Obesity continues to be the number one risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. Worldwide, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing, and so is obesity … this trend is not coincidental. Two thirds of adult men and women diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the United States, have a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or more. Extremely obese people (those with a BMI of 40 or higher), are seven times more likely than normal weight people to develop this form of diabetes.

The hallmark of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance. This means that even though there is adequate amount of insulin in your blood, the receptors that make the insulin act are resistant to it’s stimulus. As one becomes obese, the cells become less sensitive to the insulin being secreted by your pancreas. The reason could be the number of fat cells exceeds the number of muscle cells, and the former are more resistant to the action of insulin than the latter.

Another way of looking at it is that type 2 involves a two-step process that first affects the body’s response to, and later, the production of insulin:

• the reduced sensitivity to insulin, known as insulin resistance, compels the pancreas to work harder and produce more insulin. The pancreas of a lean person might release 40 units of insulin a day. Now if that individual becomes overweight, those same 40 units are inadequate to clear sugar from the bloodstream
• in order to compensate, the pancreas starts to produce more insulin to match the increased demand, but there is a limit as to how much of an extra load an individual’s pancreas can handle.

This is when type 2 results … because the pancreas fails to keep up with the insulin requirement to control your blood sugar levels.

Another important aspect is the distribution of fat and how it affects the development of diabetes. It has been found that losing the waist hip ratio is an even more important factor than body weight itself. Typically, what is described as apple shaped obesity with more fat accumulation around the waist, is more harmful than pear shaped obesity where fat is predominantly accumulated around the hips and thighs.

In addition, new theories have emerged about the likely associations between obesity and diabetes. It has been found that fat cells secrete many hormone-like substances that circulate through your bloodstream and can affect other body systems. This includes leptin, and free fatty acids that may be additionally responsible for the creation of type 2 diabetes.

Fortunately type 2 diabetes is very sensitive to weight reduction and may even disappear with weight loss.

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