Just about everyone likes to enjoy some kind of sweet treat now and then, but there is a hidden danger in consuming too many refined carbohydrates, especially refined sugar. It increases cellular resistance to insulin which causes blood sugar levels to increase. When blood sugar levels get too high one develops metabolic syndrome and may eventually become diabetic and that’s not so sweet.
Despite all attempts to refute the idea that sugar consumption leads to diabetes, the truth is that wherever populations of people abandon traditional diets and start eating more sugar, rates of diabetes dramatically increase. It’s also true that thousands of people have successfully lowered their blood sugar levels by skipping the sugary and starchy foods and returning to a more natural diet.
We need to get the word out that diabetes can not only be prevented, most of the time it can be reversed. It’s an important message, because, according to the latest (2017) statistics about 9.4% of Americans, about 30 million people, have some form of diabetes. About 7 million of these people have undiagnosed diabetes. About 84 million Americans are pre-diabetic, which means they could easily become one of the 1.5 million cases of new diabetes diagnosed each year. Diabetes also remains the 7th leading cause of death in the United States.
But that’s really only the tip of the iceberg. High blood sugar contributes to the development of numerous other health problems. These include heart disease, cancer and neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s, not to mention obesity and the proverbial dental problems with which sugar has long been associated.
The National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017
An estimated 30.3 million people of all ages—or 9.4% of the U.S. population—had diabetes in 2015
- This total included 30.2 million adults aged 18 years or older (12.2% of all U.S. adults), of which 7.2 million (23.8%) were not aware of or did not report having diabetes.
- The percentage of adults with diabetes increased with age, reaching a high of 25.2% among those aged 65 years or older.
- Compared to non-Hispanic whites, the age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes was higher among Asians, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics during 2011–2014.
Incidence Among Children and Adolescents Data from the SEARCH for Diabetes indicated that:
- During 2011–2012, the estimated annual number of newly diagnosed cases in the United States included: » 17,900 children and adolescents younger than age 20 years with type 1 diabetes. » 5,300 children and adolescents age 10 to 19 years with type 2 diabetes.