Normally, your body will excrete insulin to clear excess sugar out of your blood so that it can be used as cell fuel. If you develop type 2 diabetes, then your body is no longer able to metabolize sugar. The blood sugar stays high because insulin cannot move it into the cells, where it would normally be used as fuel. The fatigue comes when the cells cannot get the sugar for energy. Your cells then send signals to your brain that you need to eat sugary or starchy foods to give them the fuel that they need to function. So, you become hungry, eat more, sleep more, and make the problem worse.

The number one risk factor for type 2 diabetes is being overweight. Eating a diet high in sugar or starchy foods will cause you to become overweight and put you at higher risk for developing this condition. To understand how sugar leads to diabetes, we turn to the liver.

Normally, you eat fruits, vegetables and proteins. Your body slowly breaks these things down to provide your cells with sugar. So why is eating sugar directly so bad? The answer has to do with the speed in which the sugar hits the bloodstream. Simple sugars and processed foods quickly turn to glucose and fill up the bloodstream. Whenever your body has more fuel than it needs, it stores the excess in the liver.

Your liver becomes filled to capacity and then turns the sugar into fatty acids to clear them out and distribute them around the body. At first, the fat goes where it is supposed to, around the thighs, hips, upper arms and buttocks. When those areas become filled, then the fat goes to your organs instead.

This chain of events can easily and quickly turn into diabetes. It is very hard to control your appetite and cravings for sugar when your body thinks that it needs it so badly. The more times you give in, the bigger you will get, again, making the problem worse.

If you have type 2 diabetes, then your body is under constant stress and continually produces cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that causes even more fat to build up around the organs in an effort to protect them from the free radicals that the disease is creating. Because high levels of sugars cannot react correctly with proteins, free radicals are produced all over your body at an alarming rate. They can quickly cause strokes, cancer, damage nerves and deteriorate blood vessels. It is believed that the free radicals are to blame for many amputations that are necessary after vessels and nerves are damaged.

You need to rid your body of these free radicals and excess cortisol daily. To do this, you will need to supplement your healthy diet with vitamin A, C and E (remember “ACE”). Higher doses of vitamins and supplements are necessary to maintain immunity and clear free radicals in diabetics. Talk to your doctor about your condition before you buy vitamins or buy supplements and start a vitamins and supplements routine.

About the Author: Phil Le Breton is owner at Wholesale Nutrition. He has a strong interest in helping people achieve greater brain and body health with vitamins and supplements. The best vitamins, the best Vitamin C Powder on the market (C-Salts). Visit http://www.nutri.com to buy vitamins or buy supplements of the highest quality.

Metabolic syndrome exhibits itself in a variety of ways. People with any of these symptoms or conditions are at a dramatically increased risk for metabolic syndrome, heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes; high cholesterol (low HDL cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol, high triglyceride levels), inflammatory components in the blood, high blood pressure, large waist circumference, or elevated fasting glucose levels.

Three or more of these conditions can lead to a grim diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. If you do not have metabolic syndrome, but you do have an increased waist circumference combined with a body mass index that is not considered to be in the healthy range, then you are almost guaranteed to develop metabolic syndrome if you do nothing to reduce your abdominal fat. By making a few changes in your life, you can avoid a plethora of life-threatening, disabling diseases.

The first step is to get your cholesterol levels in check. Triglyceride levels are most important and can be controlled through DHA and EPA Omega-3 supplementation. Fish oils and other supplements that get triglyceride levels under control can actually make your cholesterol readings more accurate and help turn harmful triglycerides into less harmful LDL.

LDL cholesterol proteins can harden and stick to arterial walls in your heart and arteries, making damage harder to reverse. Vitamin C actually prevents your LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and becoming “sticky”. Vitamin C combined with soluble fiber helps your liver to function properly and dispose of excess LDL cholesterol. Niacin can help raise HDL cholesterol levels and get them back to where they should be. Vitamins C and E help the cells to use sugar while helping the body properly respond to insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is totally preventable and almost always curable. However, it remains in our nation’s top 10 killer conditions list securely at number 6. This is only measuring deaths caused by Type 2 diabetes. It doesn’t take into account all of the amputations, anxiety, nerve damage, blindness, kidney disease, impotence and infections that it causes. Type 2 diabetes used to be known as “adult onset diabetes” until our children started getting it, too. Type 2 diabetes is caused by the overconsumption of carbohydrates combined with a lack of exercise. Exercise combined with a healthier diet makes blood sugar manageable. There is no way around it, diet and exercise is the only way to get blood sugar levels in check.

If you have metabolic syndrome, cells become damaged and resistant to insulin. Blood sugar gets out of control and the body is depleted of minerals every time you have a soda or eat refined flours or sugars. You must replace the minerals lost to start losing weight and healing your body. Small, high protein meals, six times per day are recommended.

All diabetics and people at risk for metabolic syndrome will constantly flush vitamins and minerals from their bodies. Chromium is the main mineral lost that is needed to regulate blood sugar. Your daily requirement for vitamins, minerals and antioxidants is greatly increased, especially if frequent urination is one of your symptoms. Talk to your doctor about safely managing your metabolic risk factors with vitamins and supplements before you buy supplements.

About the Author: Phil Le Breton is owner at Wholesale Nutrition. He has a strong interest in helping people achieve greater brain and body health. For more information about C-Salts, otherwise known as the best Vitamin C, or about other Vitamin C powder products, visit http://www.nutri.com where you can buy Vitamins and Supplements of the highest quality.