Coming to Terms with Diabetes Type 2

The complications of diabetes are serious, with heart disease and stroke, hypertension, kidney disease, and complications in pregnancy just to name a few. The following are some tips to help reduce the likelihood of getting diabetes.

  • Achieve and maintain healthy body weight.
  • Know your family history. Your chances of developing diabetes later in life increases if you have one or more family members with the disease.
  • Be physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days. More activity is required for weight control.
  • Eat a healthy diet of between three and five servings of fruit and vegetables a day and reduce sugar and saturated fats intake.
  • Everyone over the age of 45 should schedule a blood glucose measurement test with their doctor every 3 years. However, if there are risk factors present, such as family history or obesity, regular testing should begin at an earlier age.