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How
Can Obesity Cause Diabetes Mellitus? 2 Reasons
Diabetes
Mellitus more commonly known as diabetes is a worldwide disease
which is growing at an alarming rate. Many people around the word
are affected by this disease regardless of gender, culture and
race. Diabetes Mellitus is not curable but patients can be treated
with proper medication and researchers are trying to find a connection
between obesity and diabetes. The simple reason is because lots
of obese people develop this disease at some point in their lives.
Before
digging deeper into this article, it's important to understand
what is diabetes and its causes. Diabetes is a metabolic disease
which is triggered by the following:
 (1)
Your pancreas does not produce and secrete enough insulin. Insulin
is a protein hormone which regulates stable blood glucose/sugar
levels by allowing your cells to make use of that sugar as a
major source of energy. When insulin deficiency occurs, you're
at risk of getting high levels of blood sugar known as hyperglycemia
and diabetes type 1 thereafter. Two common treatments for diabetes
type 1 include wearing an insulin pump or injecting insulin.
(2)
Your cells become insensitive to insulin making it difficult
for the glucose to be used up as energy. This is commonly known
as insulin resistance which is a precursor to diabetes type
2.
Here
are 2 primary reasons why obese people are more at risk at developing
diabetes:
(1)
Obese people usually eat a lot of junk foods which contain mostly
empty calories, meaning foods with low nutritional value like
simple carbs, foods made with white flour, calorie-laden snacks,
cakes, donuts, pizza, pastries, fast foods, potato chips, soft
drinks, sugary drinks and foods which are high in salt, sugar
or fats. They are also known to overindulge in foods and consequently,
overeating is the outcome. This kind of eating pattern increases
the likelihood of storing excess calories as fat notably in
the belly area. According to research, abdominal fat results
in a decrease in insulin production and secretion and as you
have already read earlier, insulin deficiency results in higher
levels of blood sugar resulting in diabetes type 1.
(2)
Fat cells contain a hormone called resistin and this hormone
makes your cells insensitive to insulin. As you already know,
this condition is known as insulin resistance and it prevents
glucose to be converted to energy effectively resulting in abnormally
high levels of glucose in your bloodstream making you prone
to developing diabetes type 2.
Excessive belly fat is nefarious for health and can trigger
diabetes as well as heart diseases, high blood pressure, macular
degeneration, arthritis and certain types of cancers, so you
better start paying more attention to regular exercising and
proper eating. It's important to note that diabetes can also
be a hereditary issue, for instance if in your family many people
have diabetes, your chances in getting diabetes is higher.
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