Type 2 diabetes is at epidemic proportions in the US today.
About 8% of US citizens have type 2 diabetes, and twice as many are pre-diabetic according to the American Diabetes Association website.
Unlike type 1 diabetes, where the pancreas stops making insulin, in type 2 DM there still the ability to produce insulin, but not as much insulin as an individual needs to control their blood sugar.
Most patients with type 2 diabetes develop insulin resistance.
In order to reduce your risk of developing adult diabetes you need to reduce your resistance to insulin.
The short answer to how to reduce insulin resistance is very simple.
Lose weight, or if you are not overweight don't gain weight.
Although this is easy to write or say, it is not as easy to achieve.
Obesity is also epidemic in the US today.
It is estimated that more than 1/3 of adults and about 17% of children in the US are obese.
So the primary answer to avoiding adult onset diabetes is simple, get to a lower and ideally normal weight, but there are other things to do also.
There is some evidence that in patients who are pre-diabetic, the use of metformin can reduce the incidence of developing diabetes.
Regular exercise can reduce the incidence of developing diabetes in pre-diabetic patients also, and to an even higher extent than metf.
Many experts feel that reducing the intake of foods that quickly raise your blood sugars can reduce insulin need, and reduce your blood sugars.
Whether this prevents or delays the onset of diabetes to an extent more than any weight loss that comes for this style of eating is uncertain.
So to lower your chances of developing type 2 diabetes the things to do are simple: • Lose Weight • Exercise More • Avoid Foods that Quickly Raise Your Blood Sugar • Discuss use of Metformin with your physician if you have Pre-diabetes