Diabetes

What is diabetes?

In simpler terms, Diabetes is when your body has trouble using the energy from the food you eat.

But I don't eat that much sugar?

Normally, when you eat something, your body breaks it down into a kind of sugar called glucose.

Tell me more about glucose

Glucose is like fuel for your cells, which are the tiny building blocks of your body.

How does the body use glucose?

To use glucose, your cells need a ‘key’ called insulin.

What is insulin?

Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas.

Hormones are a special chemical that helps your body do differen

Type 1 diabetes

Some people have diabetes because their pancreas does not make enough insulin, or any insulin at all. This is called type 1 diabetes.

Without insulin, the glucose stays in your blood and cannot get into your cells.

This makes your blood sugar level too high, which can make you feel sick

People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to help their cells use glucose.

Type 2 diabetes

Other people have diabetes because their cells do not respond well to insulin.

This is called type 2 diabetes.

Even though their pancreas makes insulin, their cells do not use it properly.

This also makes their blood sugar level too high, which can make them feel sick.

People with type 2 diabetes can help control their diabetes through lifestyle changes but sometimes if they can’t manage that, they may need to take medicine or insulin to help their cells use glucose.

What happens if I eat too much sugar or carbohydrates?

If you have too much sugar that the body can’t use, not only does it get stored into fat causing weight gain, complex processes affect different organs over time.

This includes, your kidneys, your eyes, your heart, your blood vessels, your brain, nerves and skin as well as affecting joints and teeth

Getting on top of your diabetes

Having diabetes means you have to take a bit more care of your health than other people.

We would recommend:

1. eating healthy and balanced meals
2. making good portion control (again, going back to balanced, as too much of even good things can sometimes be bad)
3. exercise and staying as active as you can manage
4. take your medicine or insulin if prescribed.
5. Take the opportunity to visit your doctor or diabetic specialist nurse regularly to make sure your diabetes is under control.
6. In certain cases, like for type 1, check your sugars regularly