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Prediabetes is a specific period before the onset of Type 2 diabetes, where blood glucose levels are high but not that high enough to be formally diagnosed as diabetes. The cheerful news is that both prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes are preventable. A significant percentage of diabetes cases can be successfully avoided by making simple lifestyle changes. The key to diabetes prevention can be summed up in four words: Stay Lean and Active.
So, let’s look at some of the best strategies to prevent your blood sugar from spiralling all out of control.
Control Your Weight
Excessive weight is, by far, the single most vital cause of Type 2 diabetes. Being overweight increases your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes sevenfold. In a similar manner, being obese makes you 20-40 times more likely to develop diabetes in comparison with those who maintain a healthy weight.
Shedding weight can be of immense help if your weight is above the range when it comes to “healthy weight.” Shedding 7-10% of your present weight can reduce your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by half.
Get Moving And Switch Off The Television
Inactivity and lack of exercise promote Type 2 diabetes. Giving your muscles a thorough workout often and eventually making them work harder improve their capability to use insulin and, thus, absorb glucose. Being physically active puts less stress on cells responsible for producing insulin. Therefore, instead of “sit-time,” opt for “fit-time.”
Long bouts of sweaty exercise in a gym are not mandatory to reap this benefit. Findings from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study suggest that brisk walking for half an hour every day reduces the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by as much as 30%. In recent times, The Black Women’s Health Study, too, reported similar benefits of diabetes prevention for brisk walking for more than 5 hours every week.
Watching television seems to be a particularly detrimental form of inactivity. Every 2 hours spent in watching TV (instead of engaging in something more active) increases your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by 20%. The more television you watch, the more likely you are to be overweight or even obese. So, this appears to explain some aspect of the TV viewing—Diabetes link. The unhealthy diet patterns that are associated with watching TV may additionally explain some of this relationship.
Pay Close Attention to What You Eat
Four basic changes to your daily diet can ultimately have an enormous impact on the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
- Skip refined grains and highly processed carbohydrates and opt for whole grains and whole-grain food products.
- Give sugary drinks a miss and choose tea, coffee, or water instead.
- Choose healthy fats over saturated fats, trans-fats, and cholesterol.
- Limit the intake of red meat and say “no” to processed meat. Instead, you must opt for beans, nuts, fish, poultry, and fibre-rich foods instead.
Quit Smoking If You Do
When it comes to the lengthy list of health complications directly linked with smoking, Type 2 diabetes also features on that list. Smokers are about 50% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes in comparison with non-smokers. What’s worse, chain smokers or heavy smokers are at an even higher risk.
Limit Your Consumption of Alcohol
While some studies indicate that moderate consumption of alcohol lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes, it should be made clear that excessive intake of alcohol, without a doubt, increases the risk of diabetes. If you do not consume alcohol, there is no need to begin because you can attain the same benefits by exercising, losing weight, and altering your diet plans.
These were some of the diabetes prevention tips.
On A Final Note
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disorder that can be successfully managed and controlled even though there is no known cure. Prediabetes is a condition marked by elevated blood sugar levels, without the development of full-fledged Type 2 diabetes. The good news is that prediabetes can be reversed. Moreover, those who have not even reached the stage of prediabetes can successfully prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes by making lifestyle modifications, such as keeping their weight under control, engaging in exercise and physical activity, eating a healthy, nutritious diet, quitting smoking, and avoiding excessive intake of alcohol. Thus, diabetes prevention and control are in your own hands.
