How To Prevent Type 2 Diabetes?

The increasing statistics of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus among the young and elderly populations worldwide make many think about diabetes care and diabetes prevention. Knowing about the destructive impact and the chain reaction of diabetes, it is definitely worth reconsidering your lifestyle than fighting the symptoms of diabetes.

Why is Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Dangerous for You?

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a real-time bomb that ruins your body. The disease causes severe endocrine disorders resulting from a deficiency of the hormone insulin. It is one of the most important hormones, the lack of which leads to an increase in blood glucose and the development of hyperglycemia.

The disease is accompanied by disorders of all types of metabolism, including carbohydrate, fat, protein, and water-salt. This leads to severe damage to the internal organs and vital systems of the body, significantly reduces the quality of life, and has a detrimental effect on the ability to work and lifespan.

The main danger of the disease is the development of hyperglycemic coma, which can lead to irreversible damage in the body and even death.

What Happens if You do not Control Blood Glucose Level?

In most cases, type 2 diabetes mellitus leads to severe complications that pose a real threat to your health and life. Among these complications:

• Obesity or vice versa weight loss
• Visual impairment or loss of vision
• Decreased immunity
• Hypertonic disease
• Polydipsia (constant thirst)
• Polyphagia (constant unquenchable hunger)
• Headache
• Pancreatic dysfunction
• Stroke
• Circulatory disorders
• Limb gangrene
• Hyperglycemic coma
• Death

According to medical research, the rate of development of these pathologies and complications has been growing rapidly in recent years.

If you do not take urgent measures or use ineffective treatment, then powerful pathological processes will inevitably start in your body, which will lead to severe, irreversible dysfunctions of internal organs. You have a significantly increased risk of developing serious complications, including life-threatening ones.

The Main Causes of Type 2 Diabetes

Absolutely all processes in your body are controlled by your brain. The cells of your brain receive information from all organs and systems, analyze this information, develop the desired reaction, and transmit the appropriate orders to various organs of your body through the nerve cells. You stay healthy as long as your brain clearly and correctly controls these processes.

Typ 2 diabetes mellitus (like any other disease) arises from a combination of various factors. These factors lead to the malfunction of certain parts of the brain and disruption of neural connections. In other words, the brain stops giving the “correct” orders for the clear work of your endocrine system, which leads to diabetes and then to more serious consequences, which were noted above.

Type 2 diabetes affects millions of people around the world. Without proper treatment, this chronic disease can lead to various heart pathologies, kidney failure, and loss of vision. Among the main risk factors for type 2 diabetes are:

• family history
• weight
• fat distribution
• sedentary lifestyle
• blood lipid levels
• age
• pregnancy-related risks
• polycystic ovary syndrome
• race and ethnicity

This leaves many wondering how to minimize the risks of developing type 2 diabetes. Prevention is the best way to preserve both your own health and those of your loved ones. This aspect is especially important given the fact that many people have a predisposition to the disease. This means that the blood sugar is high but not yet reaching the level when the patient is diagnosed with diabetes.

Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus

Seventy percent of people with a predisposition to this condition can develop type 2 diabetes. However, by taking certain steps, it is quite possible to avoid this. It will not work to influence age, genes, lifestyle preceding the moment when a person decides to pay increased attention to his health, but everyone can eliminate certain bad habits and acquire useful ones that help minimize the risks of developing the disease.

#1. Give up refined carbohydrates and sugar

Reconsidering your diet is the first step towards type 2 diabetes prevention. Foods in which sugar and refined carbohydrates are present in large quantities can give a significant impetus to the development of the disease. The sugar molecules formed by the breakdown of these products go directly into the bloodstream. This causes a sharp increase in blood sugar levels and the synthesis of insulin, a hormone produced by the beta-cells in the pancreas that performs a “transport” function, as a result of which sugar from the blood enters other body’s cells.

Insulin is not accepted by the body of people with a predisposition to type 2 diabetes, and, instead of distribution, the sugar obtained from “junk” food remains completely in the blood. The pancreas, trying to restore balance, begins to produce insulin even more actively. This does not lead to the normalization of blood sugar levels but, on the contrary, increases it even more.

