Are You Becoming a Diabetic?

Full-blown diabetes is easy to spot: Frequent, uncontrollable urges to urinate; virtually unquenchable thirst; numbness in your hands and feet. But the symptoms leading to the disease are harder to pinpoint and ignorance could mean amputation or death.

Here are four warning signs no one should ignore:

1. You feel sleepy right after a meal.
If your body can't process all the sugar, it will pull energy from other systems of your body, draining energy.

2. Your vision has become a little blurry.
Too much sugar can cause your eye lenses to stretch, causing blurred vision.

3. Your blood pressure is higher than usual.
Higher-than-normal blood-pressure levels are related to insulin resistance.

4. Your breath smells like nail-polish remover.
Without enough insulin to turn carbohydrates into energy, your liver will begin to break down fat for fuel. "Acetone breath" is one byproduct of fat combustion.

Notes
Occasional eyestrain after reading or post-dinner tiredness can be expected, but if these symptoms become chronic, talk to your doctor for sure.

Say "When" to Block Diabetes
Guys, watch out for a new diabetes risk factor: Heavy drinking. Research now shows that men who have just two drinks of hard liquor a day are 80 percent more likely to develop diabetes. Women's drinking doesn't seem to affect their diabetes risk (though more than one drink a day for women increases breast cancer risk).

Tip:
Get "smashed" with nonalcoholic, ultrapeppery Spicy Tomato Smash from EIEIO. It is available at natural foods stores. It is a fun drink - with no booze.