The Rising Concerns of Diabetes in India, what it means?
Reasons, Precautions, and More.
India’s current population as of October 12th, 2021, is 1,397,309,368, making it the second most populated country around the world after China, but India is also the second most affected country by Diabetes.
Around 77 million people of India is affected by the sugary disease of Diabetes. The International Diabetes Federation had estimated that approximately 72.9 million adults in India were living with Diabetes in 2017. It also warned that by 2045 the numbers are projected to grow to 134 million.Â
Who recommends 10% of your energy intake or nearly 25g (5 spoons) a day?
WHAT IT MEANS?
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose rises higher than average. Blood glucose also called blood sugar, is our primary source of energy. Insulin is a hormone made by the organ pancreas that helps the glucose from the food we take to get into our cells and produce energy.
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune condition that results in reduced or no production of Insulin Hormones created by the pancreas.
Prediabetes is pre-Type 2 Diabetes where the blood sugar is high.
Type 2 Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or resists the production of Insulin Hormone.
Gestational Diabetes affects pregnant women.
Most of this increase is in cases of Type 2 diabetes are affected by-
- Genes
- Environment
- Lifestyle
We cannot change our genes, and sometimes changing the environment is not possible individually. Still, we can control our diet and lifestyle to lead a healthy life without a long list of hospital bills.
DIABETES AFFECT ON COVID-19 RECOVERY
Reasons of DiabetesÂ
Urban cities are found to be the more affected area by Diabetes. The rapidly growing trend of western lifestyle has been slowly poisoning Indians Health with western foods high in refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and trans fats. Changing to an easy and lazy lifestyle and work culture has also led to fewer physical activities, more screen time, increased sitting time, and more dependability in fast foods.
Lack of education regarding healthy lifestyle and the actual truth behind the marketed “healthy products”, increased consumption of processed meats, low consumption of fresh fruits, nuts, whole grains, and green vegetables, less exercise, more sitting and screen time, tobacco use, alcohol use, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, Increasing obesity.
People of Asian lineage may have more visceral fat (abdominal fat) around their organs, increasing the risk of Diabetes.
The rise in the middle-class population can also be the reason for the growing rate of Diabetes in India, the stress of overpopulation, high pollutions, the pressure of coping with high costs and low income, and the inability to avail better education of health or education and health, in general, have been burdening the average earners a lot.
Sugar is everywhere in a desi family. It has dissolved its existence every day, every moment of our lives. India is also being called the sugar capital by many countries.
Marketing of not-so-healthy food products in the Indian Media as a “Healthy supplement” that usually lacks in nutrients and have a high percentage of sugar in them lures little kids into buying more unhealthy foods—making them addictive to the dopamine rush of the white sugar that is although less costly but are becoming as harmful as drugs.
With the support of the politicians by the big companies, the production of sugar in India is over than its need, which is now trying to make the consumption of white sugar in the Indian market more for-profit instead of reducing the misinformation in the food and beverage industries.
Dr Ramachandran highlighted the very high cost of treating diabetes “In the future the costs will soar, and we will not be able to afford them“.
He is a member of the diabetes Atlas committee. He had further instated that “Once diabetes is diagnosed, currently there is only fragments care especially because our health delivery system is modelled for acute care rather than for chronic care.“
He also advised the people with pre-diabetic symptoms to improve their diet and reduce the intake of any kind of sugar, to get better.
Eat fresh, Exercise, Choose your products wisely, Live healthy.
Preventions, Precautions, and More
Read labels, rely on your intelligence rather than on the credibility of the heavily marketed products. Products like- energy bars, packed yoghurt, packed milk products, calories bar, tomato ketchup, biscuits, buns, cakes, frosted corn flakes, ice creams, wine, ready meals, chutneys, crisps, marinades, salad creams, and ready-made foods are generally consisting of more sugar percentage than their claims to be healthy or rich in nutrients.
Packed foods/ Junk foods/ Restaurant foods consist high amount of sugar to make them addictive and unhealthy to take regularly. Always read the labels and ingredients of your product.
Sugar comes in many disguises on food labels-
- Corn sugar
- Maple syrup
- Agave syrup
- Fructose
- glucose
- High-fructose glucose syrup
- Invert sugar
- Iso glucose
- Dextrose
- Levulose
- Honey
- Maltos
- Sucrose
- Molasses
Healthy habits to include in your routine–
- Yoga
- Herbal tea (unpacked)
- Exercise
- Stress management
- No skipping meals
- Small portions of food, frequently
- Diabetes screening and education
- Early diagnosis and treatment
- Blood glucose control
- Cholesterol and blood pressure control
- Foot and eye care for people with Diabetes
- Maintain healthy body weight
- Screening for kidney problems and other diabetes-related conditions.
Foods to add to your diet-
- Whole wheat
- Fruits (most)
- Sweet potatoes
- Oatmeal
- Nuts (most)
- Legumes (peas, lentils, beans)
- Garlic
- Coldwater fish
- Plain yoghurt (no added sugar)
Diabetes is a severe disease that harms several organs like- eyes, kidneys, feet, heart, and nerves. Taking care of your body and mind in time can help you save a lot of money from the medical bill and years of your life.
