DIABETES will affect more than 1billion people across the world by 2050, scientists predict.
The number of people with the disease is expected to more than double from 529million suffering with it in 2021 — to around a tenth of the global population.
GettyMore than 1billion people around the world are predicted to have diabetes by 2050[/caption]
US researchers said cases are set to “grow aggressively” in every country and among every age group.
They warned of an “accelerating epidemic of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents”.
Dr Shivani Agarwal, of the Montefiore Health System in New York, said: “Diabetes remains one of the biggest public health threats of our time.
“It is set to grow aggressively over the coming three decades, posing a serious challenge to healthcare systems worldwide.”
Around 5million Brits are estimated to be living with diabetes currently, according to Diabetes UK.
Some 90 per cent of those have type 2 diabetes, which causes high blood sugar levels because the body is unable to produce enough of a hormone called insulin.
The lifelong condition increases your risk of deadly heart disease and stroke and can also lead to nerve damage, blindness and kidney problems.
Experts predict rates are going to increase because of surging obesity numbers in Britain, with a quarter of adults now obese and a further 38 per cent overweight.
The latest research, published in the Lancet, looked at how the number of diabetes patients is likely to change worldwide over the next 30 years.
Researchers estimated around 6.1 per cent of the world had diabetes in 2021.
By 2050, they predict 1.3billion will have the disease.
Separate forecasters have predicted the global population will be 9.7billion by then, meaning around 13.4 per cent could have diabetes, the research suggests.
Dr Liane Ong, of the University of Washington, said: “The rapid rate at which diabetes is growing is not only alarming but also challenging for every health system in the world.
“While the general public might believe that T2D is simply associated with obesity, lack of exercise, and a poor diet, preventing and controlling diabetes is quite complex.
“Factors include someone’s genetics, as well as logistical, social, and financial barriers within a country’s structural system, especially in low- and middle-income countries.”
Chris Askew, of Diabetes UK, said: “This important study underlines the sheer scale of the diabetes crisis we’re facing, both in the UK and around the world.
“The need for concerted cross-government action to address inequalities in diabetes prevalence and outcomes has never been greater or more urgent.”
These tips can help you to take back control of your weight and help prevent a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
1. Stop and think
Ask yourself one question, are you eating because you are actually hungry?
Or is it because you are tired, sad, lonely, depressed, bored, or maybe you are eating just to please somebody else, for example if you go for dinner, or you’re out with someone and they are hungry?
Make a point of only eating when you’re physically hungry. Resist the temptation to reach for food just because it’s there in front of you.
2. Cut back on the alcohol
Not only is it full of empty calories, but it plays with your mind. Medical research has shown that when you consume alcohol, it stimulates the production of a hunger-increasing hormone, ghrelin.
Alcohol also alters the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain responsible for the control of thought processes, behaviour and emotion.
As a result, it impairs your judgement, obliterating your decision-making skills, and lowers your resolve, self-control and willpower.
Maybe it’s not surprising then, that more people break their diets following alcohol consumption, than at any other time!
3. “Pay in advance”
How about paying in advance? Basically, decide what you want to eat, it can be anything you like, but first work out the number of calories it contains.
Then you pay up-front by way of exercise.
Afterwards, if you still want it, then eat it.
So, if a bar of chocolate contains 250 calories that’s fine. But before you eat it you must run up the stairs 42 times.
This tip helps you to stop and think twice about your food choices, and encourages you to go for the healthy option more often, rather than reaching for things that are calorie dense, but nutritionally poor.
4. Drink water before a meal
Drinking one, or ideally two large glasses of chilled water before a meal, everyone’s heard it before but how many of us actually do it.
After you have drunk the water the stomach’s receptors will perceive the fullness, the stomach will be stretched this will quickly dampen your appetite.
Drinking water also flushes out toxins and helps to increase metabolism. Therefore you burn more calories too! It will also ensure you have healthy skin, and may reduce loose skin following weight loss.
5. Get moving
It is reported that some people find it annoying.
But did you know that fidgeting, or just moving, can burn ten times more calories than just sitting still, which is great news when it comes to keeping your metabolism ticking over at a higher rate.
One study confirmed that fidgets burned around 350 more calories per day. That could potentially equate to successfully shedding more than a few pounds. And all achieved just by tapping your feet!
But, more realistically, think about getting moving more often.
Stand up and walk around the house or your workplace every half an hour or so. Some people use alarms to remind them.
6. Cut the junk
Limiting your intake of highly processed foods that are often full of refined carbs and empty calories will help you to eat less food in general.
These foods light up the reward centre in the brain, and cause the feel good hormone, dopamine to be released.
It’s much harder to stop eating ultra-processed foods, compared to non-processed foods, so you are more likely to keep going and end up over consuming.
7. Improve your mood
Covid and the subsequent depression made weight gain inevitable for many people.
The connection between obesity and depression has been known for a while.
But even someone suffering with a low mood will find themselves taking comfort from high carb foods without even knowing why.
Therefore, if you find yourself in a rut of low mood, taking steps to lift it will encourage you to make healthier choices around food and as a result it’s so much easier for you to achieve successful weight loss in the process.
If you think you have depression, make sure to seek help.
8. Manage your stress levels
Research has found that the stress hormone, cortisol not only slows down your metabolism, but at the same time it causes you to crave highly palatable foods that have an addictive combination of sugar, fat and salt.
Studies have shown that cortisol also triggers excessive abdominal, or visceral, fat deposits in the body.
It’s well-known that excessive visceral fat increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
So, reducing your stress levels will boost your metabolism, improve your food choices and help you to get rid of that toxic abdominal fat too.