hormone that maintains a healthy blood sugar level.
When the body can’t make insulin or not enough because of diabetes, blood sugar goes haywire, causing a multitude of other serious health conditions like heart disease, kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness and other complications. Here are the main types of diabetes:
What is prediabetes? Blood sugar levels are high, but not yet high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. A simple blood test can confirm this result. If you are diagnosed with prediabetes, you can take manageable steps to prevent Type 2 through diet, exercise and coping with stress.
What is type 1 diabetes? The body cannot make insulin, and it needs to be injected every day to survive. Type 1 is theorized to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacking itself) that stops the body from producing insulin. There is no way to prevent it. Symptoms develop quickly; usually at an early age.
What is type 2 diabetes? The body cannot produce insulin normally. Food isn’t converted to energy, causing too much sugar in the bloodstream. This leads to circulatory, nervous and immune system disorders. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes. It can be prevented and managed with medication, diet and adopting an active lifestyle. The common causes of Type 2 are family history, obesity and inactivity.
What is gestational diabetes? This is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Like other forms of diabetes, the body struggles to make enough insulin during pregnancy. Hormonal levels are going through changes, and these changes can adversely affect the pancreas, making the body resistant to insulin. Consult a health professional to keep you and your body on the best path for a healthy outcome.
Diabetes can be managed through diet, exercise, and medication to control blood sugar levels. Early detection and prevention can help reduce your risk. Diabetes can be preventable. If you are experiencing signs and symptoms, consult your doctor immediately to get your blood sugar tested. Here are some resources to help you with diabetes management.
Stay Up-to-Date on Diabetes News
American Diabetes Association – Connect to a network of health care professionals, caregivers, families and volunteers all dedicated to a unified mission of finding a cure for diabetes.
Diabetes Self-Management – A free newsletter and magazine delivered digitally providing advice from medical specialists and effective strategies for living a healthier lifestyle.
CDC Diabetes Portal – Find valuable resources on diabetes facts, prevention and support for improving your quality of life with diabetes.
Diabetes Resources in the CPL Collection
Take Control of Your Diabetes Risk – With straightforward information, this book equips you with strategies to help you on a journey to better health, including: knowing the causes of the different types of diabetes; learning the role food, exercise, and sleep play; and understanding the relationship between diabetes, heart disease and cancer. You have the power to reclaim your life after a prediabetes or diabetes diagnosis—and this book will show you just how easy it is.
The Diabetes Code Cookbook – This must-have companion cookbook to The Diabetes Code makes it easy to follow the author's proven advice for preventing and reversing type 2 diabetes through intermittent fasting and a low carb/high-fat diet.
The Easy Diabetes Cookbook – Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was five, Mary Ellen uses both her professional and personal experience to create meals that will bring the joy and ease of cooking back to your kitchen, while still following a blood sugar-friendly diet. Each recipe in the book includes nutritional information so you know you are getting the carbs, protein, and fat you need. Mary Ellen also provides a comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide to managing your diabetes through the food you eat and specialized tips to keep your blood sugar balanced throughout the day.
Mastering Diabetes – With more than 30 delicious, filling, nutrient-dense recipes and backed by cutting-edge nutritional science, Mastering Diabetes will help you maximize your insulin sensitivity, attain your ideal body weight, improve your digestive health, gain energy, live an active life, and feel the best you've felt in years.
Diabetes & Keeping Fit for Dummies – If you're one of the millions of people with diabetes or prediabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends two types of physical activity as primary components of your self-care: aerobic exercise and strength training. Featuring everything from a starter walking plan to strength and resistance training plans, Diabetes & Keeping Fit for Dummies offers all the guidance and step-by-step instruction you need to make exercise a priority in your diabetes management.
The Diabetes 2-month Turnaround – The program breaks down complicated concepts and goals into small, achievable steps that are tackled on a week-by-week basis. This "diabetes boot camp" delivers quick changes and noticeable benefits right away, while simultaneously setting up healthy behaviors that can last a lifetime. Perfect for those who were just diagnosed or those who have had diabetes for a number of years and simply need to tighten self-care, this simple, effective program is the perfect way to get back in shape.
The Diabetes Code – Today, most doctors, dietitians, and even diabetes specialists consider type 2 diabetes to be a chronic and progressive disease—a life sentence with no possibility of parole. But the truth, as Dr. Fung reveals in this paradigm-shifting book, is that type 2 diabetes is reversible. Writing with clear, persuasive language, he explains why conventional treatments that rely on insulin or other blood-glucose-lowering drugs can actually exacerbate the problem, leading to significant weight gain and even heart disease. The only way to treat type 2 diabetes effectively, he argues, is proper dieting and intermittent fasting—not medication.
Prediabetes – Prediabetes can be scary, but it's also an opportunity—an opportunity to "reset," to improve your health, and to get yourself in better shape than ever. Let Prediabetes: A Complete Guide show you how. Nearly 10 million people in the United States have been told by their doctor that they have prediabetes, with tens of millions more estimated to have prediabetes and not know it. In fact, the latest numbers from the CDC suggest that nearly one in three adults currently have either prediabetes or diabetes. These are alarming numbers, and finding out that you are that one out of three can be even more alarming. Shock, denial, and confusion are not uncommon reactions. But there is a flipside to learning you have prediabetes. It's scary, but it also means you've caught the condition just in time, before it's too late.
The 12-week Diabetes Cookbook – Looking for a way to organize all your meals for a week? With The Budget-Conscious Diabetes Meal Planner, weeknight meals will be quick and easy. It is a plan for one-stop shopping with recipes for the week to create great dinners your whole family will love. Using this book, you can shop and organize the food over the weekend so that assembling the ingredients and just a little cooking will get a meal on the table in minutes throughout the week—and more robust ingredients later in the week.
Managing Type 2 Diabetes for Dummies – An essential guide to understanding the effects of diabetes and knowing what steps to take to successfully manage this chronic illness. Diabetes can lead to serious complications, but people with diabetes can control the condition and lower the risk of its many complications. This is your easy-to-understand guide that shows you how to prevent complications and manage diabetes with confidence.
Diabetes Cookbook – The ultimate diabetes cookbook from the American Diabetes Association, the world's foremost expert in diabetes nutrition. Designed to make healthy eating easier, realistic, and delicious for people, this cookbook collects together hundreds of recipes and meals tested and approved by people living with diabetes and their families. Based on years of research and built specifically to help improve healthy eating behaviors, the recipes, meal plans, and tips in this book will help home cooks make smart food choices, select healthier cooking methods, and organize and plan diabetes-friendly and heart-healthy meals.
No More Diabetes – The incidence of diabetes has been increasing to epidemic proportions. What was once an uncommon disease now seems to be everywhere. Author Gary Null teaches that we each have the power to control diabetes through nutrition and dietary regimens, exercise, mental composure and healthy living habits. Through cutting-edge research and clear instruction, this book empowers readers to take control of their health without the use of drugs.
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