How Can I Prevent Type 2 Diabetes? A Helpful Guide

95 percent of all diabetes cases are those that get affected by type 2 diabetes. There are several reasons which can lead to this condition and the same is extremely difficult to deal with. You need to be really careful about the type of lifestyle as well as the food you eat when you have been affected by type 2 diabetes. Hence, you would want to prevent the condition from appearing itself in the first place. While reversing type 2 diabetes can be a task which only a rare few can achieve, preventing the disease from affecting you is something that you can control to a large extent. This article aims to help you with the ways in which you can prevent type 2 diabetes.

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How to Lower the Chances of Developing Type 2 Diabetes in the First Place?

What can be better than avoiding getting type 2 diabetes in the first place? After all, prevention is far better than cure. Isn’t it? Follow the following few easy steps which can help you to prevent from getting affected by type 2 diabetes in the first place:

1. Regulate Your Body weight

First and the foremost thing is to maintain a healthy body weight. You can reduce the chances of getting type 2 diabetes if you lose your weight, particularly in the abdominal area. Also, losing as much as even a mere five kilograms can go a long way in helping you avoid type 2 diabetes.

2. Choose the Right Fats

Another important thing to remember here is that not all fats are unhealthy for the body. There are certain fats which in fact should be taken in. Some of the healthy fats include the oleic acid which is usually found in olive oil. The acid is known to be anti-inflammatory and it, therefore, reduces the risk of insulin resistance in the body.

3. Regular Physical Exercise

It is very important to indulge yourself in some sort of physical exercise. You can go for at least 30 minutes of exercise five times in a week. If you are not already active, you should first speak to your health experts to understand what type of activity will suit you the best.

4. Try to Take Less of Food That Contains High-Sugar

Added sugar proves to be highly detrimental to the health of the individuals. Sugar is also found in the form of starch which is created by combining different types of sugar molecules. Some of the popular sources of starch include food items such as potato, cereals, amongst others. Another important form is the dietary plant fibers that comprise complicated fibers which are so complex that the stomach is unable to digest the same.

Besides, you should also look forward to consuming food with a low glycemic index, low to moderate amount of carbohydrates, food rich in fibers, etc.

5. Include Spices in the Food You Take

A few spices, such as turmeric, cinnamon, as well as other herbs and medicines go a long way in preventing type 2 diabetes and its complications. Including these spices will go a long way in helping to promote smooth functioning and flow of blood throughout the body. Some of the other herbs that can help in the prevention of type 2 diabetes include thyme, black pepper, as well as Jamaican allspice.

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6. Eat well

We have always emphasized the importance of eating right when it comes to controlling diabetes. A few things to be kept in mind while devising a meal plan for all those who suffer from diabetes include:

You would want to replace the full-fat dairy products with the ones which only contain low amounts of fats.
Eat more fiber and reduce the consumption of processed grains
Include as many green leafy vegetables in your diet as you can
Go for the natural fruits rather than the juice you get in the market
Avoid sodas of all kinds, limit the consumption of coffee
Go for lean meat and eat fish like salmon

7. Quit Smoking

Another way which shall go a long way in helping you to prevent a chronic illness like type 2 diabetes is that if you smoke, you should immediately stop doing so. A lot of complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, nerve damage, amongst otherstake place in the body only because of the hazardous effects of smoking.

8. Try to Keep Your Triglycerides Low While Keeping the HDLs High

Another way in which you can prevent type 2 from occurring is to keep a watch on the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the body. If the levels of good cholesterol in the body is high and the level of triglycerides low, it shall go a long way in keeping you healthy.

9. Stabilize Your Blood Pressure

If your blood pressure is somewhere around 140/90, you have high blood pressure which can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. You should try and keep your blood pressure somewhere close to 120/80 to reduce risks of contracting diabetes.

Steps you Should Take If You Have Been Diagnosed to Have Prediabetes

Well, you know you have pre diabetes when the level of blood glucose in your body is above the normal level but is not as high as it may be in case of a patient suffering from diabetes. So, when you know that you are prediabetic, you might want to take special steps in order to prevent yourself from progressing into the diabetic stage. Various ways in which you can do so is by losing all the extra calories, following a proper exercise regime, as well as developing a well cut out meal plan under the supervision of your doctor.

Steps you Should Take If You Have Suffered from Gestational Diabetes During Pregnancy

It is a known fact that if you have had gestational diabetes at the time of your pregnancy there are very high chances that you will contract type 2 diabetes in the coming years. Not only you, but your child also stands at a higher risk of developing the condition. You certainly will not want that. Take the following steps to prevent type 2 diabetes in both you and your child:

Indulge yourself in regular physical exercise
You would also not want to take any type of risk. As such, it is highly recommendable that you get tested for the condition within six to twelve weeks after giving birth. If you do not have the disease at that time, it is recommendable that you go for a diabetes test once in every three years post giving birth to your child.
Try to lose all the pregnancy weight but in a healthy way
In order to keep your baby healthy, you will want to breastfeed him or her as the milk contains all the essential nutrients required in that age
You might also be tempted to take metformin in order to avoid getting type 2 diabetes. However, do so only under an expert supervision

We hope that the above article has been helpful in providing you an understanding of how are the different ways in which you can prevent type 2 diabetes from occurring. Type 2 is a complicated disease and avoiding it by adopting a healthy lifestyle is something that you should be aware of. Regular health checkups and taking measures under the supervision of a medical expert area few things which you should adopt right away!!

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