Glucose and Diabetes
Diabetics know all about glucose and diabetes. But what about individuals who aren't diabetic but may be at risk of developing the disease? It is important that they also understand how glucose and diabetes are related.
In order to fully understand glucose and diabetes, you have to understand what has to happen for diabetes to occur. Beta cells located in the pancreas produce a hormone called insulin. The body then uses insulin to control glucose. Glucose is a sugar that the body uses as its source of fuel. The insulin carries the glucose to the cells where it is utlized for energy.
But when a person has diabetes there is something wrong with their insulin production. It is either too low or non-existent. Without insulin to manage glucose levels, the glucose begins to build up in the bloodstream.
As glucose continues to build up over time, the individual develops diabetes, and this is the relation of glucose and diabetes. This is why many diabetics need insulin injections daily. It is being introduced into the body externally since the body is not keeping up.
An easier way to look at the scenario is to compare it to a bus. Insulin is a bus that has to pick up glucose, or workers, to take them to work. If the workers (glucose) aren't picked up, then work can't be completed.
Similarly, if glucose can't be picked up and transported to the cells by the insulin (bus), the glucose can't accomplish work (or be used for energy). So, in essence, diabetes causes the bus to break down in the glucose and diabetes relationship.
Get A Free 7 Day Diabetes Meal Plan
Get a free 7-Day Diabetes Meal Plan from Constance Brown-Riggs who is a Registered Dietitian-Certified Diabetes Educator and who is also a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Just enter in your email below to download your free Diabetes Meal Plan.
More Articles
Chamomile tea has long been prized for its calming properties, but few people realize it’s also beneficial for glucose regulation. Traditionally,...
Matcha tea is a rich, creamy, full-bodied beverage with amazing nutritional properties that address several diabetes health concerns. The trace...
One way to ensure our body gets a variety of nutrients is eating nutrient-dense foods, and one of the most nutrient-dense foods on our planet is...
It would be interesting to know how many people with diabetes actually use blood glucose control solutions to regularly check the accuracy of...
A mood is an internal state or condition of feeling. It colors everything else we experience, much like colored sunglasses add a tint to...
More Articles
Hot weather does not directly alter blood glucose levels. However, sweltering temperatures affect our metabolism and the release of hormones. Heat...
Those who have not yet been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can greatly reduce their susceptibility by doing one key...
With such a marked increase in the number of new diabetes cases, more people are wondering if type 1 diabetes...
Although diabetes is common, many people who have been diagnosed do not completely understand how it develops or whether it is hereditary....
It would be interesting to know how many people with diabetes actually use blood glucose control solutions to regularly check the accuracy of...
Any sweetener you use to replace table sugar is a sugar substitute. One type of sugar substitute is artificial sweetener. Three other types...
Chamomile tea has long been prized for its calming properties, but few people realize it’s also beneficial for glucose regulation. Traditionally,...
One way to ensure our body gets a variety of nutrients is eating nutrient-dense foods, and one of the most nutrient-dense foods on our planet is...
Diabetes is a health condition that disrupts the body’s normal production of insulin. Currently, more than one million Americans are diagnosed...
The HbA1c blood test, more commonly known as the A1C, is both a very useful and a very cool calculation of your average blood glucose levels over...
The different sugar content of fruits can be confusing when you are trying to manage your...
A diabetes meal plan is a guide indicating what types of foods, and how much of them, people should eat at meal and snack time. Following a meal...
=It’s helpful to know the difference between a food’s total grams of carbohydrate, and net grams of carbohydrate since only net carbs affect blood...
Everyone from grandmothers to physicians tout oatmeal's wholesome goodness and health benefits. But, is oatmeal good for diabetics? Limited...
For many diabetics, muscle pain is just a normal part of life. Prolonged exposure to high blood sugar levels can cause what's called diabetic...
