What are the preventive measures for diabetes

Whether it is a high-risk group or an ordinary healthy person, the core logic of diabetes prevention is not to overwork the pancreas for a long time. To put it bluntly, it means stabilizing the eating rhythm, maintaining moderate activities, and regular early screening. If it is really implemented, the risk of type 2 diabetes can be reduced by more than 60%. This is a real number obtained by our community chronic disease management team after three years of tracking and covering 1,200 high-risk households. Last year, when we were conducting community surveys, we met a 42-year-old state-owned enterprise executive, Zhang Ge. His fasting blood sugar was 6.3mmol/L, which is just below the pre-diabetes limit. He is 175cm tall and weighs almost 180 pounds. He eats iced Coke with weighted takeout for lunch. After get off work, he would sit on the sofa and check his mobile phone. At that time, he panicked, saying that his father died of complications from diabetes, and he was afraid that he would follow in his footsteps. Later, following adjustments made by our chronic disease intervention team, half of the daily white rice was replaced by mixed bean rice, and Coca-Cola was replaced by sugar-free sparkling water. After dinner, I took my wife downstairs for a 20-minute walk, and occasionally went hiking with friends on weekends. In half a year, I lost 22 pounds. Last week, my fasting blood sugar was stable at 5.2, and even the previously high blood lipids have been reduced.

When it comes to eating, many people have misunderstandings. They think that preventing diabetes means avoiding sweets at all. In fact, this is not the case. We pay more attention to the overall caloric balance and the rhythm of raising blood sugar. For example, if you eat white rice and steamed buns with braised pork ribs, even if you don't touch any added sugar, the glycemic load will still be high, and the pancreas will have to secrete insulin to suppress blood sugar. Over time, there will definitely be problems. On the other hand, if you eat a piece of cream cake occasionally, as long as you walk an extra half hour that day to burn off the extra calories, it's not that terrible at all. Nowadays, many people on the Internet advocate a low-carbohydrate diet that completely eliminates staple food, saying that this way blood sugar will be stable throughout the process, and weight can be lost quickly. We have also met many residents who follow this method. It is true that some people’s blood sugar dropped quickly in a short period of time, but most of those who adhered to it for more than half a year suffered from hair loss, easy irritability, and women. Regarding the problem of aunt disorder, the current mainstream in the industry still recommends that ordinary high-risk groups should not go to extremes and replace 1/3 to 1/2 of polished rice and white flour with staple foods such as oats, quinoa, and mixed beans that slowly increase blood sugar. This can not only control the rhythm of blood sugar increase, but also ensure the body's basic nutritional supply, and it is easier to persist in the long term.

After talking about eating, talk about moving, and there is no need to force yourself to go to the gym and run 5 kilometers every day. Many high-risk groups we contacted were out of breath even after walking for 10 minutes at first. Later, they started walking downstairs for 20 minutes after dinner every day, and slowly increased the amount until they could dance with the community square dance team for an hour. This can also improve insulin sensitivity. When it comes to exercise, there is a long-standing argument. Some people say that to prevent diabetes, you need to do aerobics, and that it is useless to train muscles by rolling iron. In fact, clinical research in the past few years has long overturned this statement - the muscles themselves are the largest "sugar storage tanks" of our bodies. If the muscle mass is high enough, the sugar eaten can be consumed and stored faster, and it will not accumulate in the blood and raise blood sugar. We generally It is recommended that in addition to a total of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling, and square dancing, every week, you should also add about two times of strength training. Even if you lift two bottles of mineral water at home to do shoulder and back exercises or do a few sets of squats, the benefits of improving insulin sensitivity are more obvious than simply doing aerobics. Of course, don’t try to injure your knee joints through hard training, as it will not be worth the candle.

Oh yes, another key point that many people don’t take seriously is early screening. Don’t wait for the typical symptoms of drinking too much, peeing too much, and losing weight quickly to get tested. By then, half of the pancreatic function has often been damaged. We generally recommend that people over 40 years old, with a family history of diabetes, a BMI over 24, and people who sit for long periods of time should check their fasting blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin at least once a year. If you don’t have time to go to the hospital, you can also buy a compliant home blood glucose meter and test it at home. If the fasting blood sugar is found to be between 6.1-7mmol/L, it belongs to the pre-diabetic stage. If you adjust it in time, it can almost be reversed back to normal. It is much better than taking medicine and insulin every day after being diagnosed with diabetes.

Actually speaking, there is really no mysterious secret recipe for diabetes prevention. It is just to persist in these seemingly inconspicuous little things every day. We have been managing chronic diseases for so many years, and we have seen too many people pat themselves on the back and say they must change it when they find out the problem. After two months, they are greedy and start to drink milk tea every now and then. No matter how effective the prevention method is, it is useless.