DIABETES IN CHECK

We all know prevention is better than cure, so take action to foil Type 2 Diabetes.

Consider these facts: more than 60 per cent of us are either overweight or obese, and one in four has type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes. For every person diagnosed with diabetes there's someone who has it but for whom the bell has yet to toll - and this is all due to spreading waistlines.

Diet dangers
Few of us have never considered dieting. Admittedly, blokes are more inclined to buy a bigger shirt, whereas most women will tackle the battle of the bulge by trying the latest diet.

The sad thing is it often results in a dangerous yo-yo swing - losing weight but getting bored with the new fad and regaining lost kilos.

This dietary roller-coaster ride is physiologically dangerous because the sensitive pathways that control and maintain our body's furnace get thrust into a chaotic overdrive.

Glucose overload
Diabetes happens when the ability of insulin (from the pancreas) to control the entry of glucose into cells is overwhelmed - 'insulin resistance'.
The result is too much glucose in the bloodstream, changing it from a life-sustaining food to a true villain.

'When diabetes results as a response to this insulin insensitivity, it causes a marked increase in the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and an early death,' explains Jennie Brand-Miller, professor of human nutrition at The University of Sydney.

Her 'The New Glucose Revolution Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes Handbook' discusses the Glycaemic Index, or GI. It shows how healthy carbohydrates, slowly digested, allow steady release of glucose into the bloodstream.

The book is a simple five-step plan to manage or prevent diabetes. Even people with type 1 diabetes, where obesity is not an issue, and pregnant women with gestational diabetes, will benefit from the new handbook.

RISK FACTORS FOR DIABETES

• Being a couch potato and leading a sedentary life.

• Being overweight, especially when it's around your waist, and if your shape resembles an apple, not a pear.

• Snoring and sleep apnoea - there's increasing evidence that breathing stops while you snore - as this could be a major indicator of diabetes and pre-diabetes.
  

• Having high blood pressure and high blood fats.

• Having a low HDL or 'good cholesterol' level.

• Smoking

INSTANT FOOD UPGRADES

To trim that bulge, lose weight, and feel full, you don't have to chuck out the cookbooks you've been collecting over the years.
'Many recipes can be modified. Sure, you may have a few flops but it's worth a go,' Jennie says.

The trick is to cut down fat in general but also to replace heart-unhealthy saturated fats with healthy mono fats such as olive oil. 'Substituting full-fat milk with low-fat is good, or low-fat cheese where you used full-fat,' she adds.

• Lower the carbs' GI

Washed, boiled small potatoes improves GI, and replace white bread with sourdough bread - the acid slows the flow of glucose.

• Increase fibre

Instead of plain flour, switch to wholemeal, or add vegies to casseroles, soups and sauces.

• Cut down salt

Make reading labels routine, not only to keep salt levels down!

THE NUMBERS

You don't have to be a food scientist to be healthy. Simply choose foods that keep within the following boundaries of fat, sugar and salt, and you're well on your way to good health and a trim waistline.