Diabetes prevention tips

Eat 70% full, move for half an hour, touch your mouth less with sweet oil, don’t exceed your waistline, check your blood sugar every year, and feel less anxious. According to relevant data from the domestic Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, long-term adherence to these habits can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 60%, which is more reliable than taking any health supplements.

Last week, Uncle Wang blocked the door of my house with the physical examination report downstairs. His fasting blood sugar was 6.8, which is already on the red line of early diabetes. I looked at his daily routine: two large bowls of white rice as a base for every meal, two large bowls of gruel with pickled radish at night, and a buffet with his old friend on the weekends where he couldn't help but hold on to the walls. He always said, "Only when you are full can you have the strength to work." I told him the first four words of the formula and asked him to first reduce the amount of food at each meal by one-third, mix some corn grits or oats into the polished rice and white flour, and not drink porridge every day. He followed it with some hesitation for two months. Last week, his fasting blood sugar dropped directly to 5.7 during the review. He always said this formula to everyone he met.

However, don’t believe the extreme statement on the Internet that “to prevent sugar, you have to completely stop eating staple food.” Dr. Zhang said that he has seen several people in the clinic who only ate vegetables without eating staple food in order to control sugar. In the end, they were hungry and suffered from ketoacidosis and were sent to the emergency room. It is completely unnecessary. Nowadays, there are many opinions about sugar-control diets. Some people advocate low-carb, while others pay attention to low GI. In fact, for ordinary healthy people, it does not need to be so complicated. As long as you eat every meal until you are not hungry, mix one-third of the refined rice and white flour with grains. Even if you really like to eat white rice, add two more bites of green leafy vegetables and a few pieces of lean meat, and the rate of blood sugar rise can be suppressed. There used to be a little girl who was afraid of getting sugar and didn't even dare to touch strawberries and apples. In fact, as long as she doesn't hold half a watermelon and chew it directly, there is no problem at all if she eats a fist-sized fruit between meals. On the contrary, her nutrition is more balanced and her pancreatic islet state is more stable than those who don't eat fruit at all.

After talking about eating, we chatted again. My colleague Xiao Li, who was sitting opposite me, had a fasting blood sugar test of 6.2 last year, which was also in the early stage of diabetes. He said that he sat for 10 hours at work every day, and would lie on the sofa and play games after get off work. He was too tired to even go downstairs to get express delivery. I asked him to follow the instructions and walk around the park for 20 minutes after lunch every day. He would get off the subway one stop early after get off work and walk home. There was no need to force himself to run a marathon or train. He persisted for almost a year. This year's physical examination showed that his blood sugar level returned to 5.3, and even his belly became smaller. Nowadays, there are many opinions about exercise to lower blood sugar. Some people say that high-intensity interval training is necessary to be effective, while others say that it is effective as long as you move. In fact, it really depends on your personal situation. If you have bad knees, you can do Tai Chi every day, mop the floor and clean the windows at home. As long as you can make your heartbeat a little faster for twenty or thirty minutes, it will work. On the contrary, those who do not move at all during the week and suddenly practice hard for two hours on weekends can easily injure their joints and lose more than they gain.

Oh, by the way, don’t think that everything will be fine just because your weight is normal. My distant cousin is 175cm tall and only weighs 140cm. He doesn’t look fat, but his waist circumference is 98cm and his belly is as big as a watermelon. Last year, he was diagnosed with prediabetes. Don't underestimate your waist circumference. People with abdominal obesity have more visceral fat, which puts a greater burden on pancreatic islets than people who are evenly fat all over the body. The waist circumference should not exceed 85 centimeters for men and 80 centimeters for women. Just take a soft ruler and circle it one centimeter above the belly button. Don't suck on the belly. If you suck on it, it won't count. He later stood for half an hour after eating every day, and twirled the hula hoop when he had nothing to do. Now his waist circumference has dropped to 84, and his blood sugar has been stable for more than half a year.

Many young people think that diabetes is a disease of the elderly and never take the initiative to check their blood sugar. Last month, Dr. Zhang received a 28-year-old young man from the clinic. He drinks milk tea and stays up late every day. Recently, he always feels thirsty and loses weight quickly. When he checked, his fasting blood sugar was 7.2, which indicates that he has reached the diagnostic standard of diabetes. He said that he had never checked his blood sugar before and felt that he was too young to have this disease. For ordinary people, it is enough to check your fasting blood sugar once a year. If you have a family history of diabetes, are obese, or have been pregnant with gestational diabetes before, it is best to check once every six months. By the way, add glycated hemoglobin, which can reflect your average blood sugar level in the past three months, which is much more accurate than a single fasting blood sugar check.

Many people think the last two sentences, "I feel less anxious", are just a make-up, but they are not. I used to have a friend who worked in Internet operations. He worked overtime until one or two in the morning every day. He was so anxious that he couldn't sleep all night long. His blood sugar level fluctuated during a physical examination last year. Later, he changed his job and he didn't have to stay up late. He tried to lie down before 11 o'clock every day. If he had nothing to do, he would go to the park to feed the cat and take a walk. When he was anxious, he would go out with friends to eat hot pot and chat. Within half a year, his blood sugar returned to the normal range. Many studies have now confirmed that people who stay up late for a long time and are under high stress will have imbalances in their glucose hormones, and their risk of developing diabetes is about 30% higher than those who have a regular schedule. This is true.

In fact, this formula is not a golden rule. If you are craving for a cake or a cup of milk tea occasionally, there is no need to feel guilty. After all, preventing sugar is a lifelong matter, and comfort is the most important. There is no need to make yourself miserable. If you are really unsure about your situation, it is much more useful to go to a community hospital and ask an endocrinologist than to search online for a long time to scare yourself.