While certain diabetes risk factors are uncontrollable, living an active lifestyle and consuming nutritious foods can go a long way toward to prevent the disease.
Diabetes mellitus, sometimes known as “diabetes,” causes blood sugar or glucose levels to rise because the body does not use insulin properly. Instead of being used properly in the cells for energy, glucose can accumulate in the bloodstream, resulting in diabetes.
Diabetes can have serious health repercussions, including damage to the heart, kidneys, nerves, and feet.
Diabetes: What You Should Know
This condition is diagnosed by healthcare experts in a variety of ways, the most prevalent of which are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Additional kinds include gestational diabetes and diabetes caused by cystic fibrosis. Diabetes can also be caused by drugs or treatments.
According to the CDC, one out of every ten people in the United States has diabetes. One in every five people is unaware they have this disease, making testing critical, especially if you observe any of the following symptoms:
- Exhaustion
- heightened thirst
- hazy vision
- Injuries that take a long time to heal
- Unknown cause of weight loss
- Urination on a regular basis
- Tingling sensations in the feet or hands
- The mouth is parched
Type 1 Diabetes
According to the American Diabetes Association, about 1.6 million people have type 1 diabetes. This kind of diabetes is an autoimmune illness that typically manifests itself in childhood or early adulthood. However, it can arise at any age.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by genetics, viruses, and sometimes unexplained factors that cause the body’s immune system to damage the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. A blood test can identify whether or not you have type 1 diabetes. If you do, you will need insulin treatment.
Type 1 diabetes is not a life-threatening condition. The technology used to measure and insert insulin into the body has evolved throughout time. This enables persons with type 1 diabetes to maintain better blood sugar control than they did previously.
Currently, there is no solution to cure type 1 diabetes, but there is hope. For example, the Diabetes Research Institute is working on a biological cure that would allow the body to begin generating its own insulin and return blood sugar levels to normal.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes affects more than 95% of diabetics. A variety of events occur in type 2. Your liver, fat, and muscle cells do not respond properly to insulin. As a result of this inadequate response, your pancreas produces extra insulin to compensate. It eventually starts to burn out. As a result, there is insufficient insulin available, which results in a buildup of sugar in the bloodstream.
Those over the age of 45 are the most likely to be diagnosed with diabetes type 2. Type 2 is also more common in those who have a history of diabetes, are overweight, or have high blood pressure.
Type 2 diabetes is frequently manageable by diet, exercise, and, in some circumstances, prescription medication. Some diabetic treatments are given orally as pills, while others are injected subcutaneously.
A blood test to detect your HbA1c levels is one technique to determine if you have diabetes. A test result of 6.5% or higher may indicate that you have diabetes. It is advised that persons with diabetes have an HbA1c level of less than 7%. HbA1c levels in people with prediabetes range between 5.7% and 6.4%.
Prediabetes
Prediabetes is a precursor to diabetes that affects one in every three persons. It occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal. However, not high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes.
We suggest that you contact a healthcare practitioner to have your blood sugar levels tested, which can be done by a fasting blood sugar or glucose tolerance test if you:
Diabetes runs in your family.
High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity, or high cholesterol are all medical conditions.
Do not exceed the amount of physical activity prescribed by your healthcare physician.
Diabetes Contributing Factors
Aside from age, family history, the existence of certain medical disorders, or leading a sedentary lifestyle, a few other variables can contribute to diabetes.
The Stress Response and Cortisol
When we are stressed, our bodies naturally produce cortisol. Cortisol assists in providing the body with the energy it requires to deal with the stressor by lowering insulin sensitivity, resulting in increased glucose availability. While this is useful in life-or-death emergencies, it is less effective in long-term stress.
If cortisol levels remain high over time, glucose is constantly generated. This raises blood sugar levels, increasing your chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
Cycling Your Weight and Insulin Resistance
Weight cycling, or losing and gaining weight frequently, can also contribute to diabetes development. According to studies, those who lose weight, then relapse and gain it again, have worse insulin sensitivity than those who maintain their weight loss.
Oftentimes, instead of becoming less sensitive to insulin, the body simply stops responding to it. This is known as insulin resistance, and it causes the pancreas to produce insulin until it can no longer keep up, enabling blood sugar levels to rise and setting the stage for diabetes.
Environmental and Social Factors
Diabetes risk can also be increased by the environment in which you live and work. Pollutants in the water and soil, starvation, and chemical exposure have all been linked to this condition.
Several types of factors may increase the risk of diabetes in certain demographics. This covers people living in developing countries as well as those who live in more developed areas but lack access to nutrient-dense foods or are exposed to high levels of pollution.
