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What is Diabetes ?
Diabetes is a disorder that affects the way your body uses food for energy.
Normally, the sugar you take in is digested and broken down to a simple sugar,
known as glucose.
The glucose then circulates in your blood where it waits to enter cells to be used as fuel.
Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps move the glucose into cells.
A healthy pancreas adjusts the amount of insulin based on the level of glucose.
But, if you have diabetes, this process breaks down, and blood sugar levels become too high.
There are two main types of full-blown diabetes.
People with Type 1 diabetes are completely unable to produce insulin.
People with Type 2 diabetes can produce insulin, but their cells don't respond to it.
In either case, the glucose can't move into the cells and blood glucose
levels can become high.
Over time, these high glucose levels can cause serious complications.
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How Food in Your Diet Affects Your Blood Glucose
Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, what, when, and how much you eat all
affect your blood glucose. Blood glucose is the main sugar found in the blood
and the body's main source of energy.
If you have diabetes (or impaired glucose tolerance), your blood glucose can go
too high if you eat too much. If your blood glucose goes too high, you can get
sick.
Your blood glucose can also go too high or drop too low if you don't take the
right amount of diabetes medicine.
If your blood glucose stays high too much of the time, you can get heart, eye,
foot, kidney, and other problems. You can also have problems if your blood
glucose gets too low (hypoglycemia).
Keeping your blood glucose at a healthy level will prevent or slow down diabetes
problems. Ask your doctor or diabetes teacher what a healthy blood glucose level
is for you.
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Guidelines for a
Diabetes Diet
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