Health Information

Type 2 Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes

Diabetes is a disorder that affects the way your body uses digested food for growth and energy. Normally, the food you eat is broken down into glucose. The glucose then passes into your bloodstream, where it is used by your cells for growth and energy. For glucose to reach your cells, however, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by your pancreas, a hand-sized gland behind your stomach.

Most people with type 2 diabetes have two problems: the pancreas may not produce enough insulin, and fat, muscle, and liver cells cannot use it effectively. This means that glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body—without fulfilling its role as the body's main source of fuel.

About 20.8 million people in the United States have diabetes. Of those, 14.6 million are diagnosed and 6.2 million are undiagnosed. Ninety to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is the main cause of kidney failure, limb amputation, and new-onset blindness in American adults. People with diabetes are also two to four times more likely than people without diabetes to develop heart disease.

Pre-diabetes, also called impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), is a condition in which your blood glucose (blood sugar) levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Having pre-diabetes puts you at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes. If you have pre-diabetes, you are also at increased risk for developing heart disease.

You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if

• you are overweight
• you are 45 years old or older
• you have a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes
• your family background is African American, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic American/Latino, or Pacific Islander
• you have had gestational diabetes or gave birth to at least one baby weighing more than 9 pounds
• your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher, or you have been told that you have high blood pressure
• your HDL cholesterol is 35 or lower, or your triglyceride level is 250 or higher
• you are fairly inactive, or you exercise fewer than three times a week

Pre-diabetes is becoming more common in the United States, according to new estimates provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. About 40 percent of U.S. adults ages 40 to 74—or 41 million people—had pre-diabetes in 2000. New data suggest that at least 54 million U.S. adults had pre-diabetes in 2002. Those with pre-diabetes are likely to develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years, unless they take steps to prevent or delay diabetes. The results of the Diabetes Prevention Program showed that modest weight loss and regular exercise can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.

taken from NIH website

Help Your Family Eat Well

Here are some ways that you and your family can eat better:

• Eat breakfast every day. Try a whole-grain cereal like raisin bran with fat-free or low-fat milk, or whole-wheat toast spread with jam. Enjoy some fruit with your breakfast too.
• Teach kids that healthy foods taste good. Make macaroni and cheese with fat-free milk and low-fat cheese. Try a peanut butter (spread thin) and jam or preserves sandwich instead of a burger and fries.
• Choose fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese instead of full-fat dairy products.
• Choose whole-grain foods like whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, or whole-wheat pasta more often than refined-grain foods, like white bread, white rice, and white pasta.
• Snack on fruits and vegetables. Keep a bowl of fruit on the table, bags of mini carrots in the refrigerator, and boxes of raisins in the cupboard.
• Do not keep a lot of sweets like cookies, candy, or soda in the house. Too many sweets can crowd out healthier foods.

TIP: If you cannot digest lactose (the sugar found in milk), try fat-free or low-fat lactose-reduced milk. Or try fat-free or low-fat yogurt or hard cheeses like cheddar, which may be easier to digest than milk. You can also get calcium from calcium-fortified juices, soy-based beverages, and cereals. Eating dark leafy vegetables like collard greens and kale, and canned fish with soft bones like salmon, can also help you meet your body’s calcium needs.

Food labels may help you make healthy food choices.* But they can be confusing. Here are some quick tips for reading food labels:

Check serving and calories. All the information on a food label is based on the serving size. Be careful—one serving may be much smaller than you think. If you double the servings you eat, you double the calories and nutrients, including the percent Daily Values (DVs).

Percent DV: This tells you if a food is high or low in nutrients. Foods that have more than 20-percent DV of a nutrient are high. Foods that have 5-percent DV or less are low.

Saturated Fat: Saturated fat is not healthy for your heart. Compare labels on similar foods and try to choose foods that have a 5-percent DV or less for saturated fat. Most of the fats you eat should be polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Keep total fat intake between 20 percent to 35 percent of calories.

Trans Fat: Trans fat is not healthy for your heart. When reading food labels, add together the grams of trans fat and saturated fat, and choose foods with the lowest combined amount.

Cholesterol: Too much cholesterol is not healthy for your heart. Keep your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol as low as possible.

Sodium (Salt): Salt contains sodium. Research shows that eating less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium about (1 teaspoon of salt) per day may reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

TIP: Many food labels say “low fat,” “reduced fat,” or “light.” That does not always mean the food is low in calories. Remember, fat-free does not mean calorie-free, and calories do count!

Fiber: Choose foods that are rich in fiber, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Sugar: Try to choose foods with little or no added sugar (like low-sugar cereals).

Calcium: Choose foods that are high in calcium. Foods that are high in calcium have at least 20-percent DV.

For information about the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, see www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines