It’s a shocking statistic but 1 in 10 Americans have diabetes and 1 in 3 Americans, in addition, are pre-diabetic according to the CDC.
That means nearly 88 million Americans would benefit from knowing how to prevent diabetes.
Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that there are two types of diabetes and the first, Type 1 Diabetes, currently, cannot be prevented or cured (with one possible exception listed below).
So, we will focus on Type 2 diabetes which is often known as “adult-onset” diabetes.
Of the 88 million prediabetic Americans, 70% will go on to develop Type 2 diabetes if they don’t take action to prevent diabetes.
12 Simple Ways To Prevent Diabetes
- Stop eating sugar. The less carbohydrate and sugars that you have in your diet, the easier it is to avoid diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is caused by an excess of sugar in your bloodstream which your natural insulin production cannot handle.
- Give up smoking. Smokers are, on average, 44% more likely to become type 2 diabetics and if you smoke more than 20 a day, your risk goes up to 61%! Quitting for 5 years, on the other hand, reduces your risks by 13%. This is true even if you gain weight from quitting!
- Eat more fiber. High fiber diets reduce insulin production and help to moderate blood sugar levels. Both insoluble and soluble fiber have been linked to benefits for prediabetics.
- Get regular exercise. If you burn 2,000 calories a week through exercise (this can be strength training, aerobic or high-intensity interval training) you are very unlikely to develop type 2 diabetes.
- Switch to a low carb diet. Sure, this is kind of similar to point 1 but eating a ketogenic or even carnivore diet can help you prevent diabetes. On average in studies, after just 12 weeks, this leads to a 50% reduction in insulin production and a 12% reduction in blood sugar.
- Get more Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps to regulate your blood sugar levels. The right amount of Vitamin D in your body doesn’t just reduce the risks of type 2 diabetes, it also seems to reduce the risks of developing type 1 diabetes as a child!
- Drink water. That doesn’t mean drink 2 liters of water a day, it means stop drinking sodas, punch, beer, etc. and drink water instead. Just 2 sugar-sweetened beverages a day increase your risks of developing full blown diabetes by 20%! Drinking water, on the other hand, helps you better regulate insulin in your system.
- Eat less. This means reduce your portion sizes at every meal. The more you eat in one sitting, the more insulin your body produces. Cut down the size of the meal and feel better immediately and in the longer-term reduce portion sizes equate to a 46% reduction in the risks of getting type 2 diabetes!
- Don’t eat processed food. Diets rich in processed foods appear to increase your risks of type 2 diabetes by 30%! Cut out the junk food.
- Lose weight. Please note: this only applies if you’re overweight (or obese). The majority of people who develop type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. For every kilogram of excess weight that you lose, your risk of developing diabetes drops by 16%!
- Stop being sedentary. Those who spend most of their days just sitting, have a 91% increase in their risks of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Drink coffee or tea. Drinking large volumes of coffee have been linked to halving the risk of type 2 diabetes and both black and green tea have been linked to benefits with insulin production and sensitivity too.
Final Thoughts On How To Prevent Diabetes
It’s better to prevent diabetes than to have to learn how to cure diabetes and all of the tips above will help you in that journey.
You may also want to learn how to lower your blood sugar naturally too, which might also help to prevent type 2 diabetes and will certainly help to control type 2 diabetes if you are already diabetic.
