Learn how walking and moderate exercise can significantly lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, plus insights on other preventative measures from a recent NIH study.
People who are more prone to diabetes can significantly lower their risk by reducing their weight to half, through consistent moderate exercise for 30 minutes a day, and reducing baby fat in the womb. Additionally, taking one dose of metformin (glucophage, abufage, glucomin, glucofor) can reduce the risk by about a third. These are the findings reached by a large study recently conducted on ways to prevent diabetes in type 2 or people with pre-diabetes. The results of the research, which was conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are particularly encouraging because their impact lasts for up to a year from their scheduled time.
The study revealed that exercise alone is enough and does not require running marathons or “dying of hunger” to protect people with diabetes from the factors that cause the disease. Participants in the study lost an average of 6.75 kg. The big question is: How can we know if people who are at risk will benefit from these results? In type 2 diabetes, the body loses its ability to use insulin effectively. This is more common after the age of 40. People who are most at risk of diabetes include: black people, people of Hispanic descent, obese people, people whose relatives have diabetes, and women with gestational diabetes.
The study included 3,234 Americans with a high risk of diabetes, after it was discovered that a blood glucose test showed that they were not using sugar effectively. Some participants received instructions to perform regular physical exercises and lose 5-7% of their weight, while others took metformin, while others received placebo pills that do not contain any active ingredients. After three years, the group that lost weight through exercise reduced the risk of diabetes by 58%. Significantly, for those over 60, the risk was reduced by 71%, while in the group that received placebo, 11% of people developed diabetes each year of the research.
