Diabetes can be a terrible word to hear coming out of a doctor’s mouth. Diabetes means constant monitoring of blood sugar, painful testing many times each day, worries about your health and circulation, and even death if it is not monitored very carefully. The good news that has just arrived from a recent study is that type two diabetes is highly preventable. Are you wondering how?
Diet and exercise have been recommended by physicians for years as a way to help stave off and even control diabetes. Studies have been concluded that backed this theory up so strongly that one study concluded a year early because of the staggering results. Eating right means that your body is ingesting less of the fats, preservatives, and other poisons that make its work less efficient. Losing some weight can also lower your risk of contracting diabetes, and this is important in our modern world where obesity reigns with younger and younger people.
It used to be that type two diabetes was a mark of later life, and would haunt the golden years of many of our family and friends as their bodies simply got too old to work everything properly. As time progresses, however, younger and younger people are contracting diabetes. This problem does not just affect America’s middle aged. Young children whose lifestyle habits are unhealthy are beginning to contract this late-life disease. Do not let it happen to you, and especially not to your children. Diet and exercise now can ensure you a better quality of life for years in the future.
Even better is the news that you do not have to reach an ideal bodyweight to benefit from a healthy lifestyle. There is no need to starve, and no need to be running the treadmill for hours at a time. Studies revealed that a lifestyle change as small as eating healthier and walking for a half hour a day, five days a week can make a significant difference in your health and lower your risk by up to fifty-eight percent. The older people in the studies actually cut their risk the most, bringing it down to around seventy percent.
Preventing diabetes is such an important step that it is amazing that people are not more careful to take these few simple actions for themselves. Relying on modern medicine will not do the trick. Instead, try taking up a fun sport like biking with friends, going on nature hikes, or swimming. Walk the neighborhood or to a local park with your spouse or children after supper. The diet changes do not have to be big either. Use lemon instead of butter to add flavor to veggies. Drink low fat milk and eat lower fat products. Have grilled chicken instead of fried food. More water, less soda, a little walk every day, and you could find yourself and your whole family on a path to a healthier (and longer) life.
Talking to your doctor and keeping up with his concerns are important. If you are in a high-risk category for diabetes, try to keep your healthcare provider abreast of how your lifestyle changes are progressing. Being honest with your doctor (and getting a diagnosis if your changes came too late) could save your life. If it’s not too late, then it’s time for a change (change couldn’t hurt even if you have already been diagnosed). Take life into your own hands and get out there and experience it fully. And best of luck to you.
