- A large study found that postmenopausal women with better cardiovascular health scores had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
- The strongest individual factors were blood sugar and body mass index, but the wider pattern of heart health also mattered.
- The findings suggest it is not too late for women to reduce diabetes risk by improving lifestyle and cardiometabolic health.
A new study suggests the same habits that protect the heart may also help reduce type 2 diabetes risk after menopause.
Researchers used data from the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-running study of postmenopausal women aged 50 and over.
They looked at how closely women followed the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8.
These include diet, physical activity, not smoking, sleep, body weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.
The researchers gave women a score from 0 to 100, with higher scores meaning better cardiovascular health.
They then followed participants for an average of 16 years to see who developed type 2 diabetes.
Among women assessed using all eight measures, 20% developed type 2 diabetes.
Those in the highest Life’s Essential 8 category had a 57% lower risk than those in the lowest category.
The researchers also looked at a simpler five-factor version covering diet, exercise, smoking, sleep and body mass index.
In that larger group, women with the highest scores had a 40% lower risk of diabetes.
Body mass index had the strongest link with diabetes risk among the lifestyle factors.
Blood sugar was also one of the strongest individual markers in the full eight-factor score.
The findings do not mean diabetes prevention is only about willpower.
Ageing, hormones, genetics, deprivation and access to healthy food all play a part.
- Men and women with obesity may face different hidden health risks
- Mediterranean-style eating linked to lower stroke risk in women
- Forget 10,000 steps: for older women, 4,000 is enough
But they do show that modifiable factors still matter later in life.
The takeaway is practical.
Improving heart health is not just about preventing heart attacks or strokes.
For postmenopausal women, the same package of habits may also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
