Diabetes is a major health problem around the world currently affecting 246 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025. At least 50% of all people with this nasty villain are unaware of their condition and in some countries this figure may reach 80%.

This means one in four of us has pre-diabetes and doesn’t even know it and one in three of us will be diagnosed with diabetes in our lifetime. If you have become overweight (even slightly) and feel tired and listless during the day this could mean you are making present lifestyle choices that could put you at greater risk of this chronic disease.

You could go on like this for years, even decades never feeling properly well but not feeling ill either. At some point the damage being done silently inside the body accumulates to the point that the body can no longer manage it and health collapses. Diabetes ultimately results from your body’s inability to control blood sugar levels. The hormone insulin that is secreted from your pancreas normally controls blood sugar levels in strong healthy adults.

Muscle tissue is what clears sugar from the blood but as people get older and become more inactive they lose up to one pound of muscle tissue every year and the little they have left doesn’t obey insulin command orders. The solution is very simple, eat better and get stuck in to some proper exercise. These two things should be at the top of the list as diabetes is 80% preventable and it is up to you to prevent it.

Your exercise program is very important and must be mainly made up of strength training exercise. This has multiple benefits in reducing a pre-diabetic condition as muscle cells are highly active and clear up to 90% of sugar from the blood for energy during exercise. Strength training can control blood-sugar levels in people with diabetes as effectively as drugs and controlling blood sugar is the key to managing this debilitating and often life-threatening disease.

Exercise also increases blood flow to the muscles which allows more glucose to be delivered to the tissues that take it up. Another benefit of exercise is that is makes the muscle cells more responsive to the effects of insulin (the hormone that drives down blood sugar) and decreases insulin resistance.

If you have become overweight strength training will speed up your metabolism (your body’s engine) and will help you reduce your weight along with your risk of diabetes.

Bottom line; if you want to reduce your risk of diabetes you need to recover your lost muscle tissue and build it back. The only way to do this is with strength training exercise. If you are new to exercise seek the help of a fitness professional to set up your program and teach you correct exercise technique. This will ensure you get effective results in the shortest possible time.

You may have heard that diabetes can also cause other health problems. It is the pattern of elevated blood glucose for months and years that cause the most damage to the body damaging large blood vessels and nerves throughout the body. You may not feel the effect of elevated blood glucose, but slowly, over years, the glucose causes such damage when done cannot be repaired.

Along with your exercise program you need to improve your eating, 4-6 small meals spread throughout the day every 2-3 hours are what is needed to keep the blood sugar level balanced. Each of these meals should contain a source of protein and the remainder made up of vegetables. Take the time to make your meals from natural, whole unprocessed foods as much as possible.

Eating in this manner will support your exercise program, giving you the energy and the motivation to perform it with a bit of effort for best results. The combination of exercise and good nutrition are astonishingly effective at helping prevent this modern day lifestyle disease called diabetes – and can greatly improve control of it and reduce complications in those that already have it.

Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body and regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook “I’ve Found the Fountain of Youth- Let Me Show You Too!” here: physical wellness Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger.