Metabolic diseases & diabetes
Diseases that impair our energy balance, metabolic disorders, and obesity have been increasing significantly for several decades. In this context, the development of diabetes has become one of the greatest challenges to human health. Approximately one in eleven adults worldwide suffers from diabetes mellitus (90% of whom have type 2 diabetes mellitus), and these numbers are expected to continue to rise in the coming years.
It's frightening to see how diabetes has become such a significant public health problem, even though it's not an infectious disease. Some health organizations and researchers are even calling it an epidemic. Even more astonishing is that almost half of diabetes and prediabetes cases go undiagnosed. Therefore, it's important to raise awareness and keep an eye out.
Diabetes on the rise
Well, the reason for this diabetes boom isn't all that difficult to explain. For almost half a century, dietary changes and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle have led to a shift in our metabolism. And you know what else? This has also led to a global increase in obesity, which drastically increases the risk of developing diabetes. It's a domino effect, so to speak.
In addition, people with diabetes have a significantly higher risk of many types of cancer. This shows us that obesity and diabetes have truly devastating effects on our metabolic health.
It's estimated that metabolic disorders like obesity could overtake smoking as the leading cause of cancer in the next 10 to 15 years. These facts are alarming even for healthy people!
Prof. Dr. Stephan Herzig, professor and senior researcher at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), says: "Everything a healthy person can do to prevent diabetes and obesity contributes significantly to cancer prevention."
Diabetes increases the risk of cancer
Let’s take a closer look at the connection between diabetes and cancer
Diabetes and cancer share several common risk factors, such as genetics, age, and gender, which are unmodifiable. However, there are also risk factors that are modifiable and thus preventable. These include smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, and poor diet. The latter three are considered the Three Musketeers of metabolic disorders. They are the cause of many problems.
In fact, a healthy metabolism is key to preventing diabetes and cancer. Studies have shown that even people with a normal weight but an unhealthy metabolism have a significantly higher risk of dying from cancer.
There's also some pharmacological evidence ! Metformin, which is often used to treat type 2 diabetes, has been shown to have cancer-preventive effects, even in non-diabetics. It achieves this, among other things, by improving metabolism, particularly insulin sensitivity. So, it's a drug with some added superpowers!
5 tips for your healthy everyday life
There is no sure way to prevent cancer, but you can reduce the risk by adapts his lifestyle wisely and takes control of modifiable risk factors. Here are 5 simple Tips you can incorporate into your daily routine.
Use the muscles
Just 30 minutes of muscle training per week can reduce the risk of cancer and diabetes by 10-17% .
Keep moving
People who engage in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity (including walking) per week have a 26% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a lower risk of 13 types of cancer.
Nourishing the body
Maintain a healthy diet rich in plant-based foods (pulses, whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits), low in meat, fish, and dairy products, and low in alcohol, salty, processed, and sugary foods. Your body will thank you.
Keep an eye on your body weight
As mentioned above, obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for diabetes and cancer. Keep your weight as low as possible, within a healthy range (BMI of 18.5-24.9).
Keep an eye on blood sugar control.
Blood sugar levels are undoubtedly a measure of how well or poorly our metabolism is regulated, and keeping an eye on them can help you gain knowledge and manage your metabolic health to reduce your risk not only of diabetes but also of cancer.
So take control of your health! Try these small but powerful adjustments and live your best, healthiest life. You can do it! 💪
It's important to consider the different metabolic responses to diet, exercise, and other stimuli that affect our metabolic health, such as stress. Remember that you are unique, and your metabolic response is also unique. By using your blood glucose levels to improve and personalize your individual metabolic response, you can maximize the benefits of these steps based on your metabolic phenotype.
Want to learn more? We've written a blog post explaining the connection between blood sugar and long-term health. It's definitely worth a read!
The next step
Understanding your blood glucose data. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and Hello Inside help you see in real time how foods affect your blood glucose and metabolic health. We help you discover what healthy eating means to you, so you can take control and stop following a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
