Hemp, Diabetes, and Veganism

November is Diabetes Awareness Month.  Diabetes is a major health concern in the US, and on its way to becoming one in other parts of the world as the typical Western diet is adopted across the globe.  There are three main types of diabetes; type 1, type 2, and gestational.

Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women.  It generally disappears when the pregnancy is over, but a woman has a greater risk of developing the disease later in life.  Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5% of all diabetes cases.  Causes are not as clear for this type, which normally manifests during childhood.  Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form, accounting for at least 90% of all diabetes cases in the US.  That’s alarming.

Here are some more alarming facts about diabetes:

• Diabetes affects 25.8 million people.  That’s 8.3% of the U.S. population
• In 2005–2008, based on studies, 35% of U.S. adults aged 20 years or older had prediabetes (50% of adults aged 65 years or older).  Applying this percentage to the entire U.S. population in 2010 yields an estimated 79 million American adults aged 20 years or older with prediabetes.
• Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people (of similar age but) without diabetes.
• Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

I take a look at veganism, hemp foods, and diabetes in my new post for Living Harvest titled, Hemp and Diabetes: What You Should Know. Please take a moment and give it a read, the more we understand diabetes- the better we can delay or prevent it.