How Tallywell Works to Help Prevent Diabetes: A Comprehensive Guide

Diabetes is a global health concern that continues to rise, especially in the United States. There are traditional methods used to treat and manage diabetes, such as medication and blood sugar testing. But there's another way in which you can help keep your health on track outside of your traditional methods. In this article, you'll discover tallywell, a health score app, and learn how it can be used to manage your health and potentially prevent diabetes. 

Type 1 Vs. Type 2

Did you know there are two types of diabetes? Type 1 is caused by an autoimmune response that prevents the pancreas from producing insulin. Insulin is essential because it helps regularize the body's natural energy supply. 

Without insulin, the body's blood sugar levels drop, which creates uncomfortable and life-threatening symptoms. Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed in childhood and is a condition individuals live with for most of their lives. 

Even though this type of diabetes is most likely to occur in childhood, it can develop at any age. Type 2 diabetes is a bit different. Type 2 occurs in people of all ages and is likely due to health or lifestyle choices, such as diet and exercise. 

When an individual develops type 2 diabetes, their pancreas is no longer making as much insulin as it's meant to, which causes the blood sugar levels to drop at a slower rate. Even with this less severe case of diabetes, it is still damaging to the body and potentially life-threatening. 

Luckily, type 2 can go into remission, but individuals must make lifestyle choices in order to achieve this. Currently, there's 37.3, or 11.3%, of Americans with diabetes. These numbers continue to rise, but there are ways to avoid becoming part of these statistics, regardless of your age. 

How to Prevent Diabetes

Currently, there's no known method to prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is much more common, and there are ways to combat and reverse this diagnosis. One of the main indicators of diabetic likelihood is obesity. Being overweight creates issues within the body, especially with regard to your insulin levels. Excess weight causes insulin production to slow, preventing the body from producing and using it healthily. 

The standard American diet is also one of the main precursors to type 2. Foods that contain sugars, such as desserts, soda, candies, bread, and pasta, when eaten in excess, cause the body's blood sugar to rise. Many Americans' diets are riddled with too much unhealthy sugar, and their bodies are in a chronic state of high blood sugar. 

Because of this, the body continues to have to produce insulin continuously to move the glucose out of the blood and into the body's cells for energy. To combat or prevent this, all it takes is healthy food choices. 

Lastly, exercise is especially important in preventing type 2 diabetes. Consistent physical activity causes the body to become more sensitive to insulin, which means the pancreas doesn't have to work as hard to maintain blood sugar levels. 

Tallywell For Diabetes Prevention

Tallywell is an app that tracks your health metrics, monitors your physical activity, and creates a health score that allows you to see how well you've performed throughout the week. Since physical exercise is one of the best ways to prevent type 2 diabetes, using tallywell is great for holding yourself accountable and tracking your health. 

The tallywell app pulls data direction from your Apple Watch and uses your calories burned, heart rate, sleep, and steps to create a health score. Based on the score, the app provides actionable tips to help shift gears and stay on track of your daily activities. 

Diabetes prevention isn't a one-size-fits-all all. It's about tackling all of the main causes of this disease and forming actionable ways to combat them. Changing your diet is often the easy part; it's staying active and losing weight that can be a challenge. 

That's what makes tallywell great. You don't have to manually keep track of your calories burned or steps; you let your Apple Watch collect that for you. 

Then, when you've done well for the week, you can see that reflected in your health score. If you have a week of traveling or low energy, you can see this reflected in your score and receive the nudge you need to get back on track. 

Whether you've been recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or you're seeing preventive measures, the tallywell app is a great step in the right direction!

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