Adult Onset Diabetes (Type II Diabetes)

Nutrition plays a significant role in the treatment of diabetes. Although nutrition experts, including the American Dietetic Association, maintain that there is no one diet for all diabetics, agreement exists that proper nutrition based on the Food Pyramid is essential to helping blood sugar levels remain stable. This paper will identify and explain the role of nutrition in the cause, prevention and treatment of diabetes.

Type II diabetes, also known as adult onset diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes and is caused when the body either does not secrete enough insulin, or the cells of the body have a reduced sensitivity to its effects (ADA, 2002; Adderly, 2000). It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States (Schardt and Schmidt, 1996). Diagnosis of Type II diabetes has soared over 600 percent in the last 40 years. Almost 95 percent of patients with diabetes in this country have Type II diabetes, and there may be another 5.5 million sufferers who don't yet know they have the disease (Adderly, 2000).

In Type I diabetes, about five percent of all diabetes patients, there is an immune dysfunction which cause the beta cells in the pancreas, which normally produce the hormone insulin, to die off and no insulin is then produced. These patients need to take insulin by injection to replace this hormone loss. In type II diabetes, either the pancreas does not secrete enough insulin, or the cells of the body beco

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acid helps the body consume glucose and so lowers blood sugar levels and insulin resistance (Adderly, 2000). It is found in many foods, but is particularly plentiful in red meat. Vitamin E also has been shown to lower blood sugar levels and low levels of this vitamin have been shown to put people at risk for developing Type II diabetes. Chromium plays an important role in producing insulin and chromium polynicotinate is effective in treating insulin resistance. Chromium picolinate is important in controlling blood sugar levels (Adderly, 2000). Chromium deficiency results in glucose intolerance, a major cause of adult onset diabetes (Scheer, 1995). In impaired sugar metabolism, the liver speeds up cholesterol production and so blood cholesterol levels may rise. By stabilizing glucose metabolism, chromium picolinate can extend the lifespan of rats by 36 percent, and may have the same effect in humans. This may be due to the lower level of circulating sugar because it has been shown previously that rodents live longer on reduced calorie intake, and this may be the explanation for that phenomena. High blood glucose levels are known to damage the body's proteins by a method known as glycation, which causes nerve and tis

Category: Medical - A