Further evidence that changing your lifestyle can help reduce diabetes risk

A new study has reinforced the importance of making simple and quick changes to your lifestyle to help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.
The research, reported in the American Journal of Public Health, monitored 230 adults living in poor, urban neighbourhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States, half of which received dietary guidance and other half had lifestyle counselling.
It was found that, after six months, the people who had counselling managed to lose more weight and were eating less fat but more fruits and vegetables, as well as experiencing a greater improvement in reducing their blood triglycerides than the group who just received dietary guidance. Having high blood triglyceride levels is known to be a major risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes.
The findings back up previous research that highlighted the effectiveness of counselling and a range of different lifestyle interventions in preventing type 2 diabetes, although these are typically designed for use in clinical settings and involve different healthcare professionals at different times.
Senior study author Alka Kanaya, from the University of California, San Francisco, said “Diabetes is not something you are necessarily going to get just because it runs in your family. It is very preventable, and lifestyle changes can really impact the onset of diabetes.”