Diabetes is one of the dangerous lifestyle diseases that is affecting millions of people across the world. The problem is worse in the developed world where cases of diabetes have been on the rise with children also being affected. A sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits have been cited as a major contributor to this.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a medical condition caused by high blood glucose levels. The problem is usually caused by failure of the pancreas to produce very little or no insulin.
How To Prevent Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the lifestyle diseases that you can prevent or delay by choosing to live a healthy lifestyle. There are many ways you can avoid diabetes, including eating healthy food, maintaining healthy and exercising, amongst others. In this guide, we are providing ten of the best ways to avoid diabetes.
Here are 10 ways to avoid diabetes:
1. Drinking an Adequate Amount Of Water
Water is one of the most natural substances that your body needs. You should take plain water and avoid any beverages that have unhealthy content that can harm your body. For instance, sodas have high sugar levels that can worsen the conditions of diabetic patients. When you drink water frequently, your body develops the ability to control the blood sugar level and decreases insulin levels. Moreover, you can minimize types of diabetes, such as latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA), by consuming lots of water. Besides, drinking water lowers conditions such as hyperglycemia that usually lead to diabetes.
2. Do Exercises Regularly
To remain healthy and prevent incidences of diabetes, you should ensure that you exercise regularly. As you work out frequently, your body cells will remain healthy and active, and there will be no need to produce excess insulin to control the blood sugar level. Furthermore, when you do exercises regularly, your body also reduces insulin resistance and blood sugar level. Even though physical activities can sometimes be hard, you can pick an enjoyable task.
3. Consume Tea Or Coffee
You can easily prevent diabetes by consuming tea and coffee frequently. One significant component of coffee that has anti-oxidant properties is polyphenols that reduce inflammatory diseases such as diabetes. Moreover, coffee contains essential minerals such as magnesium and chromium, which minimizes the chances of getting diabetes. These components of coffee work together to improve insulin sensitivity in your body. You can consume about three cups of tea or coffee daily to minimize the risk of getting diabetes by about 40 percent.
4. Avoid Sugary Foods
Avoiding sugary foods is the surest way of keeping diabetes at bay. When you consume more sugar than the body need increases the chances of acquiring diabetes in the body. You should minimize the consumption of sugary foods and refined carbohydrates to avoid getting diabetes. Avoid processed sugar products including junk foods. If you love candies, you need to drop that habit. For better health quality, you should ensure that you reduce sugar intake to lower than ten percent of calorie intake per day.
5. Maintaining Weight
So you know that obesity is one of the conditions that can trigger diabetes? That’s true. Such a situation arises since there is an accumulation of excess fat in your lower abdomen. The presence of these excess fats in your body leads to insulin resistance that raises the chances of getting diabetes. You can practice many healthy habits that can help you reduce obesity. For instance, you can try taking vegetables and avoiding red meat. Moreover, you can also choose low carbohydrate meals that are beneficial to your health in the long run.
6. Avoiding Smoking
Smoking causes so many infectious illnesses, including diabetes. Both active and passive smokers are at risk of getting infected by diabetes. The situation worsens when you smoke, and you already have diabetes in the bloodstream. Developing smoking make this condition hard to regulate. As a diabetic patient, you have to quit smoke to attain better health.
7. Increasing The Levels Of Vitamin D
Many people suffer from Vitamin D efficiency because of lower exposure to sunlight. Most people in the modern world spend most of their time in cars or offices and have to face the risk of suffering from vitamin deficiency. Because of sedentary lifestyles, you should consume more foodstuffs with a high content of vitamin D. Lower levels of Vitamin D reduces the levels of insulin sensitivity. You should seek medical advice to get the right levels of Vitamin D that you need to consume as it varies from one person to another.
8. Consuming Natural Herbs
Natural herbs play a very significant role in reducing the effects of diabetes on the human body. To avoid getting diabetes, you can choose to eat herbs such as cucumbers and berberine. For instance, cucumber comes from the family of turmeric that contains curcumin possessing anti-inflammatory properties that can prevent the chances of getting diabetes. There is sufficient proof curcumin can reduce insulin resistance in your body.
9. Reduce The Levels Of Stress
When you have an anxiety condition, there are high chances that your blood sugar levels will rise. Subsequently, you will automatically develop either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, a rise in stress levels increases the level of insulin resistance in the body. To avoid stress in your life, you should take some time to rest and relax your mind. For instance, you can take around 20 minutes every day to be on your own.
10. Visit The Doctor Regularly
One effective way to prevent getting diabetes is by visiting a doctor. You should develop a habit of seeing a doctor every time so that you notice any signs of diabetes earlier. The doctor can study your body to see if there are symptoms of kidney damage or heart damage, which are indicators of diabetes.
Diabetes is a medical condition that can affect anyone living an unhealthy lifestyle. People in developed countries have a higher possibility of being diabetic due to a sedentary lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle is all that you need. Adopt these tips in your lifestyle and diabetes will never be an issue.