Is Diabetes a Choice?

Is getting big and fat making us sick? Is there a connection between the dramatic rise in both obesity and diabetes? In the U.S. and Canada, diabetes has increased more than 500% during just the last generation. More than seventy percent of adults and more than thirty percent of our children are considered to be either overweight or obese. In spite of spending more than 30 billion dollars each year on diets and weight loss programs, the rate of obesity has tripled in this country in the past thirty years. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has projected that one-third of our children born after the year 2000 will become diabetic. If you're Black or Hispanic, nearly fifty percent of your children will become diabetic. Diabetes is the leading cause of amputations, kidney failure, neuropathy, adult blindness, and cardiovascular disease.

And if that isn't enough, type 2 diabetes is now a global phenominum. The International Diabetes Federation has now predicted that the number of individuals with diabetes will increase from 240 million in 2007 to over 380 million in 2025. The greatest increase in type 2 diabetes is going to occur in Asia and primarily among the younger population. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize what the diabetes epidemic will do to the health of the world and to our financial health.

Are we doomed? Is there anything we can do to change these horrible projections? I want to bring focus to the health concept that developing type 2 diabetes is really a choice, even if you have a strong history of diabetes in your family. In over 90% of the population, no matter what their family history or genetic makeup, diabetes is preventable. Even if you already have prediabetes or diabetes, it can potentially be reversed. You need to understand that developing type 2 diabetes mellitus is really a CHOICE.

Choice as in: Do I eat fast food tonight? Do I walk up the stairs or do I ride? Do I drink water or soda? Do I eat every 2 - 3 hours?

I made the choice to change my life and you can too. It's simple and easy. The only hard part is making the choice to start.