How to Avoid Diabetes

If you have family members who are diabetic or you have a history of problems managing your blood sugar, you could be at risk for diabetes. Learn how to avoid diabetes with these simple health tips.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A detailed family history of anybody in your family who has diabetes. The more information you have, the better you can avoid their fate.
• A willingness to change dietary habits that might put you at risk for diabetes in the future.
• Desire to get into better physical shape through regular exercise.

1. For purposes of this article, we will be talking about how to avoid Type II diabetes. Type II is the kind of diabetes that has the strongest genetic component. People with a family history of this disease can be more prone to getting it. If you are concerned about diabetes, get information from your extended family about their battles with this disease. Also you should be aware of the link between obesity and Type II diabetes. If family members are obese and have also struggled with diabetes you will need to work extra hard to keep your own weight down and avoid diabetes.

2. Make the commitment to get as much information as possible about the disease itself. Do a lot of research about everything from the genetic component to the dietary aspects to the lifestyle/environment factors that come into play with this disease. You need to be armed with information so you can make major changes to your life.

3. Take a long, hard look at what is going on with your diet. Sugary foods are dangerous for diabetics and for people who have a history of diabetes in their family. If you want to avoid diabetes, it is a good idea to eliminate sugar from your diet. Of course, you should consult a doctor about your exact dietary needs, but eating less sugar is very important if you want to prevent diabetes in your future. Sugar from natural, whole foods like fruit is usually less dangerous than processed sugars, but even so, you may want to limit your sugar intake.

4. Figure out a realistic plan to get more physically fit. If you're chronically obese or physically out of shape, don't try to hit the gym twice a day. Chances are you will never stick to a workout plan that extreme. Instead, begin by working more physical movement into each day. Do more household chores each day. Tackle some projects like cleaning out closets, clearing out junk from the attic, or redecorating. All of these tasks will get you up on your feet. From there you can start to work walks in to your daily routine or build up to more challenging daily workouts.

5. Consider getting regular blood tests to check your blood sugar levels. If you have a fasting glucose level from 100 to 125 mg/dL this means you have impaired fasting glucose. If your glucose levels are at or above 140 mg/dL but not over 200 (two hours after a 75 g oral glucose load) you are considered to have impaired glucose tolerance. Both of these conditions are considered to be pre-diabetic states which put you at heightened risk of developing full-blown diabetes in the future. So regular blood tests can teach you how you're doing and whether your body is improving. Sometimes after making dietary changes and exercising more to bring down your weight your body's blood sugar levels will improve. This is how to avoid diabetes - by changing your habits long before the disease is present.

Tips & Warnings

• Always get a detailed family history of anyone who suffered from diabetes. Don't be shy about asking family members about this because it is important to manage your own health in an aggressive way.
• Work with a doctor and get your blood sugar levels tested regularly. And don't hesitate to ask your physician any questions about how to prevent diabetes. He or she is bound to have some great advice for you.
• If you're having troubles figuring out what to eat each day, you might want to work with a dietitian who can design meal plans that are both tasty and nutritious.
• Consider finding a workout partner or someone who will take long walks with you. Working out and losing weight can be a lot more fun if you can turn it into a social opportunity instead of a chore.

[goldiec]

on 10/20/2009 Thanks for the great tips on How to Avoid Diabetes! This is very serious for people that have families with this disease! 5*

[Thims]

on 12/6/2008 Very good informative article! Diabetes places a terrible restiction on those who have it, so learning how to avoid it is so important. Great healthy article.