Even though the U.S. is known as the "land of plenty," this abundance has come with a high cost to our health. A combination of processed foods, lack of exercise and environmental toxins has led to a population that is overweight yet undernourished. According to the CDC, approximately 70% of the U.S. population is overweight.  Being overweight is responsible for 90% of the diabetes cases in men, and 70-80% of the cases in women.

It appears that excess weight leads to insulin resistance, a condition that negatively impacts the cells' ability to control the levels of sugar in the blood. Scientists believe that extra fat cells cause increased inflammation in the body as they secrete their own hormones and chemicals, resulting in a dangerous rise in blood sugar levels. These elevated blood sugar levels increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetic neuropathy, limb amputations, and diabetic retinopathy leading to blindness.

Type 2 Diabetes now affects approximately 26 million Americans, and comes with an estimated price tag of $245 billion in our country alone. This disease is increasingly affecting the young, probably due to the fact that, according to the American Pediatric Society, childhood obesity has tripled since the 1990s.

The good news is that many health problems can be avoided or corrected when good diet and lifestyle factors are incorporated into our everyday lives.  For someone with Type 2 diabetes, the first priority should be losing excessive weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle that will maintain a proper weight and control blood sugar levels.  A low-carbohydrate diet (20-60 grams/day) is most effective for weight loss when it consists of lean protein, vegetables, and limited healthy grains and fruit as advised by a physician. A good exercise program is also important. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), a vigorous exercise that alternates high-intensity aerobic moves with low-intensity recovery periods, has been shown to be beneficial to diabetics seeking to lose weight, improve insulin sensitivity, and decrease inflammation in the body. These improvements reduce the risk for the other devastating health complications of diabetes, giving patients hope for a healthier life.

Dr. Brian Walsh practices at CARE Chiropractic & Wellness Center. The physicians at CARE Chiropractic & Wellness Center use Nutrition Response Testing^SM, a non-invasive system of analyzing the body that goes beyond treating symptoms and instead identifies the underlying causes of health issues.  Food sensitivities, environmental toxins, immune system weakness, and/or metabolic imbalances may also be contributing factors in those with diabetes.  (In cases where weight loss is difficult, additional measures such as heavy metal and chemical detoxification may be used to restore the body's fat burning mechanisms.)  Once these factors are identified, a nutrition program including diet and lifestyle changes as well as nutritional supplements is designed for the individual to aid the body to heal itself.

Call CARE at 321-728-1387 to schedule a Nutrition Health Analysis to see how they can help you prevent or reverse diabetes naturally.  (To find a Nutrition Response Testing^SM practitioner near you, go to http://unsinc.info/locate-clinician.html.)

CARE Chiropractic & Wellness Center, is located at 1938 Dairy Road in West Melbourne, FL; Visit CareWellnessFL.com for more information.