Ways to Lower the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a disease affecting the way your body metabolizes sugar. One of two things goes wrong: either your body doesn’t produce enough insulin to properly regulate your blood glucose levels, or your body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin.

Insulin, by the way, is a hormone manufactured in the pancreas. It lowers the level of sugar in your blood. When everything’s working the way it should, insulin secretion is tuned to blood glucose levels, rising and falling as needed.

Chronically elevated blood sugar levels can cause damage to many major organs, and if not properly managed, type 2 diabetes can eventually be fatal. The condition is treated with supplemental insulin. This is not a cure, and must continue for life. Still, symptoms and complications are likely.

This increasingly common disease—it now effects about 30 million Americans—isn’t something you want to end up with. Fortunately, there are plenty of effective ways to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. And, as an added bonus, they’re all things that are good for your general health anyway.

How to Reduce Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

• Get down to and maintain a healthy body weight. Being overweight or obese is the single biggest risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes.

• Get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. Regular exercise is important for reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. And it goes a long way toward preventing lots of chronic diseases, including being a crucial way to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. It lowers your blood glucose levels and increases your sensitivity to insulin. Take a look at these exercise tips for beginners.

• Find little ways to move around more on a daily basis. In addition to exercise, just some extra movement throughout the day helps prevent diabetes. Read through these simple ways to increase physical activity.

• Eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. These nutrient-rich, plant-based whole foods should be a significant part of your daily diet. Their dietary fiber content is particularly useful in preventing type 2 diabetes.

• Eat whole grains and avoid refined grains. White bread, white rice, and other processed grain products cause unhealthy spikes and crashes in blood glucose levels and increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Whole grains are nutritious, more satisfying than refined grains, and another good source of fiber.

• Eat healthy proteins and fats. Fish, shellfish, skinless poultry, legumes, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils are good sources of healthy unsaturated fats and/or protein. Limit saturated fat and don’t eat any trans fat. For more details, see these articles on healthy protein intake and good fats versus bad fats.

• Minimize your sugar intake. Added sugar has all sorts of detrimental effects on your body, including promoting weight gain, and high consumption increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Check out these tips for lowering your sugar intake.

• Manage stress. Stress leaves you more susceptible to many illnesses, including type 2 diabetes. Exercise helps, as can meditation, yoga, a hobby, getting enough sleep, and lots of other enjoyable activities and relaxation methods.

• Quit smoking. Smokers are 50 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Lower the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Starting Now!

A number of risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes are beyond your control. Being over 40 puts you at higher risk, and some people have a genetic predisposition. While you can’t do anything about these and some other risk factors, you do have control over many of the most significant risk factors—particularly your weight, diet, and activity level.

So, take control and take the above steps to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes!