Defeat Diabetes MS Moonshot

The Defeat Diabetes MS Moonshot course is designed to help you reverse prediabetes and to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.

It is a 12-week course that focuses on 6 S’s:
- Reducing Salt
- Reducing Sugar
- Increasing Steps
- Reducing Size
- Improving Sleep
- Reducing Stress
You will gain the basic information you need to make important lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
These changes also reduce your risk of other chronic diseases including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and some cancers such as breast and colon.

How does your body process foods and sugars?

When you eat, food goes into your stomach then your intestines, where it is broken down into sugars, proteins, and fats.
After being broken down, the sugars are then absorbed into your bloodstream.
The pancreas is a large, elongated organ that is near the stomach. One of its functions is to make a hormone named insulin. Insulin is needed to allow the sugars in your bloodstream to get into the cells of your body and be used for energy.
The liver works to make and store sugar. The liver releases sugar into the bloodstream throughout the day when you are not eating.

In a person with normal body function, sugars enter into the bloodstream by either the liver or the foods that he or she eats. As the amount of sugars increase in the bloodstream, the pancreas releases insulin. The body uses insulin as the key to unlock the doors of the body’s cells. Once the doors of the cells are unlocked, sugars enter the cells and provide energy.

In a person with type 2 diabetes, the following may occur:
- The pancreas does not produce as many keys (less insulin)
- The cells are unable to respond to the keys that are released (the body becomes resistant to insulin)
When this occurs, the amount of sugar increases in your bloodstream, leading to diabetes.
Prediabetes occurs when your blood sugars are higher than normal, but not high enough to have diabetes.

Criteria for Prediabetes and Diabetes
	Normal blood sugar	Prediabetes	Diabetes
Fasting*	99 mg/dL or less	100-125 mg/dL	126 mg/dL or higher
2-hour blood sugar reading during an oral glucose tolerance test**	139 mg/dL or less	140-199 mg/dL	200 mg/dL or higher
Hemoglobin A1C***	5.6% or less	5.7-6.4%	6.5% or higher

* Fasting = No food for at least eight hours

** A test performed in your doctor's office or a lab

*** A test that provides an average blood sugar over the past 2-3 months

Overweight or obese
Physical inactivity
45 years of age or older
A family member with type 2 diabetes
Diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes)
Giving birth to a baby over 9 pounds
African-American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian or Alaskan Native ethnicity