Do we really want people believing that they are obese because they have type 2 diabetes?
I thought it was one of the main risk factors, not a symptom?
It can be both a risk factor and a symptom, dependent on the individual. I think we can agree though, losing weight is both a prevention and a treatment for diabetes.
ftfy. Type 1's are rarely overweight and, ironically, only tend to be if their blood sugars are under control.
Obesity <-> Insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes are totally interconnected by genetics.
Having experienced a mental illness which led to taking medications which greatly impacted appetite, and seeing the genetic factors.... as well as working with people with conditions such as 'Prader Willi' syndrome, which causes constant appetite.... I understand in a really practical way how medications and hormones can make you hungry (or not)....
Although there is no doubt that the 'solution' to Obesity includes healthy food choices and plenty of exercise..... hormones, lethargy, blood sugar, sleep disorder, mental illness, genetic variations, nutritional deficiencies, appetite, smoking, alcohol, caffeine, all impact weight loss and weight gain.
To see 'obesity' as somehow a 'lifestyle choice' is far too simplistic.
I eat when I am tired.... I overeat when I am lethargic....I get lethargic from chronically low iron, which is most likely (after extensive medical investigation) caused by a genetic variation which prevents by body from storing iron well. When my iron levels are low, I put on weight and feel even worse. When I have iron infusions (straight into my blood stream) I recover, get more energy, need less sleep, eat less, and lose weight.
I believe that when we are low in specific nutrients, we eat more to try to get those nutrients, but something I have observed amongst the family members who struggle with Obesity in our family is that they are *all* quite fussy eaters. I wonder if their limited/lack of variation in diet = eating more because they are lacking in specific nutrients, or simply stuck on eating large amounts of familiar (and usually unhealthy) foods....
From the science I have been reading lately:
- eating in a 'window' (10 hours no food, 14 hours with regular small meals) does work to overall cut dietary intake, and is not so difficult to follow, and it avoids late night snacking when you are tired.
- HIIT (High Impact Interval training) is quite effective
- Insulin levels will always be more even when you get exercise. Somehow, movement and exercise (does not need to be intense) helps the body to move the sugar where it is needed (from the blood stream to the muscles and organs) rather than leaving you with high sugar in your blood stream for a prolonged period of time.
- Excess blood sugar and insulin in the blood stream triggers the body to store the sugar as fat. That is why poorly controlled diabetes does lead to even more weight gain....
I am also the mother of a Type 1 diabetic. One thing we have tracked over many years is how even just a small amount of exercise (going for a short walk to the local shop) in the morning, sets him up for a much smoother blood sugar throughout the day.... I cannot recommend it enough - get moving - some people recommend walking before eating in the morning.... you need to ignore the hunger cravings and really absorb the idea that your body has plenty of stored energy as fat, and can use these energy reserves instead. Some people love to eat breakfast, some do not.... but it can't hurt to go for a short walk when you first wake up.... or do some stretches or dance and sing in the shower! and then eat breakfast after that....
My point is that if you are insulin resistant (aka T2 diabetic/prediabetic), you should focus on lowering your bodyâs excess insulin over losing weight, which should follow automatically.
The problem is there is so much inadequate advice around weight loss. Take the oft-quoted suggestion to âjump on a treadmill, eat a saladâ. Exercise and eating greens are good things, but that ainât gonna cure your insulin resistance by itself. And quite likely youâll end up starving and miserable, and crawl into a bucket of Haagen Dazs.
Also obviously by âweight lossâ we mean fat loss. Gains in muscle are very much a positive.
Of course not. But ask any diabetologist, and she/he will tell you about many patients, often teenagers and young people, who refuse to take their insulin because they know that it will pile on the weight. And become sicker and sicker and develop massive other health issues, and at times die.
This even more so for those with associated thyroid impairment. The guilt related to Type 2 is also huge.
Just seen this on the Beeb website.
Yes. But the problem is most likely that most (if not all) people in these studies will resort back to their old, âdeadlyâ lifestyle once they are âcuredâ.
Changing your lifestyle is incredibly hard - and it gets harder the older you get.
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I agree with people going back to their deadly lifestyles, my sister in law is one of them. Very overweight Type 2, she developed it after she went back to her old lifestyle after surgery for colon cancer. Her standard routine is watching TV all day. She doesnât keep her blood sugar levels in check and is constantly being warned by her GP.
She developed a cyst on her appendix and they said they couldnât operate unless her blood sugar stablised. They then decided it had to be done as an emergency case as if the cyst burst she could die. Day after surgery she went into a massive diabetic coma late at night, my brother was summoned to the hospital as they didnât think she would live. Thankfully she did but was in intensive care for weeks with tubes everywhere. She hasnât learned from it, sheâs back to eating things she shouldnât be consuming and her doctors are practically giving up on her.
I canât believe anyone who has had a brush with death twice wouldnât turn themselves around. I had my own one 18 years ago, looked over the precipice and decided I didnât like what was beyond it.
May be she is depressed and doesnât want to live anyway, sitting all day watching tv and eating are the only happy things in her life, in the end healthy or not you have one outcome, no need to try to understand what people do in between.
Try and see if her doctors will prescribe a FreeStyleLibre Continuous Glucose Monitor. Normally they wonât for T2 but they might given her experience. Her A1c is likely over 15 (triple normal).
Somehow people deal with T2 better if they can see the Blood Glucose levels 24/7 and they can see the effect of each meal or snack.
Iâm not a psychologist but I believe the only way to get out of a depression without antidepressants is exercise.
If TV and junkfood are her highs, something has to take that place. A continuous glucose monitor ainât that, Iâm afraidâŚ
In order to fundamentally change, the partner needs to be in, too. A situation where either is healthy while the other is obese is rare, so that will often mean that both need to change simultaneously. Unless both spouses lift each other up thatâs nigh impossible.
My brother is rake thin and walks a lot, he is also Type 2 but has it under control and has been off Metformin for more than 2 years now. They are both 74. In my sister in lawâs case, itâs nothing to do with depression, she is a very lazy person, has been since her 20s. They donât have children (her choice, she got sterilised when she was 30) and she thought after marriage she wouldnât need to work again but she had to get a job in the mid 80s 10 years later as my brother couldnât cover rent and bills from one salary. She hates him for this as she never wanted a job, but would never leave as heâs her meal ticket and my highly strung brother is a doormat so puts up with it. Sad to say but sheâs not a nice person, is the architect of her own health downfall, was horrible to my late parents but her behaviour has been tolerated by the rest of us for the last 50 years for the sake of our brother. She also used me as an alibi when she was having an affair with a colleague in her 30s and this caused a massive fallout between me and my brother.
Her doctors tell her to test her sugar levels every day and she has a monitor for this but chooses to ignore the advice as she thinks the meds sheâs on are her salvation and she can eat anything with them. TBH I donât understand her level of behaviour, none of the family do. Her latest thing is being horrible about her 90 year old mother because she has Alzheimers.