A Few New Quick & Easy (and even delicious!) Tips for Preventing Diabetes

An easy diabetes prevention tip: Switch from soft drinks to unsweet tea. Add frozen fruit slices for extra flavor!

I write frequently on Self Help Daily about preventing diseases. I guess the words “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” are tattooed on my psyche. One of the reasons for this just may be the fact that I’ve seen many of these diseases up close and personal. One such disease is diabetes. My mom fought diabetes for a great number of years. People can, and do, live full, beautiful lives with diabetes – but, make no mistake about it – it’s a game changer.

With a diabetic, the disease they live with has to be in the forefront of their mind at all times. Whereas a lot of diseases (like my thyroid disease, for example) can be pushed out of the individual’s mind 98% of the time, a diabetic must never push their disease aside. Doing so could cause them serious harm.

The serious nature of certain diseases (heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Diabetes) prompts me to write about their prevention as often as possible.  We’d be nuts not to take experts’ advice when it comes to doing ALL WE CAN to prevent any of these diseases.

I recently read several new diabetes prevention tips and wanted to pass them along.  The number of people being diagnosed with diabetes continues to climb, so it’s obviously time we all pay more attention to preventative measures. These tips are so easy to implement into our lives, I’m sure you’ll join me in doing so right away. As in NOW!

1. Fish Oil Supplements Could Prevent Diabetes.  I’m starting to think fish oil supplements should simply be taken automatically. They’re known to be beneficial in preventing both heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and now they’ve added diabetes prevention to their resume. (See Fish Oil Supplements Could Prevent Diabetes for more information.)
2. Eat more Walnuts.  Ever notice that, that “eat more nuts” makes its way to just about every list of health tips you read? Good thing they’re so delicious!  A Harvard study found that women who ate two or more ounces of walnuts per week, on average, had a 24% lower risk for type 2 diabetes…those who ate just one ounce of walnuts per week had a 13% lower risk. This one’s almost too easy, isn’t it? Noshing on delicious walnuts each day is more than a little doable, it’s deliciously doable.  (Source)
3. Say NO to soft drinks. Just one sugary drink a day increases your odds of getting diabetes. Switch to unsweetened tea with lemon or good old-fashioned water and put the odds in your favor rather than stacking them up against you. Tea proves to be a lot of people’s secret weapon when it comes to giving up soft drinks.  Like any true southerner, I have a weakness for sweet tea – but that’s almost as bad as soft drinks.  If you add lemon slices, a little honey, some mint, or (my personal favorite) frozen peach slices and frozen raspberries to your tea, you’ll forget about sugary drinks right away.  As a bonus, you can eat the fruit when the drink’s gone. Trust me, this is the way to go.
4. Take a brisk walk after a meal.  Doing so apparently stabilizes levels of glucose in the the bloodstream.  The study suggest walking for about 15 minutes after each meal – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Source)
5. Eat Hot Chocolate at Bedtime. Saving the best for last: As a card-carrying chocoholic, I did a fist pump in the air when I read that having a cup of hot chocolate before bedtime can prevent diabetes.  I am so all over this one that it isn’t even fair.

Now where’s that hot chocolate…
~ Joi