THE COST OF DIABETES
Did you know that of the
total #medicalexpenses paid for by diabetics, more than half of the costs were for diabetes? "
Average medical expenditures for people with diagnosed diabetes were about $13,700 per year. About $7,900 of this amount was attributed to diabetes."
Diabetes was listed in 2015 as the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. As of 2017, that cost had doubled. "Care for a person with diabetes now costs an average of $16,752 per year. As in prior reports, the 2017 analysis also documents substantial indirect costs related to lost productivity due to diabetes and its complications." Doesn't it then make more sense to control diabetes and not the costs? Controlling diabetes with more medicine or improved care only raises costs. Controlling diabetes at the root cause reduces the need for medicine.
What is the root cause of diabetes? To understand this one must understand the bodily process involved.
"Diabetes is a disease caused by excess insulin, not excess blood sugar. In other words, high blood sugar is a symptom, but not the root cause. Insulin is the hormone responsible for reducing blood sugar. In order for insulin to work, our tissues have to be sensitive to its action; otherwise, tissues become resistant and insulin struggles to clear out sugar from the blood. As insulin resistance sets in, the first organ to stop responding to insulin is the liver, followed by the muscles and eventually fat. How does insulin resistance begin? The root of the problem is our diet."
If the root cause of diabetes is our diet, then wouldn't it be logical to reduce if not eliminate diabetes by altering our diet? Reducing the causes of increased blood sugars would then reduce the body's production of insulin.
What causes the body to produce insulin?
"After eating #carbohydrates, the carbs break down into #sugar, trigger the pancreas to produce #insulin and are then stored in the liver and muscles. However, there is a limit to the amount of sugar the liver and muscles can store. The easiest way to understand this is to think of your liver and muscles as small closets without much storage space. If sugar keeps coming in, the closet will quickly fill up."
"Carbohydrates are a primary source of food your body uses for energy. These include simple carbohydrates (such as honey, table sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup), as well as complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs include starches (such as bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes) and dietary fiber (found in fruits and vegetables, nuts, and whole grains)."
In addition to the complex carbohydrates, it's also important to reduce the products they came from, wheat and grains. They cause what is called #wheatbelly. Also, they clog the body's system for digesting food, creating that inner-tube effect. Ironically, carbs are known as seduction foods creating craving and hunger feelings.
The End Result!
What have we seen here? Reducing cravings reduces the dependency on insulin-producing foods. If there is no need for these foods, the body doesn't need to work so hard producing insulin. If the body doesn't need to produce so much insulin, there would be less need for diabetic medication. The end result then would be a reduction of food costs, cost of medication and a side benefit, #WEIGHT LOSS.
