The reassuring facts

biggest factor was,” says Neil Gibson, senior physical activity advisor for Diabetes UK. “Now we know it’s actually walking that’s playing a key factor, along with diet and other lifestyle factors too. Walking on its own is a huge determinant of someone’s health.

“In some cases it helps people go into remission because of improvements in their average blood sugar levels – what’s called HbA1c – and that’s the ideal. But there are so many other benefits to walking – it decreases the risk of complications, such as kidney and foot problems, by allowing better blood flow, and it lowers your blood pressure. It ensures people can live better with fewer complications.”

Neil says it’s also an excellent prevention tool and if more people did what #walk1000miles challengers do and walk every day, far fewer of us would suffer from diabetes. And it’s backed up by a 2016 peer review in the World Journal of Diabetes which established that walking at least 30 minutes each day reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes by 50%.

So whether you have diabetes and want to live better, or if you never want type 2 to be any part of your life, you know what to do: summon the secret superpower that is walking.