Preventing diabetes

Data from the Nurses’ Health Study suggests that 90% of type 2 diabetes is preventable by adopting a lifestyle that features 30 minutes or more of daily physical
activity, avoidance of overweight (body mass index, BMI, less than 25), not smoking, a healthy diet rich in whole grains with minimal added sugars and refined carbohydrates, avoiding red meat and having about three alcoholic drinks per week.

However, the value of alcohol in the prevention of diabetes is questionable. A recent advisory on preventing diabetes from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public
Health noted, “If you already drink alcohol, the key is to keep your consumption in the moderate range, as higher amounts of alcohol could increase diabetes risk. If
you don’t drink alcohol, there’s no need to start—you can get the same benefits by losing weight, exercising more, and changing your eating patterns.”

For individuals that are prediabetic, with a fasting blood glucose of 100 to 125, weight loss, increased physical activity, and avoidance of added sugars can usually
decrease insulin resistance and reverse the prediabetic condition in three to six months. The same lifestyle changes can often decrease and sometimes even eliminate
the use of insulin among those who have diabetes. Weight loss from bariatric surgery is an even more effective treatment for type 2 diabetes (a “cure” in about
one-third of cases) and for reducing its cardiovascular and other complications.

This blog presents opinions and ideas and is intended to provide helpful general information. I am not engaged in rendering advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures and suggestions in that are presented are not in any way a substitute for the advice and care of the reader’s own physician or other medical professional based on the reader’s own individual conditions, symptoms or concerns. If the reader needs personal medical, health, dietary, exercise or other assistance or advice the reader should consult a physician and/or other qualified health professionals. The author specifically disclaims all responsibility for any injury, damage or loss that the reader may incur as a direct or indirect consequence of following any directions or suggestions given in the book or participating in any programs described in this blog or in the book, The Building Blocks of Health––How to Optimize Your Health with a Lifestyle Checklist (available in print or downloaded at Amazon). Copyright 2020 by J. Joseph Speidel.