Lifestyle Changes to Make if You Have a Family History of Diabetes
Unfortunately, every fourth or fifth person suffers from diabetes in this sedentary world that we now live in. The sugar consumption of the average person has more than just doubled and the quality of our diets has fallen to an all-time low level.
In the face of such events, it’s no surprise that a majority of the population suffers from diabetes mellitus. While diabetes mellitus can be managed with the proper medications, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus can derange your metabolic system, resulting in a number of health complications.
Unfortunately, having a family history of diabetes mellitus predisposes you to the condition too, which is why you need to make lifestyle changes in order to remain protected from the condition.
Below are a few lifestyle changes that you should make if you have a family history of diabetes:
Walk Every Day
Walking every day for about half an hour can greatly affect your overall health. Walking increases your body’s sensitivity to insulin and helps reduce spikes in your glucose levels. Furthermore, walking may help you lose calories, which is a very important lifestyle change that you need to make if you’re obese. If you have a busy schedule and can’t take out half an hour for a walk, then you should try doing other exercises that burn more calories in a less amount of time, for example, cardio exercises.
Find Ways to De-Stress Yourself
People who are stressed out all the time are more prone to developing diabetes mellitus than those who aren’t. This is because while we’re stressed out, our bodies release a hormone called cortisol, which increases insulin resistance and decreases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Furthermore, it also elevates blood glucose levels. The effects of all these actions combined make a person’s body prone to developing diabetes mellitus if it happens often.
Therefore, it’s very important that you find ways to de-stress yourself. Get a massage every once in a while or join a yoga class to relax and obtain peace of the mind!
Avoid Eating Too Much Fatty and Sugary Foods
Fatty and sugary foods can cause spikes in your blood sugar levels, which may cause insulin resistance. Furthermore, they contribute to obesity as well. The greater the number of fat cells in your body, the higher are your chances of becoming resistant to insulin. Fat cells decrease insulin sensitivity.
Therefore, you need to avoid consuming too much sugar or fatty foods. Quit eating junk food and develop healthy eating habits. Instead of junk food, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, which have high fiber content and prevent insulin resistance.
Get Quality Sleep
The quality and quantity of sleep you get greatly affects your overall health. If you get less sleep than you need, your body will go into stress mode. As a result, you may develop obesity and other health conditions that can predispose you to diabetes mellitus.
To get quality sleep, there are a few sleeping habits that you can improve, some of which are listed below:
- Get at least 6 hours of sleep every day.
- Go to bed only when you’re done with all your work and ready to sleep.
- Try to sleep in a cold environment.
- Practice progressive muscle relaxing exercises before you go to sleep as these exercises help you relax. You can find videos on YouTube as to how these exercises should be done.
- Sleep with the lights off. If you’re used to sleeping with the lights on, it may take some time for you to adjust but your sleep quality will definitely increase when the lights are turned off.
Decrease Your Intake of Red Meat
Red meat contains very high levels of cholesterol and other substances that can increase your chances of developing diabetes mellitus if consumed regularly. Therefore, you should avoid eating red meat and prefer white meat like fish and chicken instead.
Processed meats should also be avoided because they contain very high levels of preservatives, which aren’t good for your body.
While these lifestyle changes may greatly aid in reducing your risk of getting type 2 diabetes mellitus, you should still get your blood sugar levels regularly checked so that the disease can be diagnosed early if it’s actually there. The earlier it’s diagnosed, the better the management plan can be.
This is especially true if you have a family history of diabetes mellitus and you’re over 35 years old! So, adopt the lifestyle changes that are mentioned above in order to live a healthy life!