Cookies And Diabetes

In this day and age of high tech I need to stop and wonder what is happening to the population of the U.S. it seems that a large number of its citizens are becoming ill with diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association there are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease. With so many people affected by diabetes, the American Diabetes Association has compiled diabetes statistics on the impact of the disease and its complications. Based on death certificate data, diabetes contributed to 224,092 deaths in 2002. Studies indicate that diabetes in generally under-reported on death certificates, particularly in the cases of older persons with multiples chronic conditions such as heart disease and hypertension. Because of this, the toll of diabetes is believed to be much higher than officially reported.

I dont believe that cookies and baked goods are the culprits for this terrible disease, back in the 50s and 60s our parents and grandparents baked cookies on a daily basis and we as children had eaten dozens of cookies almost on a daily basis, there were cookies and milk after school, cookies in your lunch bag, and a snack before bedtime of cookies, we had cookies of every shape and form that anyone can imagine.

During the Christmas and Easter Holidays I went to my grandparents home and usually upon arrival we were offered cookies and milk for the children and cookie and coffee for the adults, during this period in time people would swap cookie recipes like children would swap baseball cards. Now that we are in the 21st Century no one can say that because they are diabetic that they cannot eat cookies, with all the new sugar free and diabetic cookie recipes that you can find and all the diabetic cookies on the market no one should say I cannot eat cookies.

Related Links:

What is diabetes?

A disease in which the body cannot convert food into energy because of a lack of insulin (a hormone produced by the pancreas), or because of an inability to use insulin. Diabetes is a serious condition that can cause complications ranging from numbness to loss of vision to coma. It also significantly raises the risk for other problems, such as stroke and heart disease. About 17 million Americans have diabetes.
A hereditary or developmental problem with sugar metabolism. Caused by a failure of the pancreas to produce enough insulin. Juvenile diabetes, or type 1 diabetes, is treated with diet, exercise and insulin. Type 2, formerly called adult onset, is now seen in overweight children. It is treated with diet, exercise and medication. In severe cases, type 2 diabetes is also treated with insulin.
A chronic condition associated with abnormally high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood. The two types of diabetes are referred to as insulin-dependent (type I) and non-insulin dependent (type II). Type I diabetes results from a lack of adequate insulin secretion by the pancreas. Type II diabetes (also known as adult-onset diabetes) is characterized by an insensitivity of the tissues of the body to insulin secreted by the pancreas (insulin resistance).