Total: Type 2 Diabetes
When your blood sugar is too high, you might end up with Type 2 Diabetes. Normally a chemical called insulin helps to move sugar from our blood and into our cells which helps us to make energy. In type 2 diabetes you don’t use insulin well so it’s hard for the sugar to be taken up out of your blood and into your cells
There is a simple blood test you can do to check your sugar levels and therefore check to see whether you have Type 2 Diabetes this is called an ‘HbA1c’ test. This blood test measures how much sugar has been in your bloodstream over the last 3months.
Type 2 is most common in adults, however, it is on the rise in children.
Things that can increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes are:
- Older age
- Weight
- Stress
- Lack of physical activity
- Ethnicity
- Family History
Type 2 diabetes can also lead to other medical complications such as:
- Skin Conditions
- Slow healing wounds
- Sleep apnoea
- Heart disease
- Nerve damage
- Kidney disease
- Eye damage
There are things that you can do to prevent Type 2 diabetes or help to manage it. Such as avoiding long periods of inactivity, eating whole foods (plant-based) and regular exercise.
There has been much research dedicated to the link between a plant-based lifestyle and the prevention of Type 2 diabetes. FastTrack is a lifestyle programme that is 90% plant based. It does not include foods that are simple, calorie-dense, overly processed, refined or sugared. These types of foods spike your sugar levels quickly putting stress on your body and increasing your risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
FastTrack includes more protective, high fibre foods such as legumes, vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and nuts. Eating a wide variety of these foods help to regulate your blood sugar levels as they are complex and loaded with nutrients that the body needs to break down. This results in a slow release of glucose (sugar) into the blood stream.
By signing up to the ‘FastTrack Garden Package’, we will encourage you to test your ‘HbA1c’ levels before and after the 12 weeks of the programme. You will be able to see for yourself the effects a plant-based lifestyle can have your health and wellbeing.
