How to Prevent Diabetes?

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How to prevent diabetes is a topic almost everyone really cares about. Tweaking your lifestyle could be a giant step forward toward diabetes prevention. It is never too late to start.

Prevention

How to prevent diabetes can be as simple as losing extra weight and eating more healthfully. The following tips are from the Mayo Clinic and the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Tip 1: Get more physical activity

There are many benefits to regular exercise. You may lose weight. Physical activity lowers blood sugar and boosts your sensitivity to insulin. Research shows that both aerobic exercise and resistance training can help control diabetes.

Walking will change your attitude. Walking will increase your self-esteem. Walking will improve your blood sugar levels. Walking will help you to lose weight.

If you don’t want to walk, then join the local YMCA, or a gym. You can lift weights or you could swim. Swimming is especially helpful if you are overweight. You can do in the water what is difficult to do on land. There are classes for aqua aerobics that get you moving.

Tip 2: Get plenty of fiber

Increasing fiber lowers blood sugar levels. Fiber intake is also associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease. Foods high in fiber include fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains.

The easiest way to add fiber to your diet is to buy a box of bran. Add the bran to cereal, to rice, to casseroles, to baked goods, and to yogurt. Snack on walnuts or almonds. They are a source of fiber and omega fatty oils. They also keep the hungry horrors at bay.

Tip 3: Go for whole grains

Whole grains may actually reduce your risk of diabetes. They help you to maintain good blood sugar levels. Many breads and cereals contain whole grains. You must read the package labels. The word “whole” needs to be at the top of the list of ingredients. Otherwise, it is not whole grains.

Tip 4: Lose extra weight

Every pound you lose can improve your blood sugar. Diabetes prevention hinges on weight loss. You wouldn’t be reading this article if you didn’t have to lose weight.

The easiest way to lose weight is to get rid of most of the fat in your diet. If you cook with butter, change to olive oil. If you use cream in your coffee or tea, learn to drink it black. The pounds will fall off you.

Read labels on the food you buy. Stay away from saturated fats and partially hydrogenated fats. They are in all kinds of crackers, cookies, and cakes and frozen entrees.

Tip 5: Skip fad diets

Low-carb, no-carb, no-fat and other fad diets do not help you in the long-term. By excluding a food group, you may be giving up essential nutrients. Instead follow the ADA food pyramid explained in the “Diabetes Food Guide” elsewhere on this web site.

Type 2 Diabetes

Since you are at risk for diabetes, you want to know, what is type 2 diabetes? Type 2 diabetes occurs when your fasting blood sugar level is above 126 mg/dL. Fasting blood sugar is the level after a night’s sleep with nothing to eat or drink in the morning.

Your pancreas is located behind your stomach on the left side of your body. It is near your waist. Your pancreas has beta cells that produce a chemical, insulin. Insulin is a hormone.

Normally when you eat, the pancreas produces insulin that mixes with digested food. The food has turned to glucose, known as blood sugar. The insulin allows the cells of your body to use glucose. The glucose is fuel for the body - fuel to maintain a body temperature of 98.6°F; and, fuel to repair cells and grow new ones.

What causes diabetes? Type 2 diabetes happens when one of the following occurs:

• Your pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin.
• Your pancreas produces very little insulin.
• Your body doesn’t recognize the insulin and cannot use it.

When this happens, the sugar (glucose) stays in your bloodstream. It does not get into your cells. It spills out into your urine and leaves the body. Your cells are starving for fuel.

The first signs of diabetes are:

• Wounds that heal very slowly
• Nausea
• Frequent yeast infections
• Increased thirst
• Increased urination
• Fatigue/feeling tired
• Weight loss
• Blurred vision

If you don’t want to experience these signs, please consider doing all you can to prevent yourself from getting diabetes.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to prevent diabetes, and you know what causes diabetes, and you know what is type 2 diabetes, you can make intelligent choices. Let us know if you have any questions.

Margaret Stenerson
February 23, 2010