Type 2 Diabetes - Learning How Obesity Affects Your Body's Response To Insulin

Obesity is an important risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. Medical science is learning how obesity affects our body's response to insulin. This will give us clues as to how to prevent or even cure Type 2 diabetes, in which the body becomes insensitive to insulin.

Scientists at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, compared blood vessels that feed the muscles in obese and normal weight women. Normally blood vessels in our muscles dilate to allow more blood to enter them when insulin levels rise. Insulin levels rise when blood sugar levels increase, and the sugar is needed to give the muscles energy. Dilated arteries, of course, allow more blood to feed the muscle more sugar for energy.

The researchers work, reported on in the journal Diabetologia in May 2015, included 15 lean and 18 obese women between the ages of 18 and 55. Muscle biopsies showed vessels and the fat surrounding them...

obese women were found to have poorer blood vessel response to insulin and their muscle cells were less sensitive to insulin.
fat cells were larger in obese women than in lean individuals.
When fat taken from arteries was added to skeletal muscle arteries, the blood vessels contracted in the presence of fat cells from obese women and expanded in the presence of fat cells from lean women.

The above results have led to the conclusion the size of fat cells is partly responsible for how blood vessels react to insulin.

The study illustrates, at least to some extent, why maintaining normal weight is helpful for preventing and controlling Type 2 diabetes. We've all heard to empty our fat cells we need to eat less and exercise more. It would be more accurate to say we need to take in fewer calories and exercise more.

Some foods are a lot more calorie-dense than others. Fortunately the ones with the most nutrients usually also have the most bulk, to fill you up, not out. When you want something sweet reach for the fruits instead of the high sugar, high fat, high calorie processed foods...

a cup of blueberries contains about 84 calories.
a cup of canned blueberry pie filling has 474 calories.
Raw blueberries have a glycemic load of 6, compared to 57 in the pie filling. Glycemic load refers to how much the food will make blood sugar rise. A good target is 100 per day. Eat the right foods in healthy portions and help keep your fat cells small and your risk of Type 2 diabetes low.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

By Beverleigh H Piepers

Type 2 Diabetes - Learning How Obesity Affects Your Body's Response To Insulin 2015-06-13T20:18:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Admin