More than 280 million people around the world suffer from diabetes, with a prevalence of 6.4% of the global population. According to the article, “Diabetes Management in Seven Countries,” in the World Health Organization’s Bulletin; many individuals afflicted with diabetes remain inadequately treated or not diagnosed. The vast majority of individuals with diabetes did not reach the International Diabetes Federation treatment objectives for blood glucose levels, blood pressure or serum cholesterol. Only 1% or 12% of the people with diabetes in the countries surveyed reached these objectives (page 5). Clearly, the lack of adequate management and poor prevention techniques of diabetes is a cause of major concern.
While these statistics are disconcerting, proven strategies to reduce the symptoms of diabetes are achievable: i) prevent harm through reducing risk factors such as obesity; (ii) diabetes screenings combined with lifestyle or pharmacological interventions for individuals with pre-diabetes; (iii) more accurate diagnosis and maintenance of healthy blood glucose levels; (iv) increased care of micro vascular complications and (v) lowering of cardiovascular risks through better management (page 1). Some strategies require the intervention of medical professionals and others are achieved by the individual's chosen lifestyles.
According to Professor Martin Wiseman, Medical and Scientific Advisor for World Cancer Research Fund, in Medical News Today; one of the best ways individuals can have healthy blood sugar levels is to reduce sugar intake. The food industry has added sugar to many food staples, including canned tomatoes, salsas, and meat. This has made lowing sugar consumption increasingly difficult as sugar is often eaten unintentionally or out of necessity. Thankfully, health conscious food companies have been created to provide healthy alternatives.
As many readers of this blog know, Dr. Massoud Kazemzadeh is the founder of Kay's Naturals. With the knowledge that that reducing glucose was a fundamental step towards maintaining healthy glucose levels, Dr. Kazemzadeh was inspired to create Kay’s Naturals for his first wife Linda, who was a juvenile diabetic. He witnessed the great need for convenient, but healthy, food choices. Fifteen years later, Kay’s Naturals provides fifteen different health food options, which are an excellent food choice for people with diabetes because of our products have a low glycemic index . To see what health food snacks we have developed, visit Kay’s Naturals’ website.
With the right tools, diabetic individuals can reach the International Diabetes Federation’s treatment and prevention goals. Hopefully the increase in healthy food options will lower the number of people burdened with diabetes and help those who have diabetes reach their nutritional targets for an increased well-being.