The Basics- are you overweight? 
The bluntest truth that a diabetic must confront is that obesity is more strongly correlated to the occurrence of diabetes than any other factor. For a given human being of normal weight, say 150 pounds, there is a “normal chance” of developing diabetes due to a variety of factors. However, if that person is 20% overweight (180 lbs), the chance of developing diabetes doubles. In fact, for each additional 20% overweight, the risk doubles again.

What does this mean? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in the United States approximately 21 million people already have diabetes. In a population of just over 300 million people, this means that on average (ignoring your weight) you have a one in sixteen (1/16) chance of becoming a diabetic at some point in your life. If you are 20% overweight, you have a 1/8 chance of developing diabetes. If you are 40% overweight, you have a 1/4 chance of developing diabetes. If you had the choice, would you pick to have a 1/16 chance of developing diabetes, or a 1/4 chance (or worse)? You do have the choice- it is made by the lifestyle you choose to lead, including maintaining a healthy, natural body weight. At the Hope4Diabetes Medical Center, our goal is to help you beat those odds. In addition to nutritional counseling, we offer nutritional supplements that will help your appetite and consumption of food draw into a natural balance with a healthy body weight.  View SimpleTrim.

To determine your proper body weight, an index known as the body mass index (BMI) has been developed by the NIH. BMI is a ratio of your weight to your height. The index has been developed by examining millions of individuals to determine “normal”, “overweight”, and “obese” levels for any given height. If you would like to know what your BMI is, use our simple BMI calculator found here:

Body Mass Index Calculator

A normal range for BMI is 18.5 to 25.9. If your body mass index is above 30, the NIH classifies you as clinically obese. Note, however, that a 20% overweight individual has a BMI of around 28 or 29. If you think you might have a weight problem, contact us when you are ready to confront this: We also offer specific supplements to help you maintain a healthy diet and control your glucose levels. View Somple Trim

In addition to the 21 million people in the United States who have diabetes, at least 54 million people over the age of 20 have pre-diabetes (abnormally high blood glucose, yet not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes). These 54 million people are at the most risk for developing clinical diabetes. These people are also the ones who will respond most effectively to non-pharmaceutical, alternative and complimentary approaches to avoid developing diabetes. If you are an American citizen over the age of 20, there is a one in four chance that you are pre-diabetic, and don’t know it. For more information on how to determine if you are pre-diabetic, look for the early warning signs here.