About type 2 diabetes
How Does Type 2 Diabetes Happen?
As mentioned previously, Type 2 Diabetes happens when we have overloaded our body's long-term energy storage systems over a prolonged period of time - eventually resulting in our cells no longer listening to the insulin, which tells them to take in the glucose that is in our blood. In most cases, this will take months and years to develop.
- To understand this process comprehensively, we must first look at how our body uses the food we eat as energy.
How does our body use energy?
- Our bodies use the food we eat as energy, namely the carbohydrates and fat.
- Our bodies stores these as glycogen and fat, which are then, when released, moving around in the bloodstream as glucose and fatty acids.
- Very shortly after we have begun eating (approx. 1min) one of the organs in our body (the pancreas) will release insulin, to help bring our blood glucose levels down to normal.
- Insulin will help glucose move from the blood into the muscles, to form glycogen as a short-term store of energy and fat as a longer-term store of energy.
- However, when we are eating more than the energy we require, due to a lack of activity or excess consumption = the excess food is stored as fat, around the body and in the muscles and liver, causing insulin resistance once capacity is reached.
Now you're next question is probably: ok, great, but why does this happen?
What happens when we eat too much?
We reach our storage capacity and that causes problems
- So first, we fill up our muscle cells , so insulin stops working there.
- Our pancreas now has to work harder to release more insulin to push the glucose into our muscle cells - leading to our muscle cells no longer listening to the insulin + our pancreatic cells that produce insulin will form more waste product.
- The increased amount of insulin in our blood leads, plus our current diet of eating more food than the energy we are using, leads to more fat being created and stored in the liver.
- Now our liver has become fatty as it is full, and fat cells are full, so they aren't listening to the insulin either, so the excess fat pours out or stays in the blood.
- The excess fat in our blood will be taken to the liver, but as there is no room there, it goes to the pancreas instead - causing our pancreas to become fatty as well.
- The excess fat around our Pancreatic cells that produce insulin will lead to a waste product accumulation, which eventually, leading to cell death.
- At the same time, the amount of insulin in our blood is higher than normal in the liver, leading to the creation of new fat (as we highlighted before) and also an increase of new glycogen (how our body stores glucose/sugar).
As well as that, there is less glucose/sugar being broken down due to the insulin resistance. This causes a high blood sugar and a fatty liver.
What happens when we eat too much - Simplified
The 'Refrigerator' Analogy
That was a lot of information so let's briefly look at this in a different way.
- We are filling up our short-term energy (Refrigerator - Glycogen) and our long-term energy (Freezer – Fat)
- Due to eating more than the energy we are using, we've accumulated dozens of freezers full of fat.
- Now all these freezers are preventing our body from functioning properly.
- We must get rid of freezers -> need to use short term energy first.
What happens when we eat too much - Simplified
The 'Biker Jerry Can' Analogy
For those petrol heads out there, here is. a perfect analogy for you!
- A motorcyclist will have their normal fuel stored in their tank (Short-term Glycogen), and they also have a spare jerry can, full of fuel, should they need it (Long-Term Fat).
- The storage capacity of their spare jerry can will be around 5L, roughly.
- Now imagine if the Biker decided to add extra fuel to his spare jerry can (Long- Term - Fat), every time he tops up his normal tank (Short-Term Glycogen).
- So not only is he filling up his short-term fuel but also his long-term fuel too.
- Eventually, he's going to need gradually bigger jerry cans to store all the excess, spare fuel.
- Now he is towing along a 100L jerry can in backup fuel – it is not efficient and is a hinderance to normal bodily functions.
- So we must get rid of our long-term fuel (our jerry can), by firstly, using up our short term tank, and then use our back up stores of fat.
What Happens when we eat too much - High Blood Sugar
High Blood Sugar
As we've discussed above, eating too much, over a prolonged period of time will cause your cells to stop responding to insulin (Insulin Resistance). This leads to the sugar (glucose) staying in your bloodstream, instead of entering your cells (increasing blood sugar), to be used for their regular metabolic functions (their jobs) .
We can see if your experiencing some insulin resistance, by checking your glycated haemoglobin, or HbA1c. Your HbA1c tells us what your blood glucose levels have been over the previous 2-3 months - so it is a very useful indicator of determining if you have Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes.
HbA1c Ranges:
Normal: 20-41
Prediabetes: 42-47
Type 2 Diabetes 48+
During a time of chronically-raised blood sugar, such as having Prediabetes, you may experience some symptoms such as thirst or fatigue. If you develop Prediabetes and do not choose to treat and reverse it, it will eventually develop into Type 2 Diabetes and increases your risk of Type 2 Diabetes Complications, such as a heart attack and stroke.
To find out more about symptoms and complications, click on the button.