More than 37 million American adults are living with diabetes. That’s over 11% of the U.S. population! But just like diabetes, that number can be reversed with diet and lifestyle changes. You can take control of diabetes so it doesn’t control you.
November is Diabetes Awareness Month and Virta Health, a proven diabetes reversal and weight loss program and one of our EWTF partners, can help you start the holiday season on a healthy note. No need to wait until the new year to commit to controlling your diabetes and losing weight—start now and start feeling good!
There are a few main types of diabetes—Type 1 diabetes, typically diagnosed in childhood; Type 2 diabetes, known as adult-onset diabetes; gestational diabetes, which develops in the mother during pregnancy but typically goes away after the baby is born; and prediabetes, when blood glucose sugars are higher than normal but not quite high enough to be diabetes. Diabetes is a leading health condition among our EWTF participants and dependents and a top priority for the EWTF to improve and, ultimately, reverse. This is why the EWTF is thankful to have Virta Health as a partner program available to all of our participants and dependents at no additional cost.
Simply put, diabetes occurs when your blood glucose (blood sugar) is too high. This happens when your body doesn’t produce the insulin needed to get the glucose into your cells for energy, leaving the glucose lingering in your blood. This is why diabetics rely on insulin injections to help the glucose reach cells and be used for energy. The insulin keeps diabetics alive. While diabetes is not new and treatment through insulin injections has long been commonplace, diabetes is a serious health condition that carries with it significant health risks, including cardiovascular disease, eye complications, kidney disease, nerve damage, foot problems including the risk for amputation, and an increased risk for some types of cancer, for example.
While Type 1 diabetes is a condition you are born with, Type 2 diabetes is an acquired health condition. The risk factors for acquiring Type 2 diabetes are:
- Being overweight
- Age, being over 35
- Having a family history of diabetes
- Being of African American, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino or Pacific Islander descent
- Having prediabetes
- Having a history of gestational diabetes
Type 2 diabetes can be controlled, even reversed, through diet and lifestyle choices which is where Virta comes in. Virta is a EWTF benefit available to all participants and covered dependents. It is a non-invasive, lifestyle program overseen by medical professionals. The program does not rely on medications or medical procedures to control diabetes. Quite the opposite, in fact. Virta’s goal is to help participants achieve a healthy lifestyle that eliminates the need for diabetes medications. While reversing diabetes is the program’s goal, weight loss has proven to be another side benefit for most participants and living life at a healthy weight has countless benefits of its own.
Getting healthy and getting rid of diabetes is the perfect gift to give yourself this holiday season! Thankfully, the EWTF and Virta Health can help you do it!
Learn more about Virta and enroll.