The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 552 million people could have diabetes in the next two decades. Prevention is key when it comes to type-2 diabetes, because the damage done to your body can begin long before an official diabetes diagnosis, starting with metabolic syndrome, which includes abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low HDL, high blood pressure and glucose intolerance. Both prevention and treatment of type-2 diabetes requires proper nutrition and exercise. And, as you’ve heard me say before, a controlled-carbohydrate nutritional plan like the Atkins Diet can help stabilize blood sugar and insulin production, promote weight loss and reduce other cardiovascular risk factors associated with this condition.
Over the past few years, peer-reviewed, independent research has made an increasingly compelling argument for controlled-carbohydrate nutrition and its role in preventing and controlling serious medical conditions like type-2 diabetes, and I’m so glad that science continues to advance in this area. In a recent study from Australia, people with type-2 diabetes who followed a low carbohydrate diet needed less medication. On average, the diet and exercise program led to a 40% reduction, while some participants in the study managed to stop taking their medication altogether. Once again, research shows that a controlled-carb nutrition plan like Atkins can both help prevent and treat type-2 diabetes.
The morale of this story is that prevention is so important when it comes to controlling this potential worldwide diabetes epidemic, and the solution is simple: change the way you eat.
