I am 16 year old boy. My father as well as my relatives have diabetes mellitus. If i start going to gym, get into some body building and maintain a healthy lifestyle from now on, can i prevent it?
-
are you talking about type 2 diabetes? What racial group are you? what do mean by healthy lifestyle?– Graham ChiuCommented Jan 5, 2017 at 2:58
-
@Chu, I am an Indian. I am talking about diabetes in general. By healthy lifestyle i mean eating nutritive food, not smoke and drink and do physical exercise regularly.– MrAPCommented Jan 5, 2017 at 5:34
-
Some Indian groups are highly prone to diabetes, especially when faced with Western food groups. Aim to keep your BMI in the low normal range.– Graham ChiuCommented Jan 5, 2017 at 7:23
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
Generally, Diabetes Mellitus is categorized into Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational diabetes.The type that you are concerned with is type 2 in which genetic factor plays a major role.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease that is fundamentally caused by a mismatch between our genetic makeup and our lifestyle choices, namely diet and physical activity. Numerous genes have been identified as risk factors. Among them about 10 genes are thoroughly studied for their causative etiology. Variations in these genes confer some impairment in insulin secretion and/or utilization, glucose and/or lipid homeostasis.Source
Many cases of type 2 diabetes can be prevented, or the onset delayed, through positive lifestyle changes. It is estimated that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be reduced by up to 58% by maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active and following a healthy eating plan. There are numerous ways of preventing the diabetes:
Maintaining a healthy weight
Regular physical activity
Making healthy food choices
Managing blood pressure
Managing cholesterol levels
Not smoking.
Talking about exercise, it helps to decrease obesity, helps your body increase its sensitivity to insulin. Muscular activity induces glucose entry into muscle cells without the need for insulin. As such, exercise has insulin sparing effect.
References & Sources:
https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-prevention
I agree with CCR's answer, let me add that the type of exercise that burns the most energy are cardio exercises (like running, biking swimming). Strength exercise are also recommended for good health, having strong muscles brings additional health benefits. But you cannot replace the benefits of cardio exercise by doing only only bodybuilding. By burning a lot of energy (many hundreds of Kcal a day) you can eat a lot more without gaining weight, but what is then important is that you then eat a lot more healthy foods based on whole grains, brown rice and vegetables. Your intake of fibers will then be a lot larger. Fibers get converted to short-chained fatty acids (SCFA) by intestinal bacteria, and these SCFA are known to have important roles in preventing heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes.
Now, when reading information about diabetes on the Internet, you need to keep in mind that the information you find is aimed at people who are lot older than you, who may already be coping with a lot of health problems, who reasonably would not be able to attain a fitness goal anywhere near to what you can attain. They have to focus a lot more on calorie restriction to lose weight. This is not recommended for young people who are healthy and who have a healthy weight, because this would make it more difficult for you to exercise, you'll feel tired and you won't recuperate as well.
