Did you know that you can postpone or even prevent type 2 diabetes naturally? A conscious, balanced diet and exercise are the most important measures you can take to prevent diabetes. To know how not to become diabetic through a healthy lifestyle, read on.
To know your diabetes status you can do an online test HERE. We also advise you to visit your doctor to do a real test.
After you have taken the online test, and your score is over 6 points, then you have to visit your doctor as soon as possible. Moreover, you would need to pay particular attention to this write-up.
In African Mango is a wonder. Check it out
Your body weight self-check
When you weigh a kilo or two over the accepted body weight, it is usually nothing to worry about, but in order to know how to prevent type 2 diabetes naturally, you need to be careful your weight does not blow out of proportion.
However, truth be said, being particularly highly overweight or obese can be a decisive factor in the development of type 2 diabetes.
Point is, being overweight can reduce insulin sensitivity in your muscles, liver, and adipose tissue. This means that insulin can no longer work so well that the sugar in the blood can no longer be broken down sufficiently.
Normal body weight can lower the risk of diabetes. You can use your body mass index (BMI) to determine whether your body weight is within the normal range or whether you weigh too much.
The BMI describes the ratio of height to weight. You can easily determine this value yourself.
The BMI is calculated from the bodyweight divided by the square of the body height using the following formula:
The following BMI table helps to evaluate the result:
|DESCRIPTION||BMI MEN||BMI WOMEN|
|Underweight||below 20||below 19|
|Severe obesity||over 40||over 40|
As you can see, in the Diabetes Risk Test, another factor is important in determining your diabetes risk, and that is your waist size:
- Your waist size. An increased waist circumference, in women over 80 cm, and in men over 94 cm, is a significant risk factor for the occurrence of diabetes, but also for coronary heart disease or a stroke. There is a significantly increased risk for a woman who has over 88cm waist circumstance, and 102 for men. The abdominal circumference is an indirect measure of the inner abdominal fat (called visceral fat), which sends out considerably more inflammatory messengers than fat on the thighs and buttocks and thus promotes type 2 diabetes and arteriosclerosis.
- How to measure your abdominal circumference: While standing, place the measuring tape around your belly at navel level, exhale gently, and read the value at navel level.
What you eat self-check will help prevent type 2 diabetes naturally
There is no special “diabetes diet”, however, the most sensible way to maintain a healthy body weight seems to be a varied, balanced mixed diet.
The essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals should be in a balanced relationship with one another.
This is achieved through a high proportion of plant-based foods such as fruit, vegetables, and cereals, or whole-grain products.
Milk and dairy products, as well as fish, should be eaten as part of a balanced mixed diet, but in a moderate amount.
In contrast, meat, oils and fats as well as sweets and snacks should make up only a tiny part of the mixed diet.
And the more fiber the diet has, the longer you will stay full. Dietary fibers are found in abundance in whole grain products as well as vegetables and fruits.
Adhere to regular exercise
Exercise and sport support our health. A lack of exercise, on the other hand, is also a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes.
When you move, it has a twofold effect on your blood sugar because movement makes insulin work better and the right amount of sugar gets to the cells.
This lowers the blood sugar level and the cells are better supplied with energy.
In addition, through exercise, you increase the muscle mass in the body in the long term. Muscle cells require more energy than fat cells, so more muscles also use more calories.
This will help you lose extra pounds faster. Therefore, the mantra should be to “do sport regularly and get exercise every day”.
It should be at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day – although this can also be divided into shorter intervals, of say 5 to 10 minutes a section.
Whatever physical activity you decide to undertake, it is advised to have your family doctor examine you beforehand to determine the best option for you.
When it comes to movement, all you need is a type that makes you feel good, fun to do, and one that makes you break some form of sweat.
Even good old WALKING can work wonders.
The rule of thumb is to try out what suits you best. You can try out endurance-oriented sports such as swimming, cycling, brisk walking, Nordic walking, or jogging.
In other words, sports in which you activate many muscles of the body at the same time to a moderate extent – and that over a longer period of 30 minutes or thereabout is perfect.
Training in the gym or weight training is also considered a healthy physical activity.
Before starting a new sport, it is advisable to get individual advice from a doctor about which sport is best for you, or how long and how often you should exercise.
Since jogging, for example, puts a lot of strain on the joints, it would not be appropriate for you, if you have a knee problem. Likewise, cycling may not be suitable for those with back problems.
In addition, avoid too intense and too frequent exertion during the first sports units. Especially when you start a new sport, two units a week for about the first two to three months are enough to get the body used to the strain. You can then gradually increase the training volume, every two to three months.
Act instead of waiting to prevent diabetes
If you find out that you are overweight, try to lose a few pounds in consultation with your Doctor.
A healthy weight can help prevent diabetes from developing.
Basically, you can achieve weight loss by consuming less energy – that is, fewer calories – than you consume. Or vice versa, by burning more energy or calories that you consume.
In other words, the two crucial levers that you can adjust yourself are diet and exercise.
Please note that the determination of the BMI and the waist circumference are only used as a rough guide.
Factors such as cholesterol levels, genetic predisposition, blood pressure, and your own lifestyle also play a decisive role in your state of health.
If in doubt, you should discuss weight loss or increased exercise with your doctor.
A training partner is motivational: the ideal is, of course, someone with experience in the relevant sport, who can also control the scope, intensity, and regularity together with you. But fun and motivation are decisive – and experience has shown that social contacts significantly promote fun in sport.
Even without sport, you can achieve a lot for your health: Build exercise into your everyday life wherever possible.
For example, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator, take a walk after lunch on your lunch break, or leave the car for short distances and walk instead.
10 tips to prevent diabetes
- Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. It is best to start each meal with a salad, fruit or vegetable.
- Prefer low-fat foods, for example, milk or cheese products. Make sure you use as little fat as possible with meat and sausages.
- Make sure you have healthy, low-calorie drinks. Instead of sodas or alcohol, it is better to prefer mineral water or unsweetened tea.
- Avoid high-calorie snacks such as chocolate bars, sweets, and fast food. Apples, pears, tomatoes, or carrots are better suited for occasional hunger pangs.
- Make sure you use as little fat as possible when cooking. Braising, steaming, and foil cooking are better than roasting. Use olive or canola oil instead of solid fats such as clarified butter, coconut oil, or palm oil.
- When choosing foods, give preference to foods that are high in fiber, as they fill you up longer. Examples are whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, legumes, brown rice, muesli.
- Exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day. It is ideal if you can incorporate exercise into your everyday life, for example when commuting to work.
- For short trips or short errands, use the bike or walk instead of taking the car. In this way, you not only save fuel but also do something for your weight.
- If you take up walking, do so in hilly areas. The intensity of walking whilst climbing burns more calories.
- Exercise in a group if you enjoy being with others. Fixed training times and group training support motivation.
- Choose a sport with light to medium intensity, for example, cycling, Nordic walking, or swimming. If you sweat easily and have a good time while exercising, then the load is right.
In this write-up, we have had a look at ways to help us beat the onset of type 2 diabetes, although the tips given are equally relevant for those who already have type 2 diabetes. The onus now rests on us to do the needful by cutting the lifestyle that might not inure to our benefit in the near future.
Take care of your health!
Check our products page HERE
Important NOTE: This article is for general guidance only and is not intended to be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. You should not substitute a visit to the doctor.