Diabetes Epidemic because of self-inflicted Obesity
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One of the greatest contributors to the type 2 diabetes epidemic is reckoned to be obesity brought on by our modern lifestyles.
Are you eating yourself into diabetes type 2?
Check if you have these 4 eating habits that could contribute to obesity and possibly make you part of the type 2 diabetes epidemic...
1) Unconscious eating... No, I dont mean sleep-eating (I wonder if there is such a thing?) Im talking about automatic eating without any conscious thought to what is happening.
How often do you do something else whilst eating? Watching TV; reading a book; reading a magazine or newspaper; listening to music, a radio show or conversation? If youre anything like me its probably a rare occasion when you just sit and have a meal, without interruptions.
A recent study carried out by Penn State laboratory showed pre-school children, who consistently watch TV whilst eating, ate up to 33% more than they did when they had a meal without the TV on.
How much extra do you eat, without realizing it, because you are absorbed in a book or TV program?
2) Eating speed.. Ever finished your meal before others? Ever bolted your food down and then felt bloated afterwards?
In a recent Sky TV program Paul McKenna (the famous hypnotherapist) explained how the simple act of slowing down whilst eating; putting your knife and fork down between mouthfuls, can contribute to weight loss.
Think about it, if youre eating more slowly youll know when you are full. You wont continue eating and get that uncomfortable bloated feeling. And you wont put extra weight on.
Watching that program gave me an Aha! moment, because thats exactly what my father has done all his life. Its a standing joke in the family that he takes so long to eat a meal - he often finishes half-an-hour after everyone else. And guess what? Yep - hes as skinny as a rake. Wish I could say the same about me!
3) Snacking... Are you really hungry when you snack? Or is it that you just fancy a bite to eat?
Snacking is probably one of the biggest contributions to weight gain. Its not so much the snacking, its what you snack on! Cookies /biscuits, chocolate, cakes, snack bars - all these contain massive amounts of sugar that increase the burden on our immune system. If you overload your system with sugar it may not cope, you could end up with insulin resistance and that leads to type 2 diabetes.
Healthy, no added sugar or sugar free snacks are the best options if you MUST snack.
4) Sugary drinks... Do you have a favorite soft drink? If you do, is it a sugar-sweetened drink or a concentrated sugar-rich fruit juice? And, on a hot day, how much do you drink of that favorite? Half-a-liter? One liter?
Its all added sugar, which not only impacts on your weight, it also impacts on your bodys control of the sugar levels in your blood.
In a recent medical study in the US the results indicated that having just one sugar sweetened drink of fruit juice every day made women more susceptible to becoming part of the type 2 diabetes epidemic, by up to 80%.
So, are you planning to be part of the diabetes epidemic? OK, maybe youre not PLANNING to... but maybe your unconscious eating habits have got you on that slippery slope to diabetes. A little thought about what you eat, where and how, can reduce the risk for you.
