How to Prevent Diabetes

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name's Kayti Brosnan. I'm a registered nurse here in Austin, Texas, and today, I'm going to talk to you about how to prevent diabetes. This is one of my favorite things to talk about because diabetes is preventable. It's caused by our diet and sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, and lack of education. So those are the things that you want to think about. You can prevent diabetes by avoiding simple carbohydrates. It's often found in developing countries and native people to the United States that their bodies cannot process or break down simple carbohydrates like flour, white rice, white sugar, and bread products that have these components in them as well as other people can. And so they're more likely and they're quicker to develop diabetes. This isn't a solitary thing. It's also combined with the fact that everything's more convenient nowadays, so if we want to change the TV channel, we have a remote control. We're driving our cars instead of riding our bikes or walking or running. There's a lack of exercise in the school system right now. We're not getting as much recess time or physical education as they have in the past. And so lack of physical activity is correlated with diabetes. And so you might be skinny and your body is really unhealthy because you're sitting in an office and you have a sedentary lifestyle and, on top of that, you're not eating well. So it's important to educate yourself, along with changing your diet, being aware of your diet, being more physically active. It's important to educate yourself on what you're eating, what you're doing, what's going on with your body. Stay in contact with your physician. Let him know if any symptoms are occurring or if you have any questions. And this can help prevent the full onset of diabetes if you're in a pre-diabetic phase. So those are just some of the ways that -- and I think the best ways -- that you can help prevent diabetes."