Type 2 Diabetes – High Blood Sugar Levels and Your Heart
Type 2 Diabetes – High Blood Sugar Levels and Your Heart
People who have Type 2 diabetes are two to four times more likely than non-diabetics to develop heart disease or have a stroke. It is also true approximately three-fourths of all diabetics die from heart disease.
But many diabetics might not be really aware of just how much diabetes can impact their heart, and in how many ways it can occur.
Cardio refers to “heart” and vascular means “blood vessels.” These two go hand-in-hand because the heart is the machine that pumps blood through your vessels. A problem anywhere in your body will affect how the cardiovascular system works.
Why does this happen? The same hormone, insulin, whose job it is to carry sugar into your cells for fuel also helps to lead fat into other body cells for storage. So if you lack insulin, or if it doesn’t work as it is supposed to, fat continues to circulate in your bloodstream. Too much sugar and too much fat floating around in your bloodstream leads to clogged blood vessels.
What is the result? The result is then:
high blood pressure,
clots forming, and
extra strain placed on your heart,
hence heart attack and stroke.
Blood Pressure: When blood vessels constrict and become pressurized, this pressure translates into elevated blood pressure throughout your body and especially in your heart. The damage allows plaque to build up, a condition known as atherosclerosis. This blockage allows even more pressure to build. When your blood pressure increases, even a little, it puts unnecessary strain on your heart making it work harder. But increasing it to this level, the strain it produces is extreme.
When blood pressure becomes elevated it also means there is a restricted flow of oxygen to your brain, other major organs, and your heart. This starving of oxygen also means tissue fed by this blood becomes starved, as well.
As Type 2 diabetes runs out-of-control, it means there are also dramatic negative changes within your blood. Elevated blood sugar levels means elevated LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, lower levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, and elevated triglyceride levels, which reflect the amount of fat in your blood. High blood sugar also means there is a significant increase in the likelihood of clotting, which is why diabetes increases the incidence of stroke.
If the person with diabetes also has a sedentary lifestyle, now the odds are increased even more. Add smoking or a high consumption of alcohol and they rise even higher. If these habits are not changed their heart is, in essence, the same as a ticking time bomb, waiting to experience an episode.
This is why it is vital all diabetics maintain ideal blood sugar levels… not only to keep their disease under control, but for all the other medical complications it creates.…
Vital Nutrients
Foods heal illness, provide our cells with energy, prevent disease and build our immunity. Nutrients that Protect the System: Whole foods such as vegetables and fruits provide phytochemicals which are naturally occurring compounds like beta-carotene that are found naturally in many plants and evidence suggests help protect from some cancers and high blood pressure.\n\nWhen whole food vitamin capsules are made from natural sources, they would contain the entire range of several vitamins and minerals along with several micro-nutrients. Rather than simply isolating these nutrients, they remain attached to their whole food ingredients to allow the body to recognize and readily utilize them.\n\nBut they add with some consideration that if you do take whole food vitamins, take the natural ones instead of the synthetic pills, compiled in labs and marketed with pomp and glitter. Calcium contained in most traditional supplements will contain only calcium carbonate or calcium citrate with the possible addition of Vitamin D or may contain D1-calcium-phosphate which is completely insoluble and cannot be absorbed.
\n\nThese foods are often high in preservatives and low in nutritional value, so over time we can build up serious deficiencies of the nutrients our bodies need. Thirdly, there must be dozens of ingredients including vitamins, minerals, herbal extracts, amino acids, and enzymes.
\n\nThere is a difference between whole foods and high potency synthetics, and your body knows it. Test animals on a high potency enriched diet do not live as long as those on the same low vitamin diet without enrichment. For example look for spices such as cloves and cinnamon for natural metabolic boosters or acidophilus and bifidus with inulin for healthy gut and digestion.