The United States has been known for a while as a land of heart disease and obesity but the stereotype is becoming more and more real each day. The risk of diabetes has been growing and growing each passing year but there may be a way to curb that.
The United States Diabetes Crisis Continues
Studies by the US Center for Disease Control find that around 10% of the population of the US has type-2 diabetes or around 30 million people. Even more, around 80 million people have pre-diabetes, or blood pressure higher than normal. Those with pre-diabetes usually develop diabetes within five years of being diagnosed.
A new study by National Institutes of Health (NIH) finds that there are ways to nearly reverse this frightening trend.
Diabetes Is Beyond Dangerous
Diabetes as a disease can lead to heart and blood vessel damage and if left unchecked for long enough will result in insulin deficiency, but the study found that lifestyle change can be one of the most plausible ways to reduce the risk of diabetes.
An entire lifestyle shift can pull back the envelope of pre-diabetes symptoms by up to 58%.
Sometimes Your Life Needs To Change
The lifestyle change that is recommended is, to begin with, a 7% reduction in body fat, as a higher body fat content increases the effort your heart has to expend in order to pump blood around the body. Along with the body fat reduction 150 minutes of an intense workout, a week is crucial.
Diet changes are very important as well. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes and on the flip side processed meats, high-fat dairy, and very sugary products can even increase the risk of diabetes.
On top of diet sugary drinks are one of the biggest factors in high blood-sugar content. Processed juices and sodas are affordable, sometimes more so than water, and are so easy to consume on a high volume. The high volume of sugary drinks leads to a higher risk of type-2 diabetes as well. It's recommended to replace sugary drinks with freshly squeezed juice, tea with no sugar added, low-fat milk, and if possible, mostly water.
