Lifestyle Works Better Than Type 2 Diabetes Drugs: ‘May Reverse Disease’ | Healthy

52,000 Dutch people are diagnosed with diabetes every year. That’s 1000 people a week, 150 people a day. In addition, around 1.1 million Dutch people have prediabetes, an early stage of type 2 diabetes. 1 in 3 Dutch people who are now 45 or older are expected to develop type 2 diabetes in the future.

Skyrocketing numbers, which is why World Diabetes Day is celebrated every year on November 14, to ask for attention and understanding and not to make these numbers rise further. “If we do nothing, a tsunami of people with type 2 diabetes will meet us,” says Diena Halbertsma, director of the Diabetes Fund. “Illness has a huge impact on someone’s life that is often underestimated. You have to take that into account seven days a week, at every hour of the day.”

“Also, about half of these people are dealing with complications, such as cardiovascular disease, eye ailments and kidney disease.” It also has a major impact on healthcare costs: in 2016, direct healthcare cost the Netherlands €6 billion. This is expected to increase to €8 billion a year over the next twenty years. “Diabetes is therefore in the top 3 of the highest disease burden,” analyzes Halbertsma.

Lifestyle can play an important role in the prevention and treatment of the disease. Indeed: 90 percent of type 2 diabetes diagnoses can be prevented through healthier eating and more exerciseand research from the LUMC, TNO and health insurer VGZ in 2016 shows that nearly 40% of people with type 2 diabetes can get rid of their disease through lifestyle adjustments.

Yet too little attention is paid to lifestyle, says diabetes professor Hanno Pijl. “Attention to lifestyle is growing, but the disease is still mainly treated with drugs. They help keep it under control, but they don’t fix the cause of type 2 diabetes. Until it’s addressed, it’s actually washing itself with the faucet running. The disease persists.”

Because what is this cause? “In diabetes, there is too much sugar, or glucose, in the blood, so the blood sugar level is too high. Normally, the hormone insulin removes glucose from the blood, but with type 2 diabetes, insulin no longer works properly,” explains Pijl. This impaired effect is often due to obesity. insulin and those fat cells get bigger as you gain weight. The immune system then also interferes with those expanding fat cells, causing inflammation and inhibiting insulin even more. A genetic predisposition and older age still increase increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

A healthy lifestyle can ensure that blood sugar regulation improves again, so that less or even no medication is needed.

So adjust your lifestyle; move more, eat healthier, eat less sugar and lose excess pounds. But that’s easier said than done, says Pijl: “On paper it sounds easy, but in practice it’s quite difficult to live a healthy life.” Halbertsma agrees. “Convenience and unhealthy products have the upper hand in our society. No less than 80 percent of the products in the supermarket are not included in the Nutrition Center’s wheel of five,” explains the director of the Diabetes Fund.

Many of these products are processed products. “Avoid those as much as possible and go for natural, unprocessed products,” says Pijl. ,, Processed products contain a lot of sugar, which causes blood glucose spikes. It also contains a lot of salt, flavorings and other additives that increase inflammation and worsen the disease. The professor also advises being thrifty with starchy products, such as pasta, potatoes and cereals. “Starch is made up of long chains of glucose. If your insulin isn’t working properly, as is the case with type 2 diabetes, it’s best not to consume too much glucose.” Even red meat is best left out.

Do: move. “By putting your muscles to work, you create substances that dampen inflammation,” explains Pijl. Sport can also help fight stress, because stress hormones also affect the way insulin works. ,,You don’t have to run marathons or be in the weight room every day. Moderate exercise during the day helps, so take the stairs instead of the elevator, ride your bike instead of the car, get away from the computer screen every now and then and go for a walk.

And don’t be afraid to ask for help, advises Halbertsma. Changing your lifestyle is complicated. Guidance and the right tailored support can help you truly transform your lifestyle into your medicine.”