Why preventing diabetes is important

How to Prevent Diabetes. What is type 2 diabetes? Who is at risk for type 2 diabetes? The changes are Losing weight and keeping it off. Weight control is an important part of diabetes prevention.

For example, if you weigh pounds, your goal would be to lose between 10 to 20 pounds. And once you lose the weight, it is important that you don't gain it back. Following a healthy eating plan. It is important to reduce the amount of calories you eat and drink each day, so you can lose weight and keep it off.

To do that, your diet should include smaller portions and less fat and sugar. You should also eat a variety of foods from each food group, including plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. It's also a good idea to limit red meat, and avoid processed meats.

Get regular exercise. Proper diet and exercise seem to be the prescription for many common health problems: high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, and obesity.

In fact, health experts recommend proper diet and exercise to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition that also is affecting more and more adolescents who are exchanging outdoor activities for computer games, and carrots and yogurt for chips, cookies, and soda. The National Institutes of Health conducted a breakthrough study to show that diet and exercise can delay diabetes. The clinical trial proved that a half hour of walking or other low-intensity exercise daily, combined with a low-fat diet, reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent.

Weight loss resulting from healthy eating and increased physical activity enables muscle cells to use insulin and glucose more efficiently, thus lowering diabetes risk. Lack of exercise can cause muscle cells to lose their sensitivity to insulin, which controls levels of sugar in the blood. The certified diabetes educators at John Muir Health are firm believers that those at risk for diabetes can develop a flexible care program with the help of a diabetes team.

Important clinical trials have shown that exercise, healthy eating, and modest weight reduction can prevent diabetes. Prevalence of and trends in diabetes among adults in the United States, National, regional, and global trends in fasting plasma glucose and diabetes prevalence since systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with country-years and 2. Skip to main content. Google Tag Manager.

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