Eight Diabetes Terms You Should Know
Information is Empowerment
If you have diabetes, pre-diabetes, or risk factors, every day you will need to make lifestyle choices, including what to eat, how much to exercise, and whether to take supplements.
Although experts agree on many healthy living concepts, there are just as many areas where the experts disagree, particularly when it comes to what you should or shouldn’t eat for blood sugar control. So in the end, the choices are yours to make.
I believe that learning how to make decisions about your own health is so critical to your success, that pretty much everything in the BSC Coaching Center is based upon teaching you what you need to know about your body, food and exercise so that you no longer have to be dependent upon “diet” experts for the latest fad. You won’t have to count, measure or feel deprived because you are going to learn how to eat and live in harmony with the way your body was designed to work.
You don't need to learn everything there is to know about how your body works or about nutrition. But, understanding the basic physical nature of diabetes coupled with gaining knowledge about diet, exercise and stress management will enable you to develop the confidence to make informed decisions about how to manage your condition.
So, as a starting point, here are few terms you should know and understand. (There will be more articles about each subject in the blog, as well as videos and workshops in Membership Community.)
Diabetes: a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin( the hormone that is needed to convert glucose into the energy needed for daily life.) The two major forms of diabetes have different causes, although both are characterized by elevated blood sugars and insulin problems.
Type 1 Diabetes: the pancreas either no longer produces insulin or it doesn’t produce enough of it.
Type 2 Diabetes: your pancreas makes insulin, but you experience high glucose levels either because 1) The pancreas may not be producing insulin in sufficient quantity, 2) The body’s cells may have lost their ability to respond to insulin - even if the pancreas is producing enough insulin, or 3) A combination of these two factors
Pre-Diabetes: a condition where an individual has levels of sugar in the bloodstream that are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be classified as diabetes. Pre-diabetes can be detected with a number of different blood tests
Pancreas: The pancreas is a large gland that is located in the abdomen, behind your stomach. The main function of the pancreas is to produce insulin, digestive enzymes, and other hormones. To maintain the proper balance of glucose in your blood, the pancreas produces two hormones: insulin and glycogen.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells of the pancreas that helps move blood sugar (glucose) into the cells of your body. Insulin is like a key that opens up the locks on your body's cells so that glucose (blood sugar) can get inside and be used for energy.Insulin also plays a role as a fat storing hormone.
Glucagon: a hormone produced by the ALPHA cells of the pancreas released when your blood sugar levels are low to stimulate the liver and muscles to break down stored glycogen and release the glucose into the bloodstream for energy.
Insulin Resistance: a condition in which cells fail to respond to the normal actions of the hormone insulin.
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