Diabetes awareness month: How "We Are Fiber" reminds us of the importance of health

Did you know that November is considered, among other things, the official diabetes awareness month? World Diabetes Day is precisely celebrated on November 14th to pay tribute to Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin in 1922. The date commemorates Frederick’s birthdate.
During this month, We Are Fiber is aiming to boost awareness about the risk factors, symptoms, and types of diabetes.

This activity is extremely important to us because we want to positively influence the health of our employees. We hope, that throughout this month, we can make a positive impact on the company and raise awareness on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. This also goes to everyone who’s reading it. Pay attention to your health, seriously!

What we offered to our employees during this month:

• First things first, all employees now have a piece of detailed information on prediabetes and diabetes, and how to prevent or postpone these medical conditions.
• All employees have the opportunity to undergo a free blood glucose test.
• Employees who have a blood glucose level above the norm will receive further analysis and a free consultation with an endocrinologist.

So, what exactly is diabetes?

According to the CDC, diabetes is a chronic and long-lasting health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Your body breaks down most of the food you eat into sugar (glucose) and releases it into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release insulin. Insulin acts as a key to letting the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy.

With diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
Below we will shortly explain the 2 main types of diabetes:

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body can’t produce insulin, which as we already mentioned before, is a hormone in the pancreas that breaks down carbohydrates into blood sugar or glucose, for energy. Insulin therapy helps the pancreas to function normally. Many children suffer from Type 1 diabetes, although it can affect people of any age or background.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease where the body is unable to process our internal insulin well enough to keep blood sugar at normal levels. You may be at risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes if you are overweight, older than 45, if diabetes runs in the family, if you barely exercise each week, and if you have been diagnosed with prediabetes. Losing weight is a key preventive measure.
People who are regular consumers of alcohol and cigarettes might also have a chance of getting diabetes.

Other types of diabetes

Gestational Diabetes – Appears during pregnancy, when the woman has given birth to a child weighing more than 4 kg.

LADA Diabetes – A type of diabetes caused by the attack created by antibodies against pancreatic cells, insulin, or enzymes involved in the functioning of the pancreas.
Prediabetes - With prediabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

A large number of people in the world suffer from prediabetes. Only 1 in 2 people with prediabetes know they have it. This condition often goes undetected and untreated. Clinical signs are not revealed, and, in most cases, patients don’t even notice.

How life-threatening is diabetes compared to other well-known diseases?

Well, this might be shocking to reveal as the statistics about this question are crazy. Let’s take a look at the mortality rates from diabetes compared with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

In 2021, there were about 6.7 million deaths from diabetes. 1 million people are now blind because of it. Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke, and lower limb amputation.

On the other hand, regarding the statistics for other diseases in 2021: There were 0.65 million deaths from HIV/AIDS, 1.6 million deaths from tuberculosis, and 0.6 million deaths from malaria.

Is there any cure for diabetes?

Unfortunately, there is no cure yet for diabetes of any type. Scientists are currently working on a ground-breaking weight management study, to help people put their type 2 diabetes into remission. Remission is when the blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels are in a normal range again.

Dick Gregory, an activist, used to say that “people with high blood pressure, diabetes – those are conditions brought about by lifestyle. If you change the lifestyle, those conditions will leave.”
Even though this might not be 100% true, for some of the reasons we mentioned before, there is some truth in what he says.

Changing your lifestyle can result in normal blood sugar levels, even without medication. This doesn’t mean you will be completely cured, because type 2 diabetes, for example, is an ongoing disease, but the changes, however, will be drastic! Your life would improve in ways you can’t imagine.

What do we suggest to our employees (and everyone else for that matter)?

Not much, other than to do something good for their health!
There are probably a few things you've been meaning to do that could improve your health. Whatever your goals are, there is never a better moment than the present to take care of yourself.

Perhaps it involves packing a healthier lunch, taking more walks, or scheduling an appointment with a doctor. You can enlist your co-workers to participate with you and get to know each other even better through this journey.
We suggest you make a challenge:

• If you want to start drinking more water. You can see who can refill their water bottle most in one day, during office hours.
• Or you can start a competition to see who can take the most steps every day or during the weekend (You can then show off the results each Monday).

• Losing excessive weight
• Regular physical activity: Brisk walking, cycling, running, or swimming; Start with 5-10 minutes a day; 3-5 days a week; Try to do a total of 150 minutes a week.
• Take at least 10,000 steps a day
• Healthy Eating
• Limit animal fats (beef, cheese, fatty meats)
• Limit fats in general (less oil, fried foods)
• Consume as much fiber as possible
• Consume more fruits and vegetables on a daily basis
• Weight Maintenance
  
  

Keep in mind: You must get regular controls and check-ups. Don’t wait for the disease to do its damage before you cure it. Prevention is the best medicine!

We Are Fiber pays extreme attention to health issues because, without it, nothing else is worth it. We make sure our employees are very self-aware when it comes to health-related issues and we do our best to make them feel safe, protected, and cared for in their work environment.