Easy breathing trick prevents diabetes!
Good news: A few simple lifestyle tweaks can prevent— even treat—type 2 diabetes at any age, helping you sidestep the weight gain, brain fog, sluggishness and even premature skin aging it can trigger!
Rein in blood sugar with a cuppa!
Love coffee or green tea? You’re in luck! Just drinking one daily cup of either brew (caffeinated or decaffeinated) slows the release of blood sugar from your liver, cutting Type 2 diabetes risk as much as 54%. “Coffee and green tea are rich in antioxidants that help your cells maintain insulin sensitivity,” says naturopath Katie Reinholtz, N.D.
Halt sugar spikes with sweet fruit! Doing nothing more than eating a serving of fiber- packed berries, grapes, oranges and/or apples at each meal helps stop blood-sugar spikes and age-related obesity, significantly lowering your diabetes risk, reports the British Medical Journal. “Their fiber dramatically reduces the impact of sugars you eat, slowing absorption and reducing the sugar spikes that stimulate insulin release,” says Chinese medicine expert Michael C. Gaeta, DAC., M.S., C.D.N.
Shield your skin by skipping soda!
“The greatest source of hidden sugar is not in what you eat, but in what you drink,” says Gaeta, noting that the average American consumes between 120 and 170 pounds of sugar each year! “And much of it often comes from soda.” In addition to throwing your bloodsugar level out of whack, all that sugar accelerates skin aging. “Sugar molecules attach to collagen fibers in your skin, leading to a loss of elasticity, which makes you more likely to develop wrinkles and sagging skin,” explains Adrienne Youdim, M.D., of the Center of Weight Loss at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Cut your risk 46% by switching plates!
Been packing on a pound or two each year? To stop sneaky weight gain from leading to obesity and Type 2 diabetes, eat off of salad plates instead of large dinner plates. In one study, that one move led prediabetic folks to reduce their food portions enough to cut their Type 2 diabetes risk 46%!
Chilling out with deep breathing!
“Stress can cause blood sugar levels to rise and lead to premature aging,” says Dr. Youdim. “We know that cortisol, a stress hormone, leads to insulin resistance and diabetes,” adds Gaeta. “We also know that conscious relaxation reduces cortisol levels.” His pre- ferred stress reducer: Set your alarm for five minutes. Sitting comfortably upright, breathe in for a count of five and out for a count of five, repeating until your alarm rings. Do twice daily— first thing in the morning and at bedtime.
—Kallie E. Kristensen
Feeling foggy?
Supplementing each day with 100 mcg. of the herbal extract huperzine A boosts memory for most people who try it, Chinese research shows. It works by helping brain cells communicate better with each other!