Hello! I’m Dr. Rohit Madhav Sane, director of Madhavbaug Ayurvedic Heart Care Center. Today, we are going to talk about diabetes—a condition that often creates confusion and fear. But let me assure you, there’s no need to fear diabetes. In the next few minutes, I will explain how diabetes develops and how you can manage it effectively from your home. Let’s dive in!
Common Misunderstandings About Diabetes
When it comes to diabetes, many people carry misconceptions
and unnecessary fears. It’s important to clear these up because diabetes isn’t
something you need to be afraid of. Today, I’ll explain, in simple terms, how
diabetes works in your body, so you’ll understand what exactly is happening and
how you can tackle it effectively.
How Does Diabetes Happen in Our Body?
Our body has three main compartments that play a role
in how sugar (glucose) is processed:
- Your
stomach and intestines (digestive system): This is where the food you
eat is digested.
- Your
bloodstream (blood vessels): Once the food is digested, sugar enters
your bloodstream.
- Your
muscles (muscle tissues): Finally, the sugar from your blood moves
into your muscles, where it is used as energy.
The Journey of Sugar in the Body
Let’s say you eat a meal that contains sugar. That sugar
enters your stomach and is absorbed into your bloodstream. This process
happens directly—there’s no need for a passport, visa, or ticket for the sugar
to move into your blood!
Once sugar is in your blood, it’s supposed to travel to your
muscles, where it will be used as energy. This is the sugar’s
final destination. If everything goes well, the sugar enters your muscles,
where it’s “burned” for energy, and everything works smoothly.
But what happens when things don’t go smoothly?
The Role of Insulin
For sugar to move from your blood into your muscles, your
body needs insulin. Insulin acts as the "key" that unlocks the
"doors" (receptors) on your muscles, allowing the sugar to enter.
- In Type
1 Diabetes, your body doesn’t produce insulin, so the sugar can’t move
into your muscles at all.
- In Type
2 Diabetes, which is more common, your body makes insulin, but the
problem lies in the "doors" (receptors) that allow sugar into
your muscles. These doors are blocked, often due to fat buildup.
The Issue: Blocked Receptors
In Type 2 Diabetes, the problem isn’t that your body isn’t
making insulin. It’s that the insulin receptors—the "doors"
that allow sugar to enter your muscles—are blocked by fat. This fat
prevents insulin from working properly, which means sugar can’t enter your
muscles and stays in your bloodstream instead.
So, even though your body is making insulin, the sugar can’t
get where it needs to go. This is called insulin resistance.
What Happens Next?
If the sugar can’t enter the muscles, it remains in the
blood, causing high blood sugar levels. Your body responds by signaling
your pancreas to produce even more insulin to try and force the sugar into your
muscles. But no matter how much insulin your body produces, if the receptors
(doors) are blocked, it won’t work.
Type 2 Diabetes: What’s Going On?
In Type 2 Diabetes, your body is still making
insulin—sometimes, even too much. But the problem is that the receptors
(doors) on your muscles are blocked by fat, preventing the insulin
from doing its job. Even though there’s plenty of insulin, it can’t move the
sugar from your blood into your muscles.
This creates a cycle where your body keeps producing more
insulin, but the sugar remains in the blood. Over time, this leads to chronically
high blood sugar levels and the full development of Type 2 Diabetes.
The Real Problem: Fat Blocking the Receptors
The real issue is that fat is blocking the insulin
receptors on your muscles, preventing insulin from transporting sugar into your
muscles. This fat acts like garbage stuck inside a lock, stopping the key
(insulin) from working.
How Can You Fix It?
The key to managing Type 2 Diabetes lies in removing the
fat that’s blocking these insulin receptors. When you get rid of the fat,
the insulin can do its job, and the sugar can finally move from your blood into
your muscles, where it is used for energy.
What Causes the Fat Buildup?
This fat that blocks the insulin receptors doesn’t appear
overnight. It builds up over time due to poor lifestyle choices, such as eating
too much unhealthy food and lack of physical activity. By addressing this fat
buildup, you can improve how well insulin works in your body and manage your
blood sugar levels more effectively.
The Good News
If you reduce the fat that’s blocking your insulin
receptors, your body can start using insulin properly again. This means the
sugar will enter your muscles, get used for energy, and your blood sugar levels
will stabilize. In other words, you can effectively manage, or even reverse,
Type 2 Diabetes by addressing the root cause—fat blocking the insulin
receptors.
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