Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and one of the leading causes of death around the world. If you have type 2 diabetes, it means that your pancreas is not making enough insulin. No matter what it can make, it’s not working right. This keeps your body from properly using the energy in the food you eat.
What causes people to get type 2 diabetes, and how can you tell if you’re at risk?
Genes and upbringing/family life influences.
If your parents, grandparents, or brothers have type 2 diabetes, you may be more likely to get it too. Part of the reason for this is changes in genes, especially genes that manage how much glucose or insulin the body makes and how much of it is stored.
If someone in your family has diabetes, that doesn’t mean you will get it too, and if no one in your family has diabetes, that doesn’t mean you won’t get it either. Things like what you eat and how active you are can also affect your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This brings us to the next few points.
The effect of being overweight or obese
Type 2 diabetes is more likely to happen to people who are overweight or fat. Your muscles and tissue cells can’t use insulin as well when you have extra fat in your body. Insulin is made to work with muscle cells.
When the ratio of fat to muscle goes up, the body has a harder time keeping blood sugar levels steady. This problem gets worse as the ratio goes up even more.
In particular, abdominal fat, which is extra weight around your middle, can make you more likely to get diabetes. This kind of fat makes retinol-binding protein 4, which makes your body less sensitive to insulin.
Body mass index, or BMI, is a way to figure out how much weight you have. Your weight and height are used to figure out your BMI. You can use a BMI tool to make things easier. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 means you are overweight, and a BMI between 30 and 39.9 means you are fat.
Not exercising enough
A bigger chance of getting type 2 diabetes is if you don’t move at all or only do it a little. Being overweight or fat is linked to not exercising and not moving around much.
Your insulin resistance can go down when you work out because muscle cells have more insulin sensors than fat cells. After that, insulin works better and lowers blood sugar levels.
Bad habits and lifestyles affect your health
The choices and habits you make in your daily life can also raise your chance of getting type 2 diabetes. Someone who smokes, drinks alcohol, or uses drugs has a greater chance of getting the disease.
Consistently high blood sugar levels are the main cause of insulin resistance, which is a step toward type 2 diabetes. Almost always, this happens because people eat and drink too many high-sugar foods and drinks. All foods that are high on the glycemic index make blood sugar levels go up.
A bad diet and way of life can cause weight gain and, finally, type 2 diabetes.
Other risk factors for Type 2 diabetes
Along with the top reasons we talked about above, the following are also things that can make you more likely to get type 2 diabetes:
- Having high blood pressure or heart disease
- being at least 45 years old
- being African American, Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander; or being of any race or ethnicity.
- non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
- Not enough HDL, which is good cholesterol
In conclusion, you can avoid and control type 2 diabetes by eating well and living a healthy life, even if it doesn’t run in your family. There are some risk factors that you can’t change, but there are a lot of things you can do to keep from getting type 2 diabetes.
Foods that are high in fiber, full of nutrients, and low in extra sugar are the best ones to eat. Cut down on salt and stay away from processed foods that have trans fats, which are bad for you. Also, it’s important to stay at a healthy weight and do outdoor activities more than three times a week. If you don’t know what to do next, you can get help from a professional who makes meal plans and workout plans.
