Introduction
Diabetes is most succinctly explained as a disease that affects the way in which our bodies convert the food we eat into energy. In a healthy individual, this conversion would be made efficiently with the help of insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas that enables glucose molecules from food to pass through cell membranes so that it can be used as energy or stored for the future. If you or someone you know has diabetes, it means that either there isn’t sufficient insulin for this conversion to occur or that, for some reason, the insulin is not eliciting a response in the body. Either way, the result is unstable blood sugar levels, which can soar dangerously high and lead to severe diabetic complications or even death.
Although stress, exercise, and stimulants can all affect blood sugar levels, food is usually the most significant concern for diabetics because it can raise blood sugar sharply and often immediately, and its consumption is a necessary part of daily life. Given that we live in a society where food is not only abundantly available, but also abundant in calories, the significance of a blood sugar disorder cannot be understated.
