If one or both of your parents have diabetes, chances are you will not escape the genetic consequences. But here is what you can do. You can be proactive and never have to take an insulin medication or stick yourself up to 2 times a day just to maintain normal blood sugar.

Even if you argue that it has not been proven that there is such a thing as a genetic link, don’t throw caution to the wind.

If you have a family history though, you owe it to yourself to know the symptoms of pre-diabetes otherwise know as hypoglycemia. Unlike diabetes the symptoms of prediabetes or hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. This happens when there is an over secretion of insulin by your pancreas in an effort to get the sugar, glucose from your blood stream into your body cells. This causes you to have symptom that you might not associate with diabetes.

Some of the symptoms are fatigue, irritability, dizziness, depression, and anxiety, craving for sweets, night sweats, a feeling of tightness in the chest, constant need to nibble, insomnia, lightheadedness, swollen feet, and weakness in the legs. Some of these feelings occur in between meals that are high in sweets and fat or after drinking sweet alcoholic drinks. If these symptoms are over looked after a while you might be faced with a diagnosis of diabetes.

Genetic diabetic links are strongly influenced by lifestyle. If you have adjusted your palate to a modern way of eating with highly processed fatty foods, gigantic soft drinks, large serving sizes at meals and snacks, you might want to note these symptoms.

Being aware of lightheadedness and a feeling of tightness in my chest after eating a Greek salad and a Margarita helped me to nip diabetes in the bud. First I got the feeling of tightness in the chest. Then I got light headed. I got so light headed I passed out. I had stopped to fill my car up and fainted at the pump. The person behind me waiting to fill up got out of his car and helped me up. This was so very scary for me, because I thought what if I was driving? I remember the feelings I had just before I fainted, and I thought this is more than a drink. This is bigger; this must be my double genetic link to diabetes nudge. This must be the onset of hypoglycemia. If both my parent did not have diabetes, I probably would not have made this association.

I was determined not to succumb to diabetes so I decided to nip this in the bud. I decided to do a major overhaul of my diet. Knowing my history with one parent dying in a diabetic coma, I was totally motivated. No turning back and definitely no diagnosis of diabetes.

This first thing I resolved was to remove sweet alcoholic drinks from my diet. I removed all packaged food drinks from my diet in an effort to lower my consumption of sugar, artificial colors, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. I mixed my juice with water or drink half the serving size on the label.

That was a great start. That was 15 years ago. During this time I have fine tuned my diet based on the glycemic index so that I never have any symptoms of hypoglycemia or diabetes. My diet has such a variety of foods; I do not get bored with it. Most of what I eat is found in my book Eat Yourself Younger Effortlessly. I hesitate to call it a diabetic book because it brings so much contentment, it is much more. I have my thyroid function checked since reduced thyroid function is associated with hypoglycemia.

I go to the gym 3 times per week and concentrate on preserving my muscle. I do yoga to increase my oxygen, retain muscle strength and balance and to quiet my mind.

This is a small price to pay for tip top health free of diabetic symptoms. So far my genetic link is inactive. Over the years my blood sugar remained normal and I have never been diagnosed as diabetic or taken any prescription drugs for hypoglycemia or diabetes.

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• Diabetes and Hypoglycemia
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• What Diabetes Means to You
• Diabetic Meal Planning - How to Think Like the World's Greatest Dieticians

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