How do I prevent type 2 diabetes?
♫ Thursday, June 30th, 2011The best way to prevent diabetes is to make some lifestyle changes:
* Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight raises your risk for diabetes. Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to see if you’re at a healthy weight. If you’re overweight, start making small changes to your eating habits by adding more whole grain foods, fruits, and vegetables. Start exercising more, even if taking a short walk is all you can do for now. If you’re not sure where to start, talk to your doctor. Even a relatively small amount of weight loss – 10 to 15 pounds – has been proven to delay or even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
* Eat healthy
o Eat lots of whole grains (such as whole wheat or rye bread, whole grain cereal, or brown rice), fruits, and vegetables.
o Choose foods low in fat and cholesterol. Read food labels. If you eat 2,000 calories per day, you should eat no more than 56 grams of fat each day.
o If you drink alcohol, limit it to no more than one or two drinks (one 12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or one 1.5-ounce shot of hard liquor) a day.
* Get moving. Health benefits are gained by doing the following each week:
o 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity
or
o 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity
or
o A combination of moderate and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity
and
o Muscle-strengthening activities on 3 days
Some suggestions for fitting physical activity in:
o Take the stairs instead of the elevator
o Take a brisk walk on your lunch break.
o Park at the far end of the parking lot and walk.
o Get off the bus or subway a few stops early and walk the rest of the way.
o Walk or bicycle whenever you can.

