Type 2 diabetes is not really a disease. It is a lifestyle disorder and a dietary disease. This means that poor lifestyle and dietary habits can lead to type 2 diabetes. This also means that the type of lifestyle you lead and the eating habits you follow play a huge role in preventing and reversing it.
In recent years, we have collected a large amount of data to study certain commonalities in the lifestyles of people with type 2 diabetes. This is not to say that these commonalities were found in all diabetics. Still, most of them were, and knowing about them can help you prevent type 2 diabetes, especially if you have a family history of the disease.
The common points among type 2 diabetics
sedentary lifestyle: A sedentary lifestyle causes and worsens type 2 diabetes. Inactivity has everything to do with insulin resistance, so make an effort to be more active. Even an hour-long workout in a day of sitting won’t help. The idea is to stay active throughout the day: get up from your chair, move around, walk to the door when the doorbell rings, etc. If you could walk 10 minutes after each meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), it would help better balance postprandial glucose spikes.
Go low fat and high carb: The second point in common is a low-fat, high-carbohydrate eating pattern. Actually, it should be the opposite: low carb and high fat. We have to stop demonizing all fats. The wrong kind of fat, and too much of it, is the only culprit. We need good fats for various functions in the human body, such as hormonal health. Diabetes itself involves a hormone called insulin. People who follow an oil-free or low-fat diet make a big mistake by not understanding that the good fats in nuts, seeds, and pure oils are great for your heart, diabetic health, hormones, hair, skin and even weight loss. Crucial vitamins like A, D, E and K are also absorbed in the presence of fat. That said, portion control is recommended even for the good fats. A simple lifestyle change that involves a low-carb, high-fat meal pattern, but within your calorie limit, will definitely help improve blood sugar levels.
Eating too much or too little fruit: Stop abusing fruits. Separate them. Have one in the morning, another mid-morning, and maybe one in the evening (before sunset). People who have type 2 diabetes, or eventually develop it, have been observed to eat too much or too little fruit. There is something called the glycemic load in each food, that is, the total load of carbohydrates in our body, and that is what we should focus on. More fruit means more glycemic load on the body. And you don’t want too much fructose (fruit sugar) getting into your system at one time.
Eating too fast: If you eat quickly, you will most likely eat more than your body requires. In cases of overeating, the body naturally produces an excess of everything: insulin, digestive enzymes, and stomach acids. Slow down and chew well. If you chew well, you aid digestion because your saliva contains amylase and lipase that help break down carbohydrates and fats in your mouth. Therefore, there is a direct correlation between how well you chew and how your blood sugar levels behave.
Long gaps between two meals: Make sure you don’t leave long gaps between meals. The longer the interval, the more you will eat at the next meal because you are hungry. The more you eat, the more your blood sugar levels change and fluctuate.
Chronic stress and little sleep: Stress and poor sleep levels are an obvious common feature among all type 2 diabetics. Most of our hormonal balance occurs while we sleep, and most of our hormonal imbalance occurs when we are chronically stressed. And insulin is a hormone! Therefore, managing both stress and sleep is important to prevent diabetes. When you’re chronically stressed, your cortisol level goes up and that has a cascading effect on all your hormones, including insulin.
Excess body fat: If you have excess body fat, you are at higher risk of developing diabetes. It doesn’t matter if you have a family history or not. Obesity is a metabolic disorder that paves the way for other metabolic conditions, including diabetes. Do everything you can to lose that extra weight and gain lean muscle.
If you share some of these commonalities, start making lifestyle changes and you can be sure that there is a good chance that you can prevent type 2 diabetes.
Luke Coutinho practices in the space of Holistic Nutrition—Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine and is the founder of You Care-All about You by Luke Coutinho
From HT Brunch, November 5, 2022
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Source: news.google.com