The link between the consumption of foods rich in refined carbohydrates and sugar and the increased likelihood of type 2 diabetes has been proven in various studies. By eating less of such foods, the risk of type 2 diabetes development is greatly minimized. Of the thirty-seven studies conducted to date, all have confirmed that fast carbohydrate eaters are forty percent more likely to have diabetes.

#2. Go in for sports on a regular basis

Physical activity allows you to increase the sensitivity of cells to insulin, which allows the pancreas not to produce this hormone in large quantities, and, therefore, it becomes much easier to maintain blood glucose levels. Scientists have found that high-intensity exercises increase the body’s sensitivity to the hormone by 85 percent and moderate ones by 51 percent. The effect, unfortunately, persists only on training days.

Exercising various types of physical activity lowers blood glucose levels not only in those predisposed to type 2 diabetes but also in obese people. This is the result of strength training, high-intensity training, and aerobic training. If you make sports a part of your life, then insulin will begin to be produced without any disturbances. This result can be achieved by bringing the number of calories burned during exercise to two thousand per week. To make this easier to achieve, you should choose exactly the type of activity that you like the most.

#3. Make water the main source of incoming fluid

You should not get carried away with various drinks. They, unlike ordinary drinking water, especially purchased ones, contain sugar, preservatives, and other additives. Drinking carbonated drinks increases the likelihood of developing LADA, that is, type I diabetes, which affects people at the age of 18 and over. It begins to develop in childhood, but without any pronounced signs and symptoms, and rather slowly.

The largest study on this aspect covered about 2,800 participants. In people who drank two bottles of carbonated sugary juices a day, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increased by 20 percent, and the risk of diabetes type I increased by 99 percent. It should be borne in mind that fruit juices can also become a provoking factor. Water has a completely different effect on the body.

Unlike other sweet and carbonated liquids, water has many positive qualities. It not only quenches thirst but keeps insulin and blood glucose level under control. A similar effect was found experimentally when a group of patients suffering from excess weight, instead of soda, during the diet was given to drink water.

#4. Bring the weight to the optimal norm

Not only overweight or obese men and women suffer from type 2 diabetes, but they are the overwhelming majority. And if there is a predisposition to the disease, then fat accumulates around the liver and abdominal cavity. Its excess becomes the main reason that the body becomes less sensitive to insulin, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Considering this fact, even a few lost kilograms become the cause of significant improvements and prevention of disease. The more weight you lose, the better. In one experiment with about a thousand participants, it was found that losing weight per kilogram reduces the risks of developing the disease by 16%. The maximum achievement that was found during the study was an impressive 96%.

#5. Quit smoking

Smokers are at risk of developing many health problems, including type 2 diabetes. This applies to both active and passive smoking. Studies covering over a million smokers have shown that the risk of disease in people who smoke moderate amounts of cigarettes a day increases by 44%, and for 20 or more cigarettes by 61%.

There is also evidence of how giving up this bad habit is reflected in reducing the manifestation of the disease in a middle-aged person. 5 years after stopping smoking, the likelihood of developing diabetes type 2 decreases by 13%, and after 20 years, this figure does not exceed that for those who have never smoked.

#6. Try a low-carb diet food

A diet low in carbohydrates is also called a ketogenic diet. It is the most effective for those who want to lose weight without any consequences and harm since they should be worried about the general condition and not just about high blood glucose levels.

A three-month experiment, during which people ate a low-carb diet, found a decrease in sugar concentration by 12, and insulin by 50%, compared with those who were on a diet restricting fat intake for the same period of time. The indicators of the second group turned out to be much more modest and amounted to a 1% drop in blood glucose levels and 19% insulin. This best demonstrates the benefits of a low-carb diet. An artificially created carbohydrate deficiency keeps blood glucose both before and after meals almost the same. Thus, the pancreas will not produce large amounts of insulin, which is the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

This is not the only experiment on the relationship of carbohydrates with the concentration of insulin and blood glucose in the body. Another study showed that thanks to the ketogenic diet, blood sugar in people prone to diabetes type 2 dropped to 92 mmol L, that is, dropped to normal, although before that, it was at 118. There were other improvements in health, as well as weight loss.

