The Importance of Weight Management in Type 2 Diabetes
If you have prediabetes (high blood sugar levels that do not meet the criteria for diabetes), lifestyle changes can help you avoid or postpone the onset of the disease. Making a few lifestyle changes now may help you avoid the serious health complications of diabetes, such as nerve, kidney, and heart damage, in the future. The earlier you understand the importance of weight management in type 2 diabetes, the better!
Changes in lifestyle can help prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes. Preventing type 2 diabetes is especially important if you are already at a higher risk due to being overweight or obese, having high cholesterol, or having a family history of diabetes.
It is never too late to begin. Changing your lifestyle may be a significant step toward diabetes prevention and it’s never too late to begin. Alongside diabetes weight management, you can try to adopt a few other healthy measures too. Consider the following suggestions.
Get Rid of Excess Weight
Diabetes is reduced by losing weight. Participants in one large study reduced their risk of developing diabetes by nearly 60% after losing 7% of their body weight through changes in exercise and diet. To prevent disease progression, the American Diabetes Association recommends that people with prediabetes lose 7% to 10% of their body weight. More diabetic weight loss will result in even more significant advantages. Determine your weight-loss target based on your current body weight. Discuss with our experts realistic short-term goals and expectations, such as losing 1 to 2 pounds per week.
Increase Your Physical Activity
Regular physical activity has numerous advantages. You can benefit from exercise by
- Reducing your weight
- Reducing your blood sugar levels
- Increasing your insulin sensitivity, which aids in keeping your blood sugar within a normal range
Most adults’ weight loss and maintenance goals include the following:
- Aerobic Activities: Aim for 30 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise on most days, for a total of at least 150 minutes per week, such as brisk walking, swimming, biking, or running.
- Resistance Training: Resistance exercise at least twice a week improves your strength, balance, and ability to live an active life. Weightlifting, yoga, and callisthenics are examples of resistance exercises.
- Inactivity is Limited: Long periods of inactivity, such as sitting at a computer, can be broken up to help control blood sugar levels. Every 30 minutes, take a few minutes to stand, walk around or do some light activity.
Consume Nutritious Plant Foods
Plants supplement your diet with vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates include sugars and starches, which serve as energy sources for your body, as well as fibre. Dietary fibre, also known as roughage or bulk, is the portion of plant foods that your body is unable to digest or absorb.
Fibre-rich foods help people lose weight and reduce their risk of diabetes. Consume a variety of fibre-rich, healthy foods, such as
- Fruits such as tomatoes, peppers, and tree fruit
- Non-starchy vegetables include leafy greens, broccoli, and cauliflower
- Legumes include beans, chickpeas, and lentils
- Whole grains like whole wheat pasta and bread, whole grain rice, whole oats, and quinoa
Fibre has the following advantages:
- Slowing sugar absorption and lowering blood sugar levels
- Interfering with dietary fat and cholesterol absorption
- Managing other risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and inflammation.
Because fibre-rich foods are more filling and energy-dense, they can help you eat less. Avoid “bad carbohydrates,” which are high in sugar with little fibre or nutrients: white bread and pastries, white flour pasta, fruit juices, and processed foods containing sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
Consume Healthy Fats
Fatty foods contain a lot of calories and should be consumed in moderation. To aid in weight loss and management, eat a variety of foods high in unsaturated fats, also known as “good fats.” Unsaturated fats, both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, support heart and vascular health. Good fat sources include:
- Oils such as olive, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, and canola
- Nuts and seeds include almonds, peanuts, flaxseed, and pumpkin seeds
- Fatty fish include salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, and cod
Saturated fats, also known as “bad fats,” can be found in dairy products and meats. These should only make up a small portion of your diet. Saturated fats can be reduced by eating low-fat dairy products and lean chicken and pork.
Avoid Fad Diets in Favour of Healthier Alternatives
Many fad diets, such as the glycemic index, paleo, or keto diets, aid in weight loss. However, there is little research on the long-term benefits of these diets or their effectiveness in preventing diabetes. Your dietary goal should be to lose weight and then keep it off in the future. Healthy dietary decisions must therefore include a strategy that can be maintained as a lifelong habit. Making healthy choices that reflect some of your own food preferences and traditions may be beneficial to you in the long run. Divide your plate is a simple strategy for helping you make good food choices and eat appropriate portion sizes. These three sections of your plate encourage healthy eating:
- Fruit and non-starchy vegetables make up half of the diet.
- A quarter cup of whole grains
- Protein-rich foods, such as legumes, fish, or lean meats, account for one-quarter of the diet.
The Extra Mile Can You Go for Diabetes Management
Exipure is a simple, reliable and effective long-term solution to healthy weight loss. You can take that extra mile by making safe weight loss pills your companion in your diabetic weight management efforts. We recommend routine screening for type 2 diabetes with diagnostic tests for all adults 45 and older, for people under the age of 45 who are overweight or obese and have one or more diabetes risk factors, women who have experienced gestational diabetes and individuals who have been diagnosed with prediabetes. Overweight or obese children with a family history of type 2 diabetes or other risk factors should also undergo screening and undertake necessary weight management practices. Discuss your diabetes prevention concerns with our experts.