Diabesity, The Next Global Epidemic

With more than one billion people affected, diabesity is the largest epidemic in the world today. Fortunately it can be reversed , this combination of obesity and diabetes can be reversed with lifestyle changes.
Pre-diabetes, Syndrome X, Metabolic Syndrome or Insulin Resistance Syndrome – all these conditions are the same, in the sense, all of them have the same fundamental underlying cause and that is, the elevated blood sugar due to insulin resistance of the cells. Insulin normally pushes the sugar inside the cell but in insulin resistance this is impaired and the severity of this defect varies. The term diabesity covers all the above diagnoses and is a health problem involving metabolic imbalance which may range from mild blood sugar imbalance to full blown type-2 diabetes and which is essentially connected to obesity, especially abdominal obesity.

Diabetes + Obesity are two conditions so strongly linked that researches in started calling it “diabesity”. Excess weight is behind 64% of cases of diabetes in men.Whether obesity should be considered a disease on its own, it is also an important risk factor for many chronic physical and mental illnesses like diabetes.
The obesity epidemic in America has been a widely publicized issue for years. Nearly two out of every three Americans are overweight or obese, says the Surgeon General. There are many reasons for obesity epidemic; however, the predominant variables are things that can be adjusted on an individual basis, through lifestyle changes.
Poor Nutrition
Poor nutrition is a huge precursor to obesity. If your body isn't getting the proper nutrients that it needs, it's going to begin to slow down, making it even harder to lose weight. Poor nutrition has become an increasing problem due to the convenience of fast food restaurants. According to The Yes Word, many Americans depend on fast food on a daily basis because they feel too busy to slow down for a healthier meal. The type of foods provided by these restaurants are usually high in calories and low in nutrition. This means that you're gaining weight and still starving your body. On the other side of the issue, many people don't like to eat fruits and vegetables, which are low in calories and high in nutrition. Eating more of these will help you to lose weight and feed your body at the same time.

Diabesity is the combination of diabetes, elevated blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol directly correlated with obesity symptoms that result from problems with diet, lifestyle, and environmental toxins interacting with our unique genetic susceptibilities.
Diabesity is the single biggest health challenge facing us individually, as a nation and as a global community.

Diabesity is the continuum of metabolic disturbances from mild blood sugar and insulin resistance & leptin resistance imbalances to pre-diabetes to full blown type 2 diabetes. It occurs in about 40% of people of normal weight – these are the skinny fat people who look thin but are metabolically fat and have all the same risk factors for disease and death as those who are overweight. And it occurs in 80% of overweight people. This is sometimes referred to as the metabolic syndrome which can be prevented as well as reversed using proper lifestyle management.

The Health Directorate of the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation organised the conference DIABESITY-A World-Wide Challenge , in Brussels on 9-10 February 2012. The conference took place at the European Commission, Charlemagne Building, Rue de la Loi 170, in the presence of Ruxandra DRAGHIA-AKLI, Director for Health, DG Research & Innovation.

This conference brought together, leading scientists in the field from across the globe, national funding agencies from different parts of the world, national, european and international policy-makers, other key players in the field. The conference took this global approach further by presenting the state of play and by exploring opportunities for even greater international cooperation and new partnerships.
Obesity destroys the body’s ability to process sugar properly–with life-threatening consequences. It shows what happens when the genes that evolved to protect us from famine collide with a sedentary lifestyle that has put bacon cheeseburgers, soft drinks, and candy on every corner. It demonstrates why our usual blame-the-victim response is futile in face of the complex, worldwide forces behind this diabesity epidemic.

Improper lifestyle and western diet are the real causes of diabesity. The reason these dietary and lifestyle factors lead to diabesity is because they create a condition known as insulin resistance. Contrary to what most people think, type 2 diabetes is a disease of too much, not too little, insulin. Insulin is the real driver of problems with diabesity.

Following the Wellness IQ at www.academyofwellness.com which includes lifestyle modification, dietary modification and taking a high bioavailable multivitamin/multimineral: vitamin D, fish oil, and special blood sugar balancing nutrients like alpha lipoic acid, chromium polynicotinate, biotin, cinnamon, green tea catechins, and glucomannan should also be included.
The solution is not coming from our health care system or doctors, not from our government, or from most corporations. There are too many people vested in maintaining the status quo or worse profiting from making us fat and sick. We need a solution.
Unless we change our eating and exercise habits and pay greater attention to this disease, more than one-third of whites, two-fifths of blacks and half of Hispanic people in this country will develop diabetes & diabesity.

There is a tendency in some older people to think of diabetes as "just a little sugar," a common family problem. They fail to take it seriously and make the connection between it and the costly, crippling and often fatal diseases that can ensue.

Diabetes[diabesity], with its consequences of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, amputations and blindness, among others, already ranks No. 1 in direct health care costs, consuming $1 of every $7 spent on health care.
Unlike some other killer diseases, Type 2 diabetes issues an easily detected wake-up call: the accumulation of excess weight, especially around the abdomen. When the average fasting level of blood sugar (glucose) rises above 100 milligrams per deciliter, diabetes is looming.

Abdominal fat is highly active. The chemical output of its cells increases blood levels of hormones like estrogen, providing the link between obesity and breast cancer, and decreases androgens, which can cause a decline in libido. As the cells in abdominal fat expand, they also release chemicals that increase fat accumulation, ensuring their own existence.
Experts now predict that more than 35% of American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Our current health care system will not be able to cope with this growing epidemic in 20 years which may cripple our economy. The human faces and human suffering behind the epidemic of type 2 diabetes that threatens to overwhelm our health care system is totally preventable and reversible.

Dr. George Grant, Ph.D., I.M.D.

www.academyofwellness.com