Prevent Diabetes Through Food and Exercise
Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented with diet and exercise; in fact, it cannot be prevented at all. This autoimmune condition causes your body to attack itself, and no amount of effort on your side will stop it. However, you can prevent Type 2 diabetes with balanced diet and exercise.
While some factors of type 2 diabetes are beyond your control (such as age and family history), you may be able to avoid a diagnosis by preventative measures such as an active lifestyle, healthy eating habits, and weight management.
Exercise
Frequent physical activity can help lower blood sugar levels, which is an important part of diabetes prevention. The American Heart Association recommends that most of us should aim for 30 minutes of exercise five days a week.
Speak with a healthcare expert before beginning a new exercise program or increasing intensity to determine what is safe for your fitness level. If you’re new to exercising, begin slowly and gradually increase to 30 minutes. Here are some exercises for thinking about.
Walking
According to some experts, we could potentially prevent type 2 diabetes if we “walk more, sit less, and exercise.”
They specifically recommend that individuals aim for at least 7,500 steps per day. A minimum of 3,000 steps should be taken at a rate of 100 steps per minute. A pedometer can assist you in tracking your progress.
Yoga
One study discovered that after eight weeks of yoga, people with increased fasting blood glucose levels shed more weight and had a smaller waist circumference than subjects who walked. As a result, the researchers found that yoga holds the potential to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Another study found that community-based yoga interventions improved oxidative stress levels, individuals’ glycemic parameters, weight loss outcomes, and lipid levels—all of which can help prevent type 2 or prediabetes.
Swimming
According to the CDC, is a moderate-intensity physical exercise that, in addition to using major muscles, raising heart rate, and making you breathe harder, can also make the body more insulin sensitive.
Swimming has been shown in studies to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose control, especially when combined with a low-volume, high-intensity swim training program.
Strengthening Exercises to prevent Diabetes
In one research of 32,000 males, resistance training for 2.5 hours or more each week lowered the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 34%. This is in addition to the numerous advantages of strength training, which include increased muscle, stronger bones, higher flexibility, better balance, and easier weight control.
According to the American Diabetes Association, three types of strength exercise can aid with glucose management:
- Exercising with free weights
- Exercising on a weight machine
- Exercising with your own body weight
Diet
A healthy diet can help lower your chance of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. These suggestions can assist you in developing healthy eating habits.
Consume a Mediterranean Diet.
A 2020 study on the Mediterranean diet discovered that it could reduce blood sugar levels by up to 0.53 percentage units and that each component of the Mediterranean diet may be linked to a 20% reduction in diabetes risk.
Fruits and vegetables, nutritious grains, nuts and seeds, lean protein, and healthy fats are all abundant in a Mediterranean diet. It is also low in refined grains, added sugars, and processed foods. A spectrum of food colors on your plate is ideal.
Reduce Your Sugar Consumption
Whereas it was once considered that eating a lot of sugar cause diabetes, several healthcare organizations now term this a “myth,” noting research that has failed to prove this link. Yet, eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain, which increases your chance of developing diabetes.
The American Heart Association recommends that women shouldn’t consume more than six teaspoons of sugar per day, and males consume no more than nine teaspoons per day. Reading food ingredient labels might assist you in identifying added sugar.
Consume Micronutrients to Prevent Diabetes
Vitamin D, chromium, biotin, and thiamine deficiencies have all been connected to glucose or insulin-related problems, while low iron levels during pregnancy have been linked to gestational diabetes. Getting enough of these micronutrients may thus help lower your risk of diabetes.
If you’re unsure whether you have a deficiency, a blood test can help. In addition, several diet apps keep a rolling record of the micronutrients consumed each day. This gives you a better picture of your overall intake while also revealing any areas where your diet may be deficient.
Consume More Water (And Less Soda)
Although sugar consumption has not been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, one beverage has been linked to a greater diabetes prevalence: soda. It’s not necessarily the drink but rather a symptom that your diet isn’t as healthy as it could be.
Increasing your water intake is one strategy to lower your soda consumption. Not only is drinking enough water beneficial to your general health, but it may also encourage you to consume fewer sugary beverages.
Limit Your Alcohol Consumption
Researchers from Harvard Health discovered that one or two daily servings of beer or wine reduced the chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes in middle-aged males. Heavy and binge drinkers, on the other hand, have an elevated risk of diabetes.
Weight Control
Body weight management is an important part of preventing type 2 diabetes. According to some research, reducing 5% to 7% of your body weight may help prevent or delay diabetes.
If you are overweight, you can put yourself at risk for type not only 2 diabetes, but also high blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular disease.
To Conclude
If you are concerned about diabetes, consult with a healthcare physician to assess your lifestyle and determine what steps you may take to prevent or delay a type 2 diabetes or pre diabetes diagnosis.