Diabetes Prevention is Possible
Prevention is a word that most people don’t associate with diabetes. It is true that the majority of people who develop diabetes have no history of it in their family. However, there are some things you can do to prevent diabetes from happening to you. Exercise and a healthy diet are important factors in preventing diabetes.
Diet Tips for Diabetes Prevention
The first thing to do is to make healthy food choices. When you are preparing your meals, choose fresh foods over processed foods. For example, instead of eating french fries, eat a baked sweet potato with chili-lime butter. Instead of eating macaroni and cheese, try zucchini noodles with tomato sauce or pesto. If you want to cut out sugar from your diet, drink lots of water and consume fresh fruits to satisfy your sweet tooth cravings.
Exercise Tips for Diabetes Prevention
The benefits of exercise are endless. It can help you lose weight, reduce stress, and lower your risk of heart disease. For diabetes prevention, it’s important to stay active. Some people are hesitant to start exercising because they think it will make their blood sugar levels rise. But this is not the case! You can actually improve your insulin sensitivity by exercising regularly. This decreases the chance that your body will need an excess amount of insulin in order to manage blood sugar levels after a meal. Remember, when insulin is produced in large amounts, it is considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Exercise helps control your weight and also reduces inflammation which may lead to diabetes complications like cardiovascular disease and strokes.
Lifestyle Tips for Diabetes Prevention
1. Losing weight: Obesity is one of the main risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes and it worsens the disease progression. It’s estimated that up to 3-4% of new diabetes cases each year can be prevented by losing weight.
2. Getting more exercise: Studies show that people who exercise two hours a week have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who don’t get any exercise at all, and that this benefit is more pronounced in people with a family history of diabetes.
3. Eating healthy: Healthy eating habits play an important role in preventing type 2 diabetes and both diet and physical activity help promote healthy weight management. Research has shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and less red meat, refined sugars, and fat (especially trans fat) had about half the risk of developing diabetes.
4. Drinking alcohol in moderation: People who drink alcohol in moderation have a lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes when compared to those who don’t drink any alcohol at all or drink four drinks or more per day on average.
5. Getting enough sleep: A lack of sleep can lead to poor glucose control which increases the risk for type 2 diabetes development in some individuals, so getting seven-eight hours of sleep is important to prevent it from happening.
Diabetes is a serious disease that has become one of the main causes of death in the United States. The good news is that by following these 5 tips you can reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
You've read some tips for the management of your diabetes. Did you know, there is a new blood sugar support formula (Glucofort) that would be beneficial to your management program? Your management can become even easier. The following video covers some of the same and a few new tips for your diabetic management needs, it is a short video but it could be worthwhile for you to watch. I wish you the best and hope these tips help you manage your diabetes!