You and your loved ones do not have to be a part of our unhealthy, disease ridden culture. Take a look at these statistics from the CDC on diabetes. 2 numbers scare me: 65,000 amputations in 1 year and over 4 million in 4 years going blind!
All the numbers are sad because most of them could have been stopped.
AND people still tell me I just can not give up my cheese or I have to have my meat! Meat and Dairy leading killers in America.
  

Deaths among people with diabetes, United States, 2007

• Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death based on U.S. death certificates in 2007. This ranking is based on the 71,382 death certificates in 2007 in which diabetes was the underlying cause of death. Diabetes was a contributing cause of death in an additional 160,022 death certificates for a total of 231,404 certificates in 2007 in which diabetes appeared as any-listed cause of death.
• Diabetes is likely to be underreported as a cause of death. Studies have found that about 35% to 40% of decedents with diabetes had it listed anywhere on the death certificate and about 10% to 15% had it listed as the underlying cause of death.
• Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people of similar age but without diabetes.

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Estimated diabetes costs in the United States, 2007

Total (direct and indirect): $174 billion
Direct medical costs: $116 billion

• After adjusting for population age and sex differences, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.

Indirect costs: $58 billion (disability, work loss, premature mortality) 

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Complications of diabetes in the United States

Heart disease and stroke

• In 2004, heart disease was noted on 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
• In 2004, stroke was noted on 16% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older.
• Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
• The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people with diabetes.

Hypertension

• In 2005–2008, of adults aged 20 years or older with self-reported diabetes, 67% had blood pressure greater than or equal to 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or used prescription medications for hypertension.

Blindness and eye problems

• Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years. 
• In 2005–2008, 4.2 million (28.5%) people with diabetes aged 40 years or older had diabetic retinopathy, and of these, 655,000 (4.4% of those with diabetes) had advanced diabetic retinopathy that could lead to severe vision loss.

Kidney disease

• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 44% of all new cases of kidney failure in 2008.
• In 2008, 48,374 people with diabetes began treatment for end-stage kidney disease.
• In 2008, a total of 202,290 people with end-stage kidney disease due to diabetes were living on chronic dialysis or with a kidney transplant.

Nervous system disease

• About 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage. The results of such damage include impaired sensation or pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion of food in the stomach, carpal tunnel syndrome, erectile dysfunction, or other nerve problems.
• Almost 30% of people with diabetes aged 40 years or older have impaired sensation in the feet (i.e., at least one area that lacks feeling).
• Severe forms of diabetic nerve disease are a major contributing cause of lower-extremity amputations.

Amputations

• More than 60% of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes
• In 2006, about 65,700 nontraumatic lower-limb amputations were performed in people with diabetes. 

Dental disease

• Periodontal (gum) disease is more common in people with diabetes. Among young adults, those with diabetes have about twice the risk of those without diabetes.
• Adults aged 45 years or older with poorly controlled diabetes (A1c > 9%) were 2.9 times more likely to have severe periodontitis than those without diabetes. The likelihood was even greater (4.6 times) among smokers with poorly controlled diabetes.
• About one-third of people with diabetes have severe periodontal disease consisting of loss of attachment (5 millimeters or more) of the gums to the teeth.

Complications of pregnancy

• Poorly controlled diabetes before conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy among women with type 1 diabetes can cause major birth defects in 5% to 10% of pregnancies and spontaneous abortions in 15% to 20% of pregnancies. On the other hand, for a woman with pre-existing diabetes, optimizing blood glucose levels before and during early pregnancy can reduce the risk of birth defects in their infants. 
• Poorly controlled diabetes during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy can result in excessively large babies, posing a risk to both mother and child.

Other complications

• Uncontrolled diabetes often leads to biochemical imbalances that can cause acute life-threatening events, such as diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar (nonketotic) coma.
• People with diabetes are more susceptible to many other illnesses. Once they acquire these illnesses, they often have worse prognoses. For example, they are more likely to die with pneumonia or influenza than people who do not have diabetes.
• People with diabetes aged 60 years or older are 2–3 times more likely to report an inability to walk one-quarter of a mile, climb stairs, or do housework compared with people without diabetes in the same age group.
• People with diabetes are twice as likely to have depression, which can complicate diabetes management, than people without diabetes. In addition, depression is associated with a 60% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.