Ignoring it as there are no symptoms, you will have to inject insulin within 5 years… Koreans’ small pancreas causes ‘dry diabetes’
The miracle of the ‘golden time’ in the first 90 days, if you lose 10% of your body weight, you can maintain normal blood sugar without medication.
“Deputy Kim, why don’t you stir-fry rice? The soup is this rich?”
‘K-dessert’ fried rice is the finale to a company dinner. However, fried rice, which is a lump of refined carbohydrates, can be the most fatal ‘poison’ to the pancreas of office workers with pre-diabetes. Getty Images
A pork belly restaurant in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the evening of the 12th. When Kim (31), who has been with the company for three years, puts down his spoon, the manager gives him a sharp remark. Rice stir-fried in pork fat after eating meat is a ‘K-dessert’ that Koreans find difficult to resist. He laughs and refuses, saying, “I’m controlling carbohydrates, so it’s okay,” but the mocking joke comes back, saying, “You young guy, what kind of health problem is this? Let’s eat and die.”
But Assistant Manager Kim is steadfast. Fasting blood sugar was ‘124’ on last month’s health checkup. This is because I received a report card indicating ‘pre-diabetes’, which is just shy of 126, which is the standard for diagnosing diabetes. Trusting only in the shield of youth, your blood vessels soaked in sweet lattes and spicy snacks are now silently screaming.
◆The sound of the ‘silent killer’ knocking on the door
Numbers don’t lie. According to the Korean Diabetes Association’s ‘Diabetes Fact Sheet’, one in six adults (about 16-17%) over the age of 30 suffer from diabetes.
Recently, the proportion of patients in their 30s and 40s is gradually increasing. The problem is that many of them are drinking bomb liquor without even knowing that they are patients.
A professor of endocrinology at a university hospital in Seoul said, “The most unfair thing young patients say is, ‘There’s no foam in the urine and I’m not thirsty, so why do I have diabetes?’” He warned, “By the time symptoms appear, more than 50% of pancreatic function has already been damaged.”
Korean pancreas size (smaller than that of Westerners), 1 in 6 adults over 30 years old has diabetes. Gemini Generated Graphics
In particular, Koreans have a smaller pancreas than Westerners and are inherently less capable of secreting insulin. This means that even if you eat just one bowl of rice, your pancreas has to work harder than that of Westerners. This ‘small pancreas’ is the reason why diabetes can easily occur in ‘skinny obese’ people who only have a small belly even if they are not obese.
◆What if I don’t want to take medicine? Just stick with it for ‘3 months’
“Do you want to take medication for the rest of your life, or do you want to lose weight just for 3 months?”
This is an ultimatum that doctors give to patients with early stage diabetes in the clinic. The hopeful keyword here is ‘Remission.’ If you lose 10% of your body weight during the ‘golden time’ in the early stages of diabetes diagnosis, before the pancreas completely loses its function, you can maintain normal blood sugar levels even after stopping medication.
In fact, the case of Mr. Park (38), who cut out evening carbohydrates for three months and did squats four times a week, is dramatic. He was even recommended for hospitalization due to a glycated hemoglobin of 8.5%, but the level returned to normal at 5.9% in 90 days.
Youth is no longer a shield against diabetes. Recently, the number of cases of people in their 30s and 40s ignoring the warning of a fasting blood sugar level of ‘100’ and then receiving insulin injections for the rest of their lives has been rapidly increasing. Getty Images
He said, “At first, I felt like my hands were shaking when I didn’t eat, but when I stopped drinking convenience store drinks, my stomach fat disappeared and the fatigue disappeared like a lie.”
The key is ‘thorough diet’ and ‘thigh muscles’. Thighs are giant incinerators that burn away 70% of the glucose we ingest. The reason why Assistant Manager Kim did not lift a spoon even in front of fried rice was not due to an unusual situation, but a survival instinct.
Lower body muscle strength consumes 70% of glucose. Gemini Generated Graphics
◆In the end, it is a fight with ‘me’
There is no royal road to diabetes management. You should not be deceived by folk remedies such as ‘Diabetes-fighting bitter melon juice’ or ‘pork potato water’ that are floating around in the market. In the end, the only way is to reduce the sugar entering the mouth and burn it by moving the body.
Diabetes is not a disease that can be cured. A friend who lives with you for the rest of your life. At a dinner party tonight, the only thing scarier than the manager’s glare was the scream of my pancreas. Let’s confidently put the lid on the rice bowl without worrying about what others think. That little courage can change your future 10 years.
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date:2026-02-12 20:00:00
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