It’s a common joke that just looking at a sugary dessert can give you diabetes, especially if you’re overweight or obese. But what really causes diabetes, and what’s the link to obesity? Is it possible to reverse the effects of diabetes by losing weight?
At Advantage Spinal Dynamics & Innovative Medicine in Meridian, Idaho, our experienced medical practitioners offer personalized weight loss plans to help you reduce insulin resistance and manage your diabetes more easily than before.
It’s a common misconception that being overweight or obese causes diabetes; if true, all obese people would have Type 2 diabetes, which isn’t the case. However, being obese makes you six times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than if you’re not obese.
Other factors that increase your risk of diabetes include:
Having additional factors that increase your risk of being overweight or obese also increases your risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The more obese you are, for example, the more insulin resistant your cells are likely to be, keeping insulin from doing its job and your blood sugar higher for longer periods of time.
That, of course, has a boomerang effect. If you have diabetes and insulin resistance, it can be extra hard to lose weight, and easy to gain. Food cravings can make it hard to maintain a diet, and movement can feel impossible when extra weight impacts how your body functions.
Obesity has been linked to 30%-53% of new cases of diabetes. Those figures are alarming, especially because by 2030, almost half of Americans will be obese, nearly 1 in 4 severely.
If you’re overweight and prediabetic, or even obese with full Type 2 diabetes, you can turn things around. Studies show that weight loss equal to even just 5% to 10% of your body weight can improve insulin action and even reduce the need for some diabetes medications.
Weight loss isn’t easy, however. Only 1 in 5 individuals is successful at long-term weight loss. You need help and accountability to take the weight off and keep it off.
At Advantage Spinal Dynamics, you have the advantage of a dedicated team working with you to help you reduce your weight (and improve your blood sugar levels.) To learn more, schedule a consultation today by calling 208-213-7963, or request an appointment online.
