Last week we introduced a two-part series of blog articles on ways to reduce your risks of diabetes. We gave you four baby steps for quick starting an anti-sugar campaign in your life :

1. Banish The Sweet Soda and other sugary sweet drinks.

2. Eat And Enjoy your food Slowly.

3. Take a Short Walk After Each Meal.

4. Avoid Sitting For Long Periods of Time.

We invite you to back-track, and re-read that Part I because it includes several statistics and facts that might be life-changing for you. Those first four little daily steps are like a four way stop sign set up at the cross-roads of your life and the threat of diabetes.  At this point, we will introduce two more factor that can reduce your risk of developing diabetes.  These two will blend with your long-term goals.  They are not quick-start measures, but longer term goals that will take more time to show results.

5. Go Mediterranean! By this we mean that eating many types of Mediterranean style foods can lower your risk of diabetes provided you eat more of the good kind of fat. We do not mean fast food French Fries! We mean you should eat more fish and cook it in the healthy style of fat such as that found in olive oil. “Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as the “good fats” because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health.”

Why does this work? Olive oil, and other good fats, like it boosts insulin sensitivity.

A Partial List Of Foods With Good monounsaturated Fats Includes:  Canola oil, Sunflower oil, Peanut oil, Sesame oil,  Avocado, Olives, Nuts
(almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews)  and Peanut Butter.

A Partial List Of Foods With Good Polyunsaturated Fats Includes:  Soybean oil, Corn oil, Safflower oil, Walnuts

Sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds, and Flaxseed, Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines)

and Soymilk

You can read more about good and bad fats at this convenient online resource.

We also advise you to also plan your new lifestyle menus to include more vegetables, whole grains, and nuts.

All of these reduce your blood sugar.

6. Build Up Those Muscles:

There is a scientific reason that strength training is crucial to a healthy life style. “Muscles are where we store most of our glucose,” stated exercise physiologist Sheri Colberg

of Old Dominion University in  Virginia.”
She added, If your muscles are small, there’s less storage space. Glucose from food is released into your blood.”

It is no wonder that blood sugar then rises. It stands to reason that if you can build up bigger muscles, you can cut down the amount of glucose coursing through your system. 

It was not long ago that the rigors of daily life itself contributed to growing muscle. According to strength training experts, “physical jobs kept you in shape. Nowadays sedentary
lifestyles are common: desk jobs, watching tv, driving a car all day.”

Find out more about the benefits of strength training.

Strength training builds muscle: the stronger you are, the more muscles you’ll have. In other words, you will have healthy places for glucose to go instead of building up in your blood.

Strength training is not body-building. Building muscle is a byproduct of exercising, not its goal. You are not planning to be a body builder or a weight lifter, but only to grow in strength and health. So do not be afraid to work with a little weight or some resistance training.  As always, check with your doctor before starting any nutrition program.

With our Four Way Quick Stop for reducing the risks of diabetes, and these two new, longer term suggestions, you will not only reduce your risks for diabetes, but you will also increase your overall health and well being.

Thank you for reading our blog today, and we hope you will “drop in” again!  By the way, we invite you to plan ahead by marking your calendar for our upcoming seminar, “Listen To Your Gut,”  to be presented June 19th, at 6:00 p.m., in the Center of Natural and Integrated Medicine.  This program will discuss a holistic approach to many types of gastro-intestinal problems.  From Gas and Bloating to other chronic GI conditions such as IBS and acid reflux.