#7. Eat small meals

This applies to both dietary and regular food. The portions of the dishes placed on the plate should be small. This is fundamentally important for individuals who are overweight. The more food is consumed at a time, the higher the sugar and insulin rise. And if you eat food in small portions, you can avoid sudden surges.

For two years, a study lasted, which proved that the amount of food intake affects the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. Experiments have shown a 46% reduction in the risk of developing diabetes after switching from large to small portions. If you do not change anything in the diet, you will not have to count on such changes.

#8. Move from a sedentary to an active lifestyle

It is impossible to practically stay still and prevent the onset of diabetes. The lack of movement, as scientists have found out, plays an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes. There were about 47 different studies, but all of them showed a link between a sedentary lifestyle and an increase in risk factors by 91%.

Of course, lifestyle changes are a feasible task. It is enough just to get up and walk once an hour. The main thing is to overcome your own habits, which, as has been proven, is very difficult.

The power of habits is sometimes stronger than even the best intentions. And so that there is no “breakdown”, you should not overpower yourself, but it is better to set realistically achievable tasks. If getting up every hour from the table and walking around the office is difficult, then walking up the stairs rather than taking the elevator, or talking on the phone while standing instead of sitting, is much easier.

#9. Eat fiber-rich foods

Foods high in fiber are good for your health, helping to maintain both insulin and sugar at optimal levels. Depending on its ability to absorb water, fiber is soluble or insoluble.

The peculiarity of the first is that absorbing liquid, it forms a kind of jelly mixture in the digestive tract, which slows down the digestion processes, which affects the slower flow of sugar into the blood. Insoluble fiber also prevents sugar from rising sharply, but the exact mechanism of action of this substance is not fully known.

Therefore, foods high in fiber, regardless of type, should be included in the diet, given that the highest concentration of plant fiber is found in food when it has not been heat-treated.

#10. Avoid Vitamin D Deficiency

Cholecalciferol is one of the most important vitamins directly involved in blood sugar control. And if a person does not receive it, then the risks of the manifestation of type 2 diabetes increase significantly.

Studies have shown that due to the high concentration of vitamin D in the blood, the likelihood of type 2 diabetes is reduced by 43%. This is about adults. In Finland, health monitoring of children taking cholecalciferol supplements showed that their risk of developing type 1 diabetes decreased by 78%.

Vitamin D, as scientists believe, has a positive effect on the cells that synthesize insulin, normalize high blood sugar level, and reduce the likelihood of type 2 diabetes. To replenish its daily norm, equal to 2000 and up to 4000 IU, we recommend being in the sun, eating cod liver, oily varieties of fish.

#11. Minimize the amount of cooked food

The way food is prepared directly affects the health of a person. It is believed that additives and vegetable oils used in cooking have a negative effect on obesity and the development of type 2 diabetes.

Plant-based foods, vegetables, nuts, and fruits prevent these risks. The main thing is that they are not subject to thermal effects. Prepared foods increase the likelihood of disease occurrence by 30%, while “raw” foods, on the contrary, reduce it.

#12. Drink tea and coffee

Along with water, you must include coffee and tea in your daily diet. Numerous studies show that coffee can reduce the risk to develop type 2 diabetes from 8% to 54%. The spread is due to the amount of this invigorating drink. Tea has a similar effect, especially on overweight people and women.

Tea and coffee contain antioxidants called polyphenols. They fight type 2 diabetes by protecting the body from this ailment. Another antioxidant component, but only found in green tea, is EGCG, or epigallocatechin gallate, which lowers sugar and increases insulin sensitivity.

To Sum Up

It is impossible to completely eliminate the risk if you are likely to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, it is possible to control the factors that can lead to the development of this problem. If you analyze your daily routine, bad habits, nutrition, physical activity, do habitual lifestyle changes, then it is quite possible to prevent the development of the disease and avoid many other health problems.