Adopting a healthy lifestyle is a decisive step in preventing diabetes. Remember, it’s never too late to start. Here are some tips to guide you on this encouraging journey.
From the Mayo Clinic staff
Understanding the risk issues for type 2 diabetes is the first step in prevention. If you are currently at risk due to being overweight or obese, high cholesterol, or a family history of diabetes, you have the power to take control of your health through lifestyle changes.
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes (high blood sugar that does not reach the stage of diabetes), lifestyle changes can stop or delay the onset of the disease.
Even small changes in your existence can make a big difference in your health. By taking action, you can avoid diabetes-related severe health problems in the future. Recall it’s never too late to start making positive changes.
1. Lose the extra weight
Losing weight reduces the risk of diabetes. A large study found that people who lost approximately 7% of their body weight through exercise and dietary changes reduced their risk of developing diabetes by approximately 60%.
The American Diabetes Association maintains that people with prediabetes lose at least 7 to 10 out of a hundred of their body weight to stop the development of the disease. Many kilos lost will turn into significant gains.
Usually, a weight loss goal is based on your present body weight. Talk to your doctor around realistic short-term goals and prospects, such as losing 1 to 2 pounds weekly.
2. Be active and active
There are many benefits to regular bodily activity. Exercise can help you:
Losing weight
Reduce blood sugar
Increase insulin sensitivity, which helps maintain stable blood sugar levels.
Most adults’ goals for promoting weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight include:
Exercise with air. Aim for 30 minutes or more of reasonable or vigorous aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, cycling, or running, usually at least 150 minutes per week.
Resistance exercise. Resistance training, at least two to three times a week, increases strength, balance, and the ability to maintain an active lifestyle. Includes weight lifting, yoga, and calisthenics.
Limited downtime. Eliminating prolonged periods of activity, such as sitting at a computer, can help control blood sugar levels. Take a few minutes to get up, walk around, or do light activities like stretching, yoga, or light body exercises every 30 minutes.
3. Eat healthy plant-based foods
Plants provide vitamins, reserves, and carbohydrates in your diet. Carbohydrates include sugar, starch—your body’s primary energy source—and fiber. Dietary fiber, or roughage or bulk, is the part of plant food your body cannot digest or absorb.
Foods rich in plant fiber promote weight loss and decrease the risk of diabetes. Eat a variety of fit, fiber-rich foods, including:
Fruits, such as tomatoes, peppers, and berries.
Non-starchy potatoes like leafy greens, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Legumes, such as beans, peas, and kidney beans.
Whole grains include whole-grain pasta and bread, brown rice, whole grains, and quinoa.
Benefits of fiber include:
Reducing sugar absorption and lowering blood sugar levels
Interference with absorption of dietary fat and cholesterol
Handling other risk factors that affect heart health, such as blood pressure and inflammation
It helps you eat less because foods rich in fiber are filling and high in energy
Avoid foods that contain “bad carbs” – sugars with little fiber or nutrients:
White bread and cake
White flour pasta
Fruit juice
Processed foods with added sugar or high fructose corn syrup
4. Eat healthy fats
Fatty nourishments are high in calories and should be consumed in moderation. To help you lose and control your weight, your diet should comprise a variety of nourishments that contain unsaturated fats, occasionally called “good fats.”
Unsaturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats increase blood cholesterol levels.
Olive, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, and canola oils.
Nuts and kernels include almonds, peanuts, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
Bluefish, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna and cod.
“Bad fats” are saturated fats found in milk and meat. This should be a small part of your diet. You can limit saturated fat consumption by eating low-fat dairy products such as lean chicken and pork.
5. Avoid junk food and make healthy food choices.
Many fad diets, such as low glycemic index foods, paleo or keto diets, can assist you lose weight. However, there is little investigation into the long-term benefits of these foods or their benefits in preventing diabetes.
The goal of the diet should be to lose weight and uphold a healthy weight in the future. Therefore, healthy eating decisions should include a strategy that can be kept as a lifelong habit. Making healthy lifestyle choices that reflect some of your food preferences and habits will pay off in the long run.
A simple way to help you make smart food choices and eat enough portions is to portion your plate. These three components of your plate contribute to a healthy diet:
- One bar: vegetables and non-starchy vegetables.
- One quarter: whole grain
- One quarter: Foods rich in protein such as beans, fish, or lean meat.
When to see a doctor
The American Diabetes Connotation recommends routine screening for type 2 diabetes in all grownups age 45 and older in the following groups:
People under 45 years of age who are overweight or fat and have one or more risk factors for diabetes.
Women with gestational diabetes
People diagnosed with diabetes
Children who are overweight or fat and have a family history of type 2 diabetes or additional risk factors.
Share your concerns about diabetes with your doctor. They will evaluate your efforts to prevent diabetes and may make additional references based on your medical history or other factors.