Learn more about diabetes and how Chiropractic therapy can prevent you from developing this health condition.
Chances are you have heard about the dramatic rise in diabetes in the United States but did you know that eighteen states saw a 100 percent increase (or higher) in diabetes diagnoses between 1995 and 2010?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that unless drastic changes take place, it is likely that 1 in 3 U.S. adults will have diabetes by the year 2050.
The Chiropractors at AICA Snellville treat hundreds of patients with type 2 diabetes and can create a custom treatment program that works best for you.
Snellville Chiropractic and Diabetes
There are several different types of diabetes.
Let’s start with type 1 and type 2.
Type 1 Diabetes
Around 1.25 million children and adults in the United States have type 1 diabetes.
In this form, the pancreas produces insufficient or no insulin, causing the diabetic patient to be reliant on daily, lifelong insulin therapy.
Type 2 Diabetes
This is the most common form, affecting approximately 29 million Americans.
Type 2 occurs when your body doesn’t produce enough insulin for a healthy glucose level or is resistant to the effects of insulin.
Both of these types of diabetes commonly cause symptoms such as extreme thirst and hunger and frequent urination. Diabetes can cause long-term damage to the body, increase the risk of heart disease and stroke and can affect the skin, eyes, nerves, digestive system and kidneys.
Prediabetes & Gestational Diabetes
Two other forms of diabetes, prediabetes, and gestational diabetes, are potentially reversible—which is good news considering that 86 million Americans have prediabetes, a condition where your glucose levels are high, but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis.
Nearly all type 2 diabetics are prediabetic first. In this stage, prompt treatment can result in normal blood glucose levels and prevent advancement to type 2.
Gestational diabetes (GDM) occurs in 18% of pregnancies due to the body’s inability to make the required amount of insulin.
Typically, GDM goes away after the mother delivers her baby, but some women do go on to develop type 2 diabetes at a later time.
Managing Diabetes
When managing diabetes, the goal is to curtail any elevation of blood sugar without causing aberrantly low levels of blood sugar.
Type 1 diabetes is typically treated with a diabetic diet, exercise, and insulin. Type 2 diabetes is first treated with weight loss, exercise, and a diabetic diet, but if these measures fail to control the elevated glucose levels, medical doctors will prescribe oral medications.
If all else fails, the patient will need to begin insulin therapy.
Managing Diabetes With Regular Chiropractic Treatment
We recommend that diabetic patients receive regular Chiropractic Adjustments so that the nervous systems communicate efficiently and effectively with the organ responsible for insulin production, the pancreas.
Lifestyle Changes
Construct a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, a diet comprised mainly of organic meats and fish and raw vegetables, and most importantly, reducing the intake of processed sugar, grains, and dairy.
Research has demonstrated that increasing your vitamin D consumption, boosting your magnesium intake and limiting your fruits can help decrease your risks. Egg yolks and fatty fish are great dietary sources of vitamin D. To increase your magnesium levels, include foods like spinach, kidney, and black beans, quinoa, and lentils.
For low sugar fruits, stick to berries like cranberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Avoid fruits with very high sugar levels like bananas, cherries, grapes, mangoes and tangerines.
Healthy lifestyle changes are absolutely essential for diabetes prevention—or to help pull your body into remission.
Research has also shown that many type 2 diabetics have been able to eliminate insulin treatment due to positive lifestyle changes.