No matter what your age is, this article is relevant to you.

This is because diabetes is becoming an epidemic. It is now predicted that 1 in 3 American children will grow up to develop diabetes.

But even if you don’t wind up becoming the 1 in 3 who meet the full criteria for diabetes, don’t think you’re off the hook, because “pre-diabetes”-or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) - is also very bad for your brain. Therefore, significantly more than 1 in 3 Americans will be at risk for the complications of impaired glucose metabolism.

What does diabetes and pre-diabetes do to the brain?

• For one, diabetes damages the small blood vessels in the brain, and eventually rots these vessels to the point where they entirely close off. When this happens, the brain tissue fed by the blood vessel dies (i.e. a stroke). The diabetic brain therefore frequently looks like Swiss cheese, with lots of little holes scattered all over the place. As you can imagine, a brain littered with many gaping holes does not work well.
• Secondly, many new research studies indicate that diabetes, and even pre-diabetes, damages brain cells directly.

Many of you who already have diabetes aren’t aware the importance of keeping your blood sugars as normal and as tightly controlled as possible. New studies, however, indicate that the better you control your blood sugars, the less brain damage you’ll sustain. The higher the blood sugars run, the more you harm your brain.

For those of you who have pre-diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, research also suggests that the more normal you keep your blood sugars, the less you’ll damage your brain.

If you don’t have diabetes, and don’t want to fall into the 1 in 3 statistic mentioned above, you need to understand how to eat & live healthy. Most of us think this involves cutting out “sweets”, but this is only a small part of the equation. You must also learn to:

• markedly reduce carbohydrate intake
• exercise and lead a more active lifestyle
• lower fat intake, and consume the right kinds of fat
• here are more detailed guidelines from the American Diabetes Association

Recent research has even shown that people with diabetes are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

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