Insulin is a storage hormone that drives sugar into the cells to be utilized or stored as fat. If our blood sugar rises, the pancreas are forced to produce more insulin in order to. Approximately 16 million Americans are the victim of this disease and about half of them don't even know that they are diabetic.
Our body wants to control our blood sugar, but when our body becomes less sensitive to its own insulin, it compensates by making more insulin. Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in our industrialized society. This type of diabetes is caused by insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is responsible for 90% of the cases. One-third of all new cases of kidney disease are caused by diabetes.
Apart from the disease itself, the side effects are also threatening. Insulin resistance or Syndrome X is caused by our modern life style. As much as 80% of diabetics will die from cardiovascular disease and diabetes is the leading cause of amputations and blindness in the elderly. Far to many people eat a high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet and as a result, many have become less sensitive to their own insulin.
Type 1 diabetes usually effects children and is caused by an attack of the immune system, which makes them insulin poor. |