Type 2 diabetes is not really a disease. It’s a lifestyle disorder and a dietary illness. This means that poor lifestyle and dietary habits can lead to Type 2 diabetes. This also means that the kind of lifestyle you live, and the dietary habits you follow, play a huge role in preventing and reversing it.
Over the last couple of years, we gathered a lot of data to study certain commonalities in the lifestyles of individuals who have Type 2 diabetes. This is not to say that these commonalities were in all diabetics. Still, the majority of them were, and knowing them may just help you prevent Type 2 diabetes, especially if you have a family history of this disease.
The commonalities among Type 2 diabetics
Sedentary lifestyle: A sedentary lifestyle causes and worsens Type 2 diabetes. Inactivity has every connection with insulin resistance, so make an effort to be more active. Even a one-hour workout in a day of sitting will not help. The idea is to remain active throughout the day: get up from your chair, move around, walk to the door when the bell rings etc. If you could get in a 10-minute easy stroll after every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), it will help balance postprandial glucose spikes better.
Going low-fat and high-carb: The second commonality is an eating pattern that’s low-fat and high-carb. It actually needs to be the opposite—low-carb and high fat. We need to stop demonising all fats. The wrong kind of fat—and too much of it—is the only culprit. We need good fats for several functions in the human body, like hormonal health. Diabetes itself involves a hormone called insulin. People who go on an oil-free or low-fat diet make a huge mistake by not understanding that the good fats from nuts, seeds, and pure oils are great for their 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 fats. Having said that, portion control is advised even for good fats. A simple lifestyle change involving a meal pattern that’s low carb and high fat, but within your calorie limit, will definitely help improve blood sugar levels.
{{/usCountry}}Going low-fat and high-carb: The second commonality is an eating pattern that’s low-fat and high-carb. It actually needs to be the opposite—low-carb and high fat. We need to stop demonising all fats. The wrong kind of fat—and too much of it—is the only culprit. We need good fats for several functions in the human body, like hormonal health. Diabetes itself involves a hormone called insulin. People who go on an oil-free or low-fat diet make a huge mistake by not understanding that the good fats from nuts, seeds, and pure oils are great for their 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 fats. Having said that, portion control is advised even for good fats. A simple lifestyle change involving a meal pattern that’s low carb and high fat, but within your calorie limit, will definitely help improve blood sugar levels.
{{/usCountry}}Eating too many or too few fruits: Stop overdoing fruits. Space them out. Have one in the morning, another mid-morning, and maybe one in the evening (before sunset). It’s been noticed that people who have Type 2 diabetes, or eventually develop it, either eat too much or too little fruit. There is something called the glycaemic load in every food item, meaning the total load of carbohydrates on our bodies, and that’s what we should focus on. More fruit means more glycaemic load on the body. And you do not want too much fructose (fruit sugar) going into your system at once.
Eating too fast: If you are a fast eater, chances are that you will 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 itself. Thus, 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 keep long gaps between meals. The longer the gap, the more you eat at the next meal because you are hungry. The more you eat, the more your sugar levels change and fluctuate.
Chronic stress and little sleep: Stress and low sleep levels are an obvious commonality amongst 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! So, managing both stress and sleep is important to prevent diabetes. When you’re chronically stressed, the cortisol level goes up, and that has a cascading effect on every hormone, including insulin.
Excess body fat: If you carry excess body fat, you are at a higher risk of developing diabetes. It doesn’t matter whether you have a family history or not. Obesity is a metabolic disorder, which paves the way for several other metabolic conditions, including diabetes. Make every effort to lose that extra weight and put on lean muscle.
If you share some of these commonalities, start making lifestyle shifts and you can be assured that there is a huge chance you can prevent Type 2 diabetes.
Luke Coutinho practices in the space of Holistic Nutrition—Integrative & 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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