This health-boosting mineral helps women sleep!

Could making a few small diet tweaks actually prevent Type 2 diabetes? Yes! Experts say you can stabilize your blood sugar— cutting your risk of this troublesome illness in half or more—simply by . . .

Consuming 1 Tbs. of any type of vinegar could rev your blood- sugar control as effectively as many diabetes drugs, reports the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vinegar blocks the absorption of starches in the digestive tract. And the more slowly you absorb starches, the steadier your blood sugar will be, study coauthor Margaret Leeman, PH.D., explains.

2 Melting belly fat with avocado

Trimming your waistline so that it’s an inch or two smaller than your hips cuts your diabetes risk 55%! Abdominal fat releases hormones that tinker with blood- sugar control. To slim down, try adding a small avocado to your daily diet. Research shows the healthy plant fats in avocados switch on enzymes that burn ab flab for fuel, helping women shed up to two pounds every month.

3 Energizing your pancreas with dairy

A recent analysis of 14 studies suggests that fitting in three servings of dairy daily (full-fat or low-fat) could cut your diabetes risk as much as 38%. Dairy boasts a compound (pentadecanoic acid) that heightens your pancreas’ ability to detect blood-sugar fluxes and quickly correct them. What’s a serving? One cup of milk, yogurt or cottage cheese, or 1 1/2 oz. of hard cheese.

4 Revving sugar burn with ginger

You can heighten your blood-sugar control as much as 33% in one week by adding 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, 1/4 tsp. of the powdered spice or 6 oz. of ginger tea to each meal, report researchers in the journal Planta Medica. Ginger’s active ingredients (gingerols) heighten insulin sensitivity in muscle cells, prompting them to quickly absorb and burn excess blood sugar for energy, says study coauthor Colin Duke, PH.D.