As you are reading this, chances are you or someone you know suffers from diabetes.
Growing up I would always hear my late ouma and her friends talk about how low or high their suiker was at their last doctor’s visit.
My aunt called my gran and her friends the Huletts Gang, get it?
Funny as it was, my family always knew the seriousness of this condition.
As a child, I always dismissed diabetes as a condition that you get once you’re over the age of 60 and well into the brille en pille years of your life.
I was obviously wrong.
I was also wrong when I thought eating too much sugar causes suiker - as I’m sure many of us did at some stage.
Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes, but an unhealthy diet containing too many sugary foods and drinks can cause weight gain and this may lead to type 2 diabetes in some cases.
Of course, there are many other factors that could also lead to this.
Next Wednesday, November 14, is World Diabetes Day and according to the International Diabetes Federation, there were 1.8 million cases of diabetes in South Africa in 2017.
The good news is 80% of cases of type 2 diabetes are preventable by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Whole foods like oats, beans and wheat are great to add to your diet if you are type 2 diabetic.
Exercise like walking or swimming won't hurt either.
Just because you’re a member of the Huletts gang doesn’t mean you still can’t eat lekker. Try these recipes and you will have everyone in the family licking their lippe.
The number of people with diabetes is expected to rise by 522 million by 2030.
One in two people with diabetes remain undiagnosed, that’s approximately 212 million people.
Diabetes is the leading cause of heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, blindness, and lower limb amputation.
80% of cases of type 2 diabetes is preventable by adopting a healthy lifestyle.