If you have Type 2 Diabetes or pre-diabetes, insulin is actually being secreted with abundance in your blood but because of several factors such as excess belly fat and physical inactivity, insulin can't bind to the sugar in your blood and have it stored in the largest body organ which are your muscles.
This problem is called insulin resistance which if not addressed can lead to diabetes complications, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol leading to heart attacks and strokes. This resistance problem is now seen among Type 1 diabetics as well since Americans have become physically inactive with an all time high body weight; both of which are major contributors to insulin resistance and consequently to pre-diabetes and diabetes.
But worse yet, since insulin is available in your blood in large quantity, it can still perform it's other task, which is to store fat in your belly area. The large amounts of fats from the fatty burgers, fried food and the extra large sugar laden soft drinks that you consume every day have no place to go but your body fat and arteries. By the way, sugar from foods and beverages (soft drinks, latte, sweet tea and juices) are readily transformed into fat. Weight gain along with physical inactivity keep on fueling the insulin resistance problem making your diabetes worse and if you're pre-diabetic you become a full-blown diabetic.
Insulin's function is 3 folds: 1) The uptake of Glucose (sugar) from the blood and storing it in the liver and muscles in the form of Glycogen, 2) The up take of fat, from the food we eat, from our blood and storing it in the fatty deposits in the belly area and under the skin all over the body, 3) the uptake of protein, from the food we eat, from the blood and storing it in the muscle.
The most efficient ways diabetics and pre-diabetics can become more sensitive to the effects of insulin is weight loss by making balanced food choices AND ACTIVITY. Activity is necessary for all people of all ages and gender. But for diabetics it is crucial to defeat this deadly disease and it's complications. Sadly, only a minority of all those diabetics, pre-diabetics lead an active lifestyle, the rest remain sedentary and suffer the worsening consequences of their condition.
Why activity? Because muscles in our bodies which are the largest of all the body's organs use sugar as the main form of fuel. So when you become more diligently active your muscles will burn energy and become partially depleted of Sugar. Now when your insulin is secreted from you pancreas it will bind to the sugar in your blood and will store it in your muscles in the form of a substance called "Glycogen".
So when you become more active not only you are causing the sugar in your blood to be reduced but also you are making your insulin more sensitive and you will be losing weight in the process hence resolving the problem of insulin resistance; triple positive whammy to your health.
Why weight loss? When fat builds up in your belly area around your vital organs two very deadly things happen. Research confirms that the fat in your belly area contributes directly to artery disease and Plaque formation that block your arteries leading to heart disease and heart attacks. Also, research confirms that the more belly fat you have the lower the levels of a hormone called "Adiponectin" which is an essential hormone to make your insulin work best. As belly fat goes up the lower this substance becomes and the more insulin resistant you become. So as you lose weight this situation is reversed and your insulin returns to normal function.
You can become active in a gradual process aiming at walking about 10 to 12 thousand steps daily. Refer to "Lifestyle Makeover for Diabetics and Pre-Diabetics" for more details on Lifestyle Makeover tips.
In fact, to visually witness the blood sugar lowering effect of walking, try this at home with your sugar monitor. Take a sugar reading before a 20-minute brisk walking bout and take another reading immediately after. Before your eyes you will witness how your sugar dropped as a result of your muscles taking up the sugar from your blood.
The answer is ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY AND MORE ACTIVITY. Along with balanced food choices you achieve ultimate blood sugar control and reversal of pre-diabetes.
Out of control diabetes and diabetes complications are very deadly but you are in charge and you have the capacity to bring diabetes under control. Consequently you can expect to live with controlled diabetes or reverse it and enjoy a natural lifespan complication free and the best quality of life. Diabetes and pre-diabetes can be totally managed and even reversed but only when you start making balanced and favorable lifestyle choices.
All diabetes control and pre-diabetes related issues and factors are simplified and discussed in detail in my book titled "Lifestyle Makeover for Diabetics and Pre-Diabetics" which is available through www.LifestyleMakeoverEbook.com
For more detailed information on any of these topics log on to: www.LifestyleMakeoverEbook.com and check out these information packed lifesaving book and e-book volumes: LIFESTYLE MAKEOVER FOR DIABETICS AND PRE-DIABETICS and four other e-books: Lifestyle Makeover: Sex, Stress, and Alcohol, Lifestyle Makeover for All Couch Potatoes, Lifestyle Makeover: Defeat High Cholesterol and Blood Pressure, and Lifestyle Makeover for all Tobacco Users. The author of this article is also the author of these volumes
Test your knowledge on these various issues and take a simple True and False quiz by logging on to: www.LifestyleMakeoverEbook.com
Copyright � 2008 by George Tohme All rights reserved. 
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