Omega- 3 Fatty Acids and Blood Sugar Control System
High levels of blood sugar are one of the most common health disorders that people are experiencing in the present day. The levels of sugar in your bloodstream increase when there is a surplus of glucose or glucose-related substances in the blood of your body. When there is an excessive amount of glucose content in the blood, then the blood sugar levels increase massively and as a result, the body tends to develop a chronic disorder known as diabetes mellitus. There are different factors that are considered responsible for the occurrence of diabetes and the increase in the blood sugar levels in the body.
Diabetes can be of several types, each one different from the other and can be equally harmful to the sufferer who develops the disease. Diabetes is such a disease that should be treated as early as detected. It is a disease that cannot be cured completely, but the diabetic patient must try to keep the blood sugar in control. By keeping the blood sugar levels at an optimum, you can easily evade the risk factors that are related to diabetes mellitus. So, it is important to know in detail what diabetes or high blood sugar is, what the risk factors related to it, how to deal with diabetes, and most importantly how to control high levels of blood sugar in the body.
What Is All About Diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus, often commonly termed diabetes is a type of disease characterized by high levels of sugar or glucose-like substances in the bloodstream of the person. Diabetes mellitus is mostly a metabolic disease that is often known to create some other health issues in the body, so doctors and health care experts always advise keeping the levels of blood sugar in your body within control, that is within the optimum levels.
The human body consists of an organ known as the pancreas, which is known to produce a type of hormonal substance known as insulin, which is responsible for controlling the amount of blood sugar levels in the body. When a person develops diabetes, there occurs a disturbance in the hormonal secretion of the pancreas, and insulin is not produced by the pancreas gland in the desired amount. A lack of insulin and an increase in the amount of glucagon in the body (that is, in the bloodstream) leads to an increase in blood sugar levels, causing health- issues related to diabetes. When your health conditions worsen due to diabetes, there is a high chance, that the surplus of sugar in your blood might damage the nerves, veins, and blood vessels, and even some of the major organs of the body, such as the eyes, liver, kidneys, and might also affect organs like brain or heart and can hamper the proper physiological functioning of the body. So, once you get diabetes, contact your healthcare professional at once to treat the disease effectively.
The Different Types Of Diabetes:
There can be different types of diabetes. Some of them can be listed here as follows:
- Type 1 Diabetes: Type 1 diabetes is a type of disease that already develops in the human body. So, it is also known autoimmune disease. This type of diabetes occurs when the immune system of the body attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas gland. As the pancreas gland gets attacked by the immune system of the body, then the secretion of the insulin hormone gets affected and the body develops a type 1 diabetes disorder.
- Type 2 Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes is a type of diabetes that is not formed by any immune system disorder, but this type of diabetes mostly occurs when the human body becomes has a surplus of sugar or glucose content in the bloodstream and the insulin is not sufficient in the patient’s body, so much that it is not able to control the amount of glucose and sugar in your blood. It has been found in recent studies and experiments that almost 90 to 95% of people in the present day suffer from type 2 diabetes.
- Gestational: Gestational diabetes is the third type of diabetes that is known to occur in a woman when she is pregnant and she suffers from level high blood sugar during her pregnancy. This type of diabetes occurs because the placenta of the embryo produces some hormones that might have potential chances to block the secretion of hormones.
Omega- 3 Fatty Acids- How Are These Beneficial To Your Health
Omega- 3 fatty acids, also known as the ‘healthy fats’ belong to a class of polyunsaturated fats. These types of fatty acids are not present in the human body, in fact, the human body is biologically unable to synthesize such types of fats, though they are quite beneficial for the overall functioning of the body. The most important reason you must consider having omega- 3 fatty acids can be listed here as follows:
- To prevent the chance of occurrence of different types of cancers
- To keep your heart healthy by preventing the risk of occurrences of different types of diseases such as heart stroke, heart attack, cardiac arrest, heart failure, and many similar and related cardiovascular conditions in the body
- To maintain proper mental health and prevent the chances of developing mental health-related disorders such as anxiety, tension, stress disorders, or severe cases like panic attacks, anxiety attacks, clinical depression, and so on.
Foods That Are High In Omega- 3 Fatty Acids:
There are certain food components that are highly rich in omega- 3 fatty acids. Some such food substances can be listed here as follows:
- salmon: 4.0 grams EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)
- walnuts: 2.5 grams ALA (Alpha Linolenic Acid)
- flaxseeds: 2.3 grams ALA
- sardines: 2.2 grams EPA and DHA
- anchovies: 1.0 grams EPA and DHA
- chia seeds: 4.9 grams ALA
- mackerel: 3.0 grams EPA and DHA
Omega- 3 Fatty Acids And Controlling Blood Sugar: How They Are Linked Up?
Omega- 3 fatty acids are some of the most important classes of fats that are highly required for the body, not only to maintain a proper physiological function in the overall system of the body, but also to protect the body by helping to prevent the occurrences of different types of diseases and health-related issues such as cancer, different types of cardiac diseases, and so on.
Though omega- 3 fatty acids are considered some of the most essential fats, they are often found to have failed to treat diabetic issues or to control high levels of blood sugar. In fact, foods that contain omega- 3 fats are unable to improve blood sugar levels or treat diabetes. According to Harvard.edu, a research study that was conducted over 120,000 people with more than six months of trial, reveals that even if the amount of healthy polyunsaturated fats or omega-3 fatty acids is increased through the consumption of food substances such as mackerel, tuna, salmon, and many other such food components in the regular diet of a diabetic patient, the patient may or may not decrease the risks related to the diabetic disease or high levels of blood sugar. Thus, it cannot be sentenced in a certain way that consumption of food components that are high in the amounts of omega- 3 fatty acids can reduce the risks of diabetes. In fact, there are chances that these types of healthy fats might not reduce diabetic risks.
Things That You Should Consume If You Have Diabetes:
Most people who have diabetes are often advised by dieticians and many health care experts, to follow a certain type of diet, so that their blood sugar levels remain within control. So, there is a healthy and balanced diet that should be followed by all diabetic patients. Such a diet should include the following set of food components:
- plenty of fresh fruits
- loads of green leafy vegetables
- food components that are rich in fiber and roughage, such as whole grains
- lean meats and chicken, poultry
- fishes
- olive oils and nuts