Check your risk of diabetes. Take the Life! risk assessment test and learn more about your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A 12+ score indicates that you are at high risk and may be eligible for the Life!
- Manage your weight. Excess body fat, particularly if stored around the abdomen, can increase the body’s resistance to the hormone insulin. This can lead to type 2 diabetes.
- Exercise regularly. Moderate physical activity on most days of the week helps manage weight, reduce blood glucose levels and may also improve blood pressure and cholesterol.
- Eat a balanced, healthy diet. Reduce the amount of fat in your diet, especially saturated and trans fats. Eat more fruit, vegetables and high-fibre foods. Cut back on salt.
- Limit takeaway and processed foods. ‘Convenience meals’ are usually high in salt, fat and kilojoules. It’s best to cook for yourself using fresh ingredients whenever possible.
- Limit your alcohol intake. Too much alcohol can lead to weight gain and may increase your blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Men should have no more than two standard drinks a day and women should have no more than one.
- Quit smoking. Smokers are twice as likely to develop diabetes as non-smokers.
- Control your blood pressure. Most people can do this with regular exercise, a balanced diet and by keeping a healthy weight. In some cases, you might need medication prescribed by your doctor.
- Reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease have many risk factors in common, including obesity and physical inactivity.
- See your doctor for regular check-ups. As you get older, it’s a good idea to regularly check your blood glucose, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.
Things to avoid:
I don’t like to demonize any one thing when it comes to eating right. However, when it comes to reducing your risk for diabetes, I would recommend avoiding a few things: refined cereals, industrial vegetable ans seed oils (corn, cottonseed, soybean, safflower, sunflower, etc.), and fructose (especially high-fructose corn syrup.)
Cereal grains are overly-processed foods that are toxic to the lining of your gut, as well as containing anti-nutrients that inhibit the absorption of proteins and essential minerals, making them unusable by the body.
Industrial vegetable/seed oils are loaded with Omega-6 oils and contribute significantly to the obesity epideminc we are experiencing. They are a root cause of inflammation in the body which fuels the rise of obesity and diabetes. Other triggers for inflammation in the body include poor sleep, stress, gut flora imbalances, and environmental toxins. Chris Kresser has a great POST on inflammation and a condition he calls diabesity. I recommend using cold-pressed olive oil (never heated) and coconut oil, as these oils are nourishing for your body
Fructose is a sugar found mainly in fruits and vegetables, and in sweeteners like sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. I was blown away to learn that the average American eats 152 pounds of sugar a year, which includes almost 64 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup. YIKES!!! Fructose, unlike glucose, gets directed to the liver and not absorbed into the bloodstream. There it is converted into fat. There is a direct correlation between fructose consumption and abdominal fat. And then there is a direct correlation between high amounts of abdominal fat and impaired glucose tolerance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides.