How to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes can come on you slowly, you might have it for five years and not even know it. In the United States, type 2 diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. Not only aging baby boomers, but adult-onset diabetes is now affecting teenagers and young adults in their 20s. The most likely reason for this is the increase in obesity and eating an increasingly unhealthy diet.

Type 2 diabetes can develop slowly; you might have it for five years and not even know it. Type 2 diabetes is also known as adult-onset diabetes which is different than type I diabetes which is known as juvenile diabetes which usually affects children, though adults can also be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

In the United States, type 2 diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. The reason for this was first thought to be because of the aging baby boomer population, but type 2 adult diabetes is now affecting teenagers and young adults in their 20s. This is due to more people eating an unhealthy diet, diets that are high in fat and high in refined carbs.

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes can come on you slowly at first or some of the symptoms might come on rather quickly. Here are the signs and symptoms of type 2 adult onset diabetes.

• Extreme hunger, even after eating
• Extreme thirst
• Unexplained weight loss
• Feeling unusually fatigued
• Changes in eyesight. Your eyesight can be fine one minute or day and then unusually poor the next and then back to fine again. This is caused by the changes in blood sugar as high blood sugar can cause your eyesight to be abnormally bad.
• Dry, itchy skin
• Frequent urination
• Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
• Sores or bruises that take a long time to heal
• Frequent or recurring yeast infections.

From the people I know who have been diagnosed with adult diabetes; the one health issue that got them to the doctor most frequently was the eyesight symptoms.

Many people can have diabetes for five years before knowing they have it. It is recommended that if you are experiencing one or more of these symptoms, you should check with your doctor.

The test for diabetes is simple and straightforward. You will have a blood test to test your blood sugar levels. If you get a high reading, another test will be done to confirm if the first reading actual means you have diabetes. You can also monitor your blood glucose levels at home.

Who is At Risk for Type 2 Diabetes?

Anyone can be at risk for getting type 2 diabetes, but there are certain groups that are at a higher risk including:

• Being overweight, especially belly fat, is a major sign of pre-diabetes.
• If your siblings or a parent has had adult diabetes, you should watch for symptoms and do what you can to reduce the risk.
• If you gave birth to a baby that weighed over 9 pounds or you had gestational diabetes while pregnant.
• If you are African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Native American or Asian American, you could be at a higher risk.

How to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

It is known that fat and not sugar is the cause of type 2 diabetes [1]. Dr. Neil Barnard has shown that you can reverse insulin resistance just by switching to a whole food plant-based diet, a diet that is high in healthy carbohydrates and low in fat.

It is the fat that clogs and blocks our cells that the sugar or glycogen from the carbs is trying to enter. This is called insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes. The only way to prevent type 2 diabetes is to eat a low-fat diet and to avoid the refined carbs.

A low-fat diet with plenty of healthy carbohydrates that include vegetables, potatoes, legumes, whole grains, and fruits is the only way to reverse insulin resistance and reverse type 2 diabetes. Limiting animal products is necessary because animal foods are loaded with saturated fat.

Drastically reducing or eliminated all vegetable oils will also help. Oil is nothing but pure fat and fat has twice the calories than either protein or carbohydrates do.

Studies have shown that those who follow a low-fat diet and exercise at least a half an hour per day, cutting their body fat by 5 to 7 percent, lowered their risk of diabetes by 58%.

The exercise could be as easy as 30 minutes of walking or other low intensity exercises. A healthy low-fat diet with exercise is the best prevention against insulin resistance and diabetes.

Fat Causes Diabetes

It is fat that causes diabetes, not sugar. As one doctor explains it, sugar might be the wind that fans diabetes, but fat is match that starts diabetes.

Dietary fat and fat in the blood is what causes insulin resistance that leads to type 2 diabetes. Fat stops insulin from getting glucose into the cells, causing more and more insulin to be released. This is insulin resistance and the start of type 2 diabetes. The following brief video explains this.

If you want to prevent yourself from getting type 2 diabetes, stay away from those high-fat/low-carb diets like the keto diet. Eat healthy complex carbs like beans, vegetables, fruits, seeds, whole grains, lentils, and yes, all kinds of potatoes. The following video explains how fat causes insulin resistance.

Gastric Bypass Surgery and Diabetes

There is promising evidence that gastric bypass surgery can alleviate and in some cases completely resolve diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, a study of 312 obese patients with type 2 diabetes underwent the Scopinaro procedure between 1983 and 1994.

In this study, all but two of the patients had normal glucose levels, and all but six of these patients remained in the normal levels 10 years after the surgery [2].

A recent study reported that there was a 70% resolution of diabetes. This would be something you can discuss with your doctor since this surgery has its own complications. Surgery should only be considered as a last resort since a change in diet can in most cases reverse type 2 diabetes and help with weight loss.

About the Author

Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Copyright © 2009-2022 Sam Montana 

[1] Fat is the Cause of Type 2 Diabetes by Dr. Michael Greger
[2] Bariatric surgery for type 2 diabetes