Diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease. Since 1987 the death rate has increased 45 percent. In 2002; diabetes claimed an astonishing 224,092 lives in the United States alone. It is believed that the number was actually higher since most deaths of the elderly had multiple chronic conditions associated with their death including diabetes. Many people do not know that they have diabetes until they develop other life threatening conditions such as, heart disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney damage, nervous system damage, dental disease, sexual dysfunction, and a number of other complications. When you have diabetes the above complication are side illnesses, diabetes is this root of all of your medical problems and must be under control for you to recover from the side illnesses period!  Being checked by your physician on a regular basis is absolutely necessary for your overall quality of life. If you do not know that you have diabetes, there is no other way of knowing that you have this deadly disease without a check up.

There are several different types of diabetes such as, type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 is the body's inability to produce insulin, people with type 1 are insulin dependent for the remainder of their lives, and they must also keep close track of their diets. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes; diabetes is a chronic disease and has no cure. While an estimated 14 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes it is also estimated that close to 6.2 million are unaware that they have this deadly disease. In 2005 1.5 million new cases were diagnosed in people age 20 and above. If this dangerous trend continues it is believed that 1 in 3 Americans will develop diabetes in their lifetime. It is also estimated that 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes today.

Pre-diabetes is a dangerous condition in itself, this is when the glucose level in the blood is not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes yet damage is being done to your internal organs. The body can not handle any unsafe level of sugar or glucose in the blood for any extended period of time.

Diabetes is the body's inability to use the sugar called glucose. Glucose is created when the body breaks down food for energy. The hormone insulin opens up the cells in the body to allow glucose to enter into the cell and be used as fuel. In diabetes the cell never opens up and the glucose flows through the blood stream causing high blood sugar levels. With diabetes the body either dose not make enough insulin or is resistant to its own natural insulin. High blood sugar can lead to very serious complications. Heart disease is the leading cause of premature death in people with diabetes. Diabetes is the major cause of leg and foot amputations in Americans today. Infections are much harder to control in people with diabetes, they are at greater risk of complications and death due to infection. The high risk factors leading to type 2 diabetes is too much body fat and high sugar intake!

Diabetes is on the rise; Americans are eating poorly and are lacking physical activity and this is starting to really show in the children of America.

Free-radicals are very active in a person with diabetes. They attack a number of cells at once because diabetes causes an abnormal immune function due to high glucose levels in the blood and organs. Free-radicals are the reason you see so many different complications or side illnesses in this disease. Free-radicals are molecules or atoms that are missing an electron, free-radicals attack healthy cells trying to steal an electron from them. Chronic inflammation is also a major player with this disease and in the side illnesses. Chronic inflammation is being called the silent killer by doctors and scientists. All of the above diseases need medications to help regulate the disease, but you need to know this, medications cause free-radical damage, and this damage is called side effects. All medications can cause side effects. So eating properly to help your condition is absolutely essential for your life.

Think of free-radicals as a school of piranha, they feed on everything in sight, they are not picky eaters. Free-radicals cause healthy cells to become mutated or deformed and they attack any cell they come in contact with. Now if they do manage to steal an electron then that once healthy cell, in turn, becomes a free-radical doing what was done to it. This is a vicious cycle, basically there is a war going on inside your body. You can not see or feel this war but it is there, and one day it will show its ugly head in the form of a serious disease or illness. You must be on the defensive and feed your body what it needs in order to combat these little piranhas.

Inflammation is a bully, after the free-radicals have done the damage the inflammation is sent by the body to help heal but it is unable to heal mutations and deformities so the deformed or mutated cells begin to feed on the healthy inflammation cells. Now the inflammation cells are deformed or mutated and become chronic inflammation cells, the chronic inflammation cells begin attacking your healthy tissues and cells.

You have the power to take your health into your own hands and put a stop to the damage now. As we know anti-oxidants help the body fight against free-radicals, anti-oxidants are molecules or atoms that has an extra electron. It gives this extra electron away and in turn the free-radicals stop attacking healthy cells. Science has proven that ALL diseases and illnesses are caused by free-radical damage and the vast majorities have chronic inflammation as their side kick. There are risk factors for all diseases but free-radicals and chronic inflammation are the source and cause of major complications. Free-radicals can not be avoided; they are in air and water pollution, in the junk foods we eat, and caused by traumas and injuries. Free-radicals are a part of life; they even affect the aging process itself.

Anti-oxidants are essential for health, plants contain about 1,000 to 1,500 anti-oxidants, a diet of fruits and vegetables is essential, supplements are key, vitamins and minerals contain high numbers of anti-oxidants. You need to do some research and try to find fresh supplements; they tend to lose their potency the longer they sit on the self.

Anyone with diabetes or even pre-diabetes must re-think their diets, moving towards fresh and properly cooked foods, stay away from fast foods and anything with high sugar content. Taking in a large number of anti-oxidants everyday, is essential to help your body recover and maintain better overall health. Type 2 diabetes can be controlled with diet and exercise, as long as you begin now. Pre-diabetes can be reversed.

There are also super charged, super powerful anti-oxidants in nature called Xanthones. Xanthones have the power to defeat a larger number of free-radicals at one time, due to strong carbon bonds that make the molecule stable. Each Xanthone performs a specific biological function inside the body unlike regular anti-oxidants. Universities and scientists have been studying xanthones for over 20 years. Scientists have found that xanthones are able to relieve a variety of problems and also help in the improvement of serious conditions. This is the reason that more and more universities and scientists are becoming involved in the research on these amazing xanthones. Two hundred xanthones have been identified in nature, and 41 are in the mangosteen fruit alone, you can compare that to the Aloe Vera plant that contains only one xanthone. The mangosteen fruit also contains 25,000 anti-oxidants. How can that help your health? The mangosteen fruit has the highest number of anti-oxidants and xanthones ever found in one source. One thing about xanthones you need to know is that they must be consumed in their natural form. For more information on xanthones you can call toll free 1-888-374-4148 and listen to a message about the mangosteen fruit juice and its powerful medicinal abilities.

People with diabetes are ruled by their medications and checking their blood everyday, they must see their doctor on a regular basis in order to keep their blood sugars under control by adjusting their medication. If their sugar goes too far up or too far down, massive damage to the internal organs and tissues is done and even the brain is affected, and can cause comma. This is a very deadly disease, but with the right food intake it dose not have to be, take care of your self.