Steer Clear From Diabetes in 13 Ways
There are tons of people in the world today living with prediabetes. Their blood sugar levels are high but do not meet the requirements to be diagnosed with diabetes. Many go undiagnosed because they skip their health checkups and are unaware of how their daily lifestyles can cause the onset of diabetes. When left unchecked, diabetes can result in blindness and kidney failure among other detrimental ailments. While you may feel that diabetes is inevitable and is attributable to gene and age factors, there are actually a myriad of ways and things you can do to prevent diabetes. Here is a list of 13 ways you can steer clear away from diabetes.
1. Reduce or Eliminate Sugar and Refined Carbs from Your Diet
Consuming huge amounts of foods with sugar and refined carbohydrates can cause an increase in blood sugar and insulin levels. If your body is already on the verge of developing diabetes, maintaining your current diet will lead to the rapid development of type two diabetes. This is because your body breaks down the sugar content from sugary foods to be absorbed into your body while your pancreas produces insulin to decrease the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. However, when you have prediabetes, your cells will be receptive to insulin which causes even more insulin to be generated in an attempt to lower blood sugar levels. This cycle will repeat itself until your blood sugar and insulin levels reach the type 2 diabetes level.
2. Work Out Regularly
Exercising frequently can do wonders for your blood sugar and insulin levels more than anything else. Working out will increase the insulin sensitivity of your cells so that a lower level of insulin is needed to maintain a healthy blood sugar level. There are various forms of exercise that you can engage in to reap these benefits. Be sure to choose an activity that you like and create and follow a strict workout schedule for the best outcome.
3. Drink Water as Your Primary Beverage
Preventing the onset of diabetes can be as easy as reducing the number of sweet drinks you consume on a daily basis. It’s hard to keep track of the amount of sugar and preservatives in the drinks you consume so it’s safe to say that water is your best bet in staying healthy. What’s more, having more two servings of sugary drinks a day will lead to a higher chance of developing both type one diabetes and type two diabetes.
4. Lose Weight If You’re Overweight or Obese
Most overweight or obese people are bound to have a lot of visceral fat in their bodies. Visceral fat is stored in abdominal organs like the liver and causes inflammation and insulin resistance. This significantly increases the chances of getting type two diabetes, especially among people living with prediabetes. The good news is that decreasing your weight even by a little can prevent the risk of diabetes. However, it is imperative that you continue to lose weight and keep it off in order to prevent diabetes.
5. Quit Smoking
While it is common knowledge that smoking is extremely detrimental to one’s health and can cause an array of diseases, it is prevalent in causing type two diabetes. The mere inhalation of second-hand smoke is enough to cause a higher risk of getting diabetes. Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day and quitting over time will significantly increase the chances of preventing diabetes.
6. Follow a Very-Low-Carb Diet
A low carb diet has a stronger impact than a low-fat diet in lowering blood sugar and insulin levels, thus preventing diabetes. This is as with lower consumption of carbs, your blood sugar levels will not increase much after your meal. This means that your body will require less insulin in order to keep your blood sugar levels normal.
7. Watch Portion Sizes
Being aware of your food portions will not only help you lose weight, but it will also reduce blood sugar and insulin levels. This is especially beneficial for overweight individuals and people who are at risk of getting diabetes.
8. Avoid Sedentary Behaviors
Changing a seemingly simple and harmless part of your lifestyle can bring about huge changes in your health and help you to prevent diabetes. Sedentary behaviors refer to things such as excessive sitting, which most of us working at desk jobs are guilty of. There is an intricate link between people who spend large amounts of time engaged in sedentary behaviors and diabetes. A surefire way to prevent this is to be consciously aware of your actions and to incorporate mini activities like getting up from your desk and going for a stroll every half an hour or so.
9. Eat a High-Fiber Diet
If you are starting to take note of your diet, definitely watch out for foods that are high in fiber. They are extremely good for you as soluble fiber mixes with water to reduce the speed at which food is digested. This means that your blood sugar levels will increase at a slower pace. On the other hand, insoluble fiber has also proven to be beneficial in decreasing blood sugar levels, thus great for preventing diabetes.
10. Optimize Vitamin D Levels
Having a high level of Vitamin D in your blood will contribute towards preventing diabetes. Vitamin D can come in the form of various supplements and food like fatty fish, cod liver oil and your everyday sun exposure. Consuming Vitamin D will lead to a significantly lower chance of developing type one diabetes as well as improve insulin-producing cells.
11. Minimize Your Intake of Processed Foods
While it goes without saying that whole foods like nuts and vegetables are rich in nutrients that are good for your health, they are actually a much better alternative to processed foods. There are many additives, along with refined grains and vegetable oils in processed foods that make it riskier for your body to develop diabetes. More so, they cause other health ailments like heart disease and obesity so reducing your intake of processed foods is very beneficial for your health.
12. Drink Coffee or Tea
Another way to prevent the advancement of type two diabetes will have to be drinking coffee or tea regularly. This is as they contain antioxidants that fight diabetes by decreasing blood sugar levels and increasing insulin sensitivity.
13. Consider Taking These Natural Herbs
If you are a fan of natural cures, definitely give natural herbs like curcumin and berberine a go. Incorporating them into your diet will reap various benefits such as better insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels which go a long way in preventing diabetes.
The key to preventing diabetes lies in your everyday norms and practices. Being diagnosed with prediabetes is not the end of the world as there are so many things you can do to impede the onset of diabetes. Take the tips listed in this article seriously and be disciplined in changing your lifestyle to give your body a fighting chance against developing diabetes today.