Diabetes & Lifestyle

Tuesday, October 26th, 2021Diabetes, Fitness, Nutrition

Diabetes continues to be a significant health concern for many Americans:

Approximately 34.2 million people are currently diagnosed with diabetes
Another 88 million have prediabetes
An estimated 28% of those with diabetes are currently undiagnosed

Managing & Maintaining Your Health Through Lifestyle Change

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the total cost of diagnosed diabetes reached $327 billion in 2017, including direct medical costs and reduced productivity. Many living with diabetes struggle to manage their blood sugar with medication alone and require more purposeful lifestyle changes to continue being happy and healthy.

At the three-year mark of a large Diabetes Prevention Program study, lifestyle interventions were shown to reduce progression from prediabetes to diabetes by 58%, whereas the medication group only reduced progression by 31%.¹
More than prevention, nutrition therapy alone, under the supervision of a registered dietitian, has been shown to reduce A1c levels (blood sugar levels) by 2% in persons with diabetes.²

One of the cornerstones of diabetes care, lifestyle management, can be more effective than prescriptions for many patients.

Exercise and other healthy habits have been demonstrated to lower blood sugars more effectively than medications without the added economic cost (up to several thousand dollars per month) and uncomfortable and even dangerous side effects of medications (ranging from nausea and diarrhea to lethal hypoglycemia).

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¹ Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. “Long-Term Effects of Lifestyle Intervention…” NCBI. Published online September 2015. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4623946/

² The Wellness Network. “Lifestyle Management for Diabetes Patients.” April 2019. Source: https://www.thewellnessnetwork.net/health-news-and-insights/blog/lifestyle-management-diabetes/

Early, intensive lifestyle treatments are the most effective way to prevent diabetes and diabetes complications. Some tips to optimize lifestyle are:

Eat a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and legumes like beans and lentils and avoid processed foods, added sugars, and added fats, especially saturated fats mostly found in meat, dairy, and eggs
Get into a regular exercise routine
Get 7-9 hours of restful sleep per night
Learn ways to manage your stress
Make sure your medications are optimized. If you are not making progress on your current medication regimen, see a diabetes specialist.

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References:

[1] Leinung MC, Gianoukakis AG, Lee DW, Jeronis SL, Desemone J. “Comparison of Diabetes Care Provided by an Endocrinology Clinic and a Primary-Care Clinic.” June 2000.
Source: https://tinyurl.com/y5jbt4by

[2] Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. “Long-Term Effects of Lifestyle Intervention…” NCBI. Published online September 2015.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4623946/

[3] The Wellness Network. “Lifestyle Management for Diabetes Patients.” April 2019.
Source: https://www.thewellnessnetwork.net/health-news-and-insights/blog/lifestyle-management-diabetes/