Diabetic Weight Loss - Dietary Therapy

A child who is obese at an age of 18 is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in near future. Similarly, 45-year-old obese has 45.8 to 62.7 percent chances of developing diabetes. The high diabetes risk among overweight young people is especially threatening as they may develop the disease at an early age. Your weight affects your health in many ways. Being overweight can keep your body from making and using insulin properly and increases diabetes complications like heart disease and kidney failure.

An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight and one who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. Although BMI correlates with the amount of body fat, it does not directly measure body fat. There are several methods of estimating body fat and body fat distribution includes, skin fold thickness and waist circumference, calculation of waist-to-hip circumference ratios, and techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

For weight control, multiple interventions and strategies are available, including:

Dietary therapy - By making wise food choices, you can help control your body weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. A low fat diet with 0.0352 oz protein per lbs body weight and deficit of 500 to 1000 calories/day is recommended for weight loss regime. Limit your sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg (1 teaspoon). If alcoholic, talk to your doctor, he will help you to reduce its intake.
Physical activity –Diabetics are advised to start moderate activities for 30-45 minutes, 3-5 days/week, it aims for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity on most.
Behavior therapy – Diabetes is a disorder of metabolic syndrome. No specific treatment for the metabolic syndrome is available; lifestyle modification could be a key strategy to combat it. This behavior therapy is adjunct when incorporated into treatment for weight loss.
Pharmacotherapy –There are a wide variety of medications available for the treatment of hyperglycemia in diabetes and weight loss. Using FDA-approved weight loss medications, in combination with diet and physical activity, an ideal body weight with normal blood sugar can be achieved. According to one study Fluoxetine, orlistat, and sibutramine are some weight loss medicines available in the market. The magnitude of weight loss is modest, so the long-term health benefits remain unclear. The safety of sibutramine is uncertain.
Weight loss surgery-Bariatric surgery is a surgical procedure done on grossly over weight persons to help them reduce weight and avoid the risk for diseases. It is a surgical procedure done to alter the stomach to treat severe obesity. It is an option for carefully selected patients with clinically severe obesity, when less invasive methods of weight loss have failed, and if the patient is at high risk for obesity-associated illness or death.