While it is known that
diabetes is a disease owing to the depletion or lack of adequate supply of
insulin which is the hormone secreted by the isles of Langerhans (cell clusters
that form the endocrine part of this organ) in the pancreas in the human
system; it is also established by medical research that it is a disease that is
precipitated by the excessive presence of sugar in the blood stream. Hence once
your blood sugar indicates a high level than that which is normal, it is
assumed that such a one has every reason to be concerned.
As such, every effort has to
be made to ensure the balancing of the said blood sugar level, that is, it must
be returned to normalcy. Because diabetes has been known, or sometimes referred
to as a disease of the blood sugar which is actually glucose in the blood
stream, some people tend to easily think that it has to do with just the
excessive consumption of sugar and, or sweet drinks such as soft drinks
(minerals and malted drinks).
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Are you living on the fast lane? |
Some people also want to
allude to the fact that anything sweet including fruits, are among the culprits
or causative agents in this disease. In as much as the excessive consumption of
sugar and sweet drinks particularly is not totally healthy, it is rather a myth
to think that sweet fruits are also responsible for anyone contracting diabetes.
As a result of this misconception, a lot of people in this country have
continued therefore to delude themselves with the notion that it is only logical
that the a diseased condition of diabetes can be tackled or even reversed
simply by the consumption of bitter herbs and all sort of bitter concoctions
brewed by the ever rising horde of itinerant herbal medicine dealers around
town.
But the bad news is that,
however how logical this belief and practice may seem, it is not entirely true.
The fact nevertheless is that it is not necessarily about the consumption of
sweet foods and drinks per se, but rather it has to do with the fact that as I
have stated in previous writing, we have allowed ourselves to be misdirected
towards the over consumption of processed foods due to the fast pace of modern
society and its attendant life style. Modern civilization and our ever changing
life style have brought along with it the convention of processed foods,
refined sugars, food packaging and all manner of preservation and storage. All
of this practice readily beckons on diabetes, a modern day disease – perhaps
the penalty modern society is paying for driving on the fast lane.
Most of these foods and
drinks are rather unhealthy and do not encourage the system in its natural
ability to produce insulin which has the function of regulating storage of
glycogen in the liver and the acceleration of the oxidation process of sugar in
cells. These foods will rather deplete the insulin level in the blood thereby
resulting in diabetes. While blood sugar or glucose is an important source of
physiological energy by its normal presence and function, the problem is in its
over-secretion due to the presence of ‘unwholesome’ diet in the system.
By
Morgan Nwanguma
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