Diabetes, a disease characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood, has been spreading across the globe at an alarming rate. At the same time, easily accessible and affordable foods that are high in calories and low in fiber and nutrition have become widely available. The rise in the rates of diabetes is too fast to be explained by genetics, but easily fits with poor health choices in the recent generations.

In a healthy person, the body keeps the sugar level in the blood within a certain range, but in diabetes this mechanism gets messed up. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, causes the cells of the body to bring sugar inside them, and thus the sugar level in the blood goes down. Insulin is like the key to unlock the door so that sugar can go in. In Type 2 diabetes, the cells are resistant to the insulin, so it takes more insulin to cause the same amount of sugar to go into the cells. This makes the pancreas work harder, and eventually the pancreas cannot keep up with the demand, and blood sugar levels go up.

When you develop diabetes, you may experience increased thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, fatigue, blurry vision, poor wound healing, burning in your feet and legs, and a host of other symptoms. Diabetes leads to heart attack and stroke, kidney failure, amputation, blindness, impotence, non-healing wounds, abdominal cramping, and many other complications.

You are at increased risk of developing diabetes if you are overweight or obese, if you don’t exercise, if you have a family history of diabetes, if you are older, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high triglycerides, if you eat dairy products and flesh foods, if you smoke, drink alcohol, eat fast food, drink soft drinks, or eat high fatty or high calorie, low-fiber foods.

Your doctor, local health clinic, or hospital should be able to diagnose if you have diabetes, so seek medical attention if you are experiencing these symptoms. It is also recommended that you test for diabetes every 3 years if you are healthy.

God bless you abundantly as you learn to live God’s WELLNESS way.