How Weight Loss Helps Control Diabetes

Unfortunately, diabetes cannot be cured no matter which type of diabetes you have. But blood sugar levels can be successfully controlled with healthy lifestyle changes which should include a healthy eating plan, regular exercise and weight loss. If you have type 1 diabetes, you will need a lifelong insulin therapy but if you have type 2 diabetes, you may be able to keep your blood sugar levels under control with a healthy lifestyle alone.

Your blood sugar levels are affected by a number of factors, in the first place your dietary choices. Glucose is produced from the foods you eat, or carbohydrates to be more precise. Carbs are directly broken down into glucose and released into your bloodstream. Glucose is the main fuel for your body's cells but if you have diabetes, glucose does not enter the cells but is circulating in your bloodstream instead. As a result, you have too high blood sugar levels. This can happen for two reasons - your pancreas failing to produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or your cells not responding to insulin (type 2 diabetes) which plays the key role in glucose uptake by the cells. In the first case, insulin therapy is inevitable for the uptake of glucose. But in type 2 diabetes, it is often enough to control consumption of carbohydrates and increase sensitivity of the cells to the effects of insulin. And this where weight loss play an important role.

Excess body fat does not only increase the risk of a number of health problems but it also makes the body's cells less sensitive to insulin. Even more, overweight is believed to be one of the main contributors to type 2 diabetes. But the good news is that loss of as little as 5 percent of body weight can increase sensitivity of the cells to insulin and make blood glucose control a lot easier. In a combination with permanent changes of eating and exercise habits, weight management can be enough to keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range. Loss of excess body weight and healthy lifestyle changes, however, are not enough to control type 1 diabetes. But they make its management a lot easier and may even lower the dose of insulin needed to control blood sugar levels.

Losing weight with diabetes, unfortunately, is not an easy task because sudden dietary changes or/and increased physical activity can cause your blood sugar levels drop too low which can be very dangerous. You are therefore highly recommended to consult with your doctor before you start with any weight loss programs, especially if you take insulin or medications for lowering blood sugar levels because you may need a dose adjustment.