Masood N. Khan M.D.
Diabetes is the most rampant disease in the world affecting 6% of the world population and the way it is increasing may soon make it a global epidemic. By 2025, 300 million people in the world will have developed Diabetes. 97% of the affected patients will have type 2 Diabetes which occurs in adults usually over 35 years of age.
Diabetes at the onset may have few yet significant symptoms like increased urination, weight loss and decreased energy level but once the treatment is initiated mild elevations in blood glucose levels and frequent fluctuations usually do not cause symptoms. Therefore patients falsely believe they are not sick. However, over a long period this erratic blood glucose control results in many debilitating complications which prove fatal.
Diabetes, if uncontrolled puts patient at high risk for developing heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and loss of eyesight not to mention many other illnesses.
Both genetic and environmental factors play a role in development of Diabetes. Environmental factors include sedentary lifestyle (lack of physical activity), drugs, toxic agents, viral infection and obesity. Any specific type of diet was not known to directly cause diabetes except indirectly by causing obesity. But recently a landmark study has shown a causative link with diet.
In a study published in JAMA, researchers looked at the data from three large, long running studies funded by National Institute of Health and found that an increase in red meat consumption by more than half a serving a day over a period of four years resulted in 48% increase in risk of developing diabetes in the next four years. The effect was so strong that it occurred even in those who were eating small quantity of meat every day prior to letting it increase by just half a serving.
In an accompanying editorial, William Evans, vice president and head of the Muscle Metabolism Discovery Performance Unit at London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) and an adjunct professor of geriatrics at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, has written that more than the meat itself perhaps the fat content of the red meat may be responsible for increasing the risk of diabetes.
The ill effects of unchecked consumption of red meat are so numerous that it is no exaggeration to conclude that red meat should only be reserved for special occasions that too cautiously in small quantities and excluded totally from the daily menu at home. Reflecting on the topic of how lifestyle can directly affect the health of an individual, many studies have repeatedly and emphatically pointed to four absolute essentials that are a must for healthy life. These are:
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Weight control to avoid obesity
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Balanced diet with very limited consumption of harmful components like red meat and liberal portions of foods that are rich in antioxidants like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Coffee also is rich in antioxidants
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Regular exercise which retards the aging process and keeps a person physically and emotionally fit with agility and sharpness of reflexes.
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No smoking