Prevention of Diabetes
A huge amount can be done by individuals to prevent Type 2 diabetes, or at least to postpone it if too late, and then to help control it. Many people have diabetes but do not yet know it, and damage can be done during this period. It is therefore important that you have regular "well person" checks, and if you have any reason to suspect diabetes you should see your doctor (for example undue thirst, unexplained weight loss, extreme tiredness, dizziness, frequent trips to the loo especially at night, genital itching or bouts of thrush, or blurred vision.)
Important steps to prevent, postpone or control diabetes:
Do not become obese. Being just slightly overweight is OK. Be more active and make changes to your eating habits. More details below.
Do not have high bad cholesterol levels. If you suspect you have or your optician notices during a sight test, see your doctor for a blood test. Again, be more active and make changes to your eating habits.
Do not binge. You should not have very large meals and equally should not skip meals. Likewise, no alcoholic binges, particularly watching beer/lager. You should be trying to keep your blood sugar (glucose) level constant.
Do not become un-fit. Incorporate more activity into your everyday lifestyle.
Avoid pollutants. Do not expose yourself unnecessarily to other people's cigarette smoke, vehicle exhausts, copier fumes, and other pollutants.
Stop smoking. Just stop. Do not cut down - stop completely. Now. No excuses. If you are having trouble doing this, see your doctor or nurse for assistance.
Drink tea or coffee, decaffeinated or not. Research has found this beneficial, reason not yet clear.
GET ACTIVE! You should incorporate more activity into your everyday lifestyle so that you become fitter in a sustainable way. For instance: take stairs instead of lifts or escalators, walk or cycle to work, park further away from your destination, clean your windows yourself, wash and polish your car yourself, take up a sport or other activity which you may find fun and sociable eg salsa dancing classes.
EAT HEALTHILY! Now this is my speciality. The aim is to try to maintain a constant blood glucose (sugar) level, without peaks and troughs - a straight horizontal line rather than a zigzag line. It is the zigzag line which ultimately causes diabetes with time. You should junk the junk and treat treats as treats. Most of what you eat should be unprocessed (usually un-branded) foods such as fish, lean meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables (go easy on root vegetables eg potatoes, carrots, parsnip, beetroot), fruit (berry fruits are the best), nuts and seeds. You should cut out high glycemic carbohydrates; these are the carbohydrates that enter your blood as sugar quickly. The worst of these is added sugar (sucrose, glucose or fructose). Though you could have some added sugar, it should be very small quantities and should be well down the list of ingredients. Other high glycemic (bad) carbs are also white - rice, pasta, bread. You should go easy on potatoes and cut out chips. You should eat "brown" carbs such as brown rice, brown pasta, whole grain bread, in small quantities. Most of your carbohydrate intake should come from non-root vegetables - all vegetables contain carbs, but also contain valuable nutrients, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and fibre. You can fill yourself up on these vegetables. Particularly good vegetables are broccoli and avocado (strictly a fruit), though I wouldn't recommend them together! The cholesterol in avocados is the good form, and helps to control bad cholesterol. Berry fruits are excellent, and cherries. Make sure that each meal also contains some protein; this will help you feel sustained and less likely to get hungry and binge before the next meal. Remember that nuts are also a good source of protein, and make an excellent snack in moderation between meals (not salted).
To help keep your blood sugar levels constant, you should eat small frequent meals, avoiding binges, and not skipping any meals. You should have breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, evening meal, mid-evening snack. All foods should be in small quantities, with as much variety as possible. High glycemic carbs should be in only tiny quantities if at all.
Junk that you should cut down or out are foods high in saturated fat (eg animal fat), items of little or no nutritional value but with a calorific value, highly-processed foods, and food or drink high in aspartame (diet drinks).
Your main drink should be water, and you should drink plenty of it. Do not cut down on water because you are going to the toilet frequently. Tea is fine; if you must have a sweetener, Splenda or any of the sweeteners on this website are fine. You could try the different flavours of green tea, which is very good for you. Aspartame has been given a clean bill of health, but I would advise not drinking gallons of diet drinks sweetened with aspartame. Go easy on fruit juices, as these naturally contain a lot of sugar (fructose) - a small glass with your breakfast, avoiding any with added sugar. If you are concerned about your Vitamin C intake please note that vegetables also contain this vitamin, or you could take a supplement containing it (it will not do any harm and is not stored by the body).
All the 1800 different products on this Avidlite website are chosen for diabetics, and can be equally well used by non-diabetics or pre-diabetics to help prevent or postpone diabetes, and later to help control it. Though some products may have been designed by their manufacturers to be suitable for low carb dieters, they are also completely suitable for diabetics. Full details of each product are given by clicking on it. If you need any more help or advice please do not hesitate to contact me, firstname.lastname@example.org, or contact your GP.