Are you at risk for Type 2 Diabetes?

Obesity, especially abdominal obesity, leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Measure
your waist size; waist sizes over 30 inches in women and 35 inches in men increase the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes even if you don’t think you are overweight. All the body’s organs are
damaged by the excess glucose, amino acids and triglycerides in the blood. They overwhelm the
kidneys and escape in the urine causing increased thirst and frequent urination, the most common
symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

If you have these symptoms – go to a doctor and get tested, over half of those with type 2 diabetes don’t know they have it. If you have diabetes, follow your doctor’s advice to prevent serious complications. Your doctor will prescribe medications to control blood glucose but the medications currently available will not reverse the disease or prevent all the complications. Most people will need more than one medication within 3 years of starting the first medication and some may even need to add insulin injections. Fortunately, all of this is preventable if you simply change what you eat.

Diabetes runs in my family why should I change what I eat?

Susceptibility to type 2 diabetes is inherited, but you will not get the disease if you maintain
the right weight for your height and a flat abdomen. Stress, lack of exercise, and diets high in
animal protein, fat and refined sugars increase abdominal fat and the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The eating habits we learn from our families are the primary causes of type 2 diabetes not their
genes.

African-Americans have the highest rates of type 2 diabetes in the US but they also have
the highest rates of obesity and the lowest self-reported intake of fruits and vegetables. African-
American women who eat 2 or more restaurant hamburgers per week have a 40% increased risk
of developing type 2 diabetes; eating restaurant fried chicken more than twice a week increases
the risk by 68%. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/ajcn.2009.28682v1.

In my personal and professional experience Black people who do not eat animal products, high fat foods or refined sugars and maintain a normal weight without abdominal obesity do not develop type 2 diabetes even when both parents and most of their siblings have it.