My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. — Hosea 4:6
With what seems like a war in Iraq with the United States bombing up the place, you may think, let me eat whatever I want to, there is too much going on for me to stay focused to make a lifestyle change.
However, making a lifestyle change is exactly what you need. It will ease nearly every arthritis ailment you may have. Eating healthy and small portions gives your body a break. Let me explain to you what I’m talking about, especially for any new readers (for those of you who have read my Type 2 diabetes series, please send this to someone who may need it).
This is a series taken from an online publication that I wrote in 2003. Since its publication, this article has made its way around the world. It is posted in Africa, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Europe and Asia. It is translated into different languages, and it appears all across America.
This is a story of the life and suffering of my mother, and I choose to share this story for the sake of helping somebody along the way, so her living would not be in vain. She has been gone 23 years, but I cannot and will not stop sharing her story for the purpose of helping others.
This column is my effort to teach how simple it is for any one of us to turn Type 2 diabetes around and reduce your HbA1c. This disease is definitely not a death sentence. However, it can be. If left unchecked and unmanaged, you will have some serious problems. When blood travels through small blood vessels in the heart, it can cause blood clots, which lead to heart attacks and amputations of feet and legs. If blood cannot get through any part of your body, that body part will die; Type 2 diabetes causes these devastations.
When your feet and legs die from loss of blood flow, you no longer feel your feet. The nerves are too damaged and don’t work — gangrene has set in. Next comes amputations. It is just like a rotten spot on a white potato. Your eyes can be affected too; in fact, it can lead to blindness. Your kidneys stop functioning, requiring dialysis. Your blood has become poisoned because your kidneys are no longer filtering your blood.
You can prevent these disastrous ends by changing your lifestyle. This does not mean you go on a diet, either. Diets are only a temporary fix. Start with knowing your HB-A1C count (a blood test that measures the average amount of sugar in your blood over a 90-day period), and making lifestyle changes. Begin to eat healthy and exercise regularly.
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, an estimated 30.3 million people in the United States, or 9.4% of the population, have diabetes. An estimated 84.1 million Americans 18 or older have prediabetes. About one in four people who have diabetes don’t know they have the disease. The ability to turn things around, though, for each of us is within our own control.
A few years ago, Oprah Winfrey learned she was prediabetic. This time, she did exactly what was required. Notice how she changed to a healthy, diabetic-friendly diet by eliminating high-carbonated foods, curtailed sweets, continued to exercise, and lost 42 pounds. You saw her on TV with Weight Watchers. She has been successful and is no longer prediabetic, plus her blood pressure is back under control. Oprah even began to take Ozempic, that expensive medication offered to diabetics. She has lost weight many times over the years, always gaining it back, but this time, she is determined to keep that weight off so she can get rid of the disease called Type 2 diabetes.
As we can all see, this time things are different — it is for her health. Plus, her mother died from Type 2 diabetes complications too — Oprah understood the connection.
Twenty-five years ago, neither my mother nor none of her family members knew what was required to turn this diagnosis around. Therefore, she only lived 12 years after her diagnosis, with some devastating side effects. Mother lost both her legs to amputations, required kidney dialysis, had seven strokes, and was only 61 years old when her first major stroke got her. Paralysis set in, without the newer cures of today. The cause? Improper diet and lack of exercise.
Let me repeat what I wrote last week. Just over 150 years ago, Black people in America were slaves, eating poorly and working from sunup to sundown. They burned off the devastating effects of soul foods with strenuous daily exercise. No matter what they ate, soul food included, they stayed healthy. It was cyclical. They ate, then worked it off, day after day.
“Slaves didn’t die from diseases such as Type 2 diabetes or cancer, their masters/owners did,” said Dr. Sherita Hill Golden, director of the Diabetes and Metabolic Department of Johns Hopkins.
Their field work was exercise. Tired from the strenuous work, but healthy. You may ask, then how in the world did my people get so out of control, and why are our Type 2 diabetes numbers higher than any others? I’m glad you asked. More next week.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.