Type 2 Remission Roadmap: 3 Lifelong Strategies That Will Keep You Healthy

Type 2 diabetes has become so common in Western culture and media that this often lifelong, serious condition doesn't really raise an eyebrow anymore. And while it's possible to go into remission from type 2 diabetes - either from weight-loss surgery or lifestyle changes alone - patients must usually learn to adopt long-term strategies to manage the condition. Otherwise, the consequences can be deadly.

While short-term solutions, like medication and weight loss, are often necessary, lifelong habits that address total body health will ensure type 2 diabetes does not shorten your lifespan or cause more health complications than necessary.

1. Know your risks.

Patients with type 2 diabetes who go into remission or see steady improvements can be easily lured back into bad habits that may have caused the condition in the first place.

That's why it's important to know your health risk factors that may increase your odds of a relapse into type 2- territory. For example, people of color are most likely to develop type 2 diabetes, while certain conditions like high blood pressure, kidney disease or thyroid disorder might also increase your chances of having blood sugar problems.

Just because you no longer experience symptoms of type 2 diabetes doesn't mean you can ignore the health and lifestyle factors that may cause insulin resistance again someday.

2. Find pleasure in food.

Nutrition is perhaps the most important aspect of managing blood sugar and preventing the recurence of type 2 diabetes. Yet many people still struggle to adopt long-term, healthy eating habits. Moreover, low-carb, packaged food products have their pitfalls - they are often full of chemicals and preservatives, and it's easy to become bored eating the same thing all the time.

This is where finding pleasure in food comes in. Americans chronically complain they don't have enough time to cook, yet managing diabetes - and preventing remission - requires a dedication to healthy meals.

Cooking or nutrition classes can be a helpful way to learn better habits, while also bringing pleasure to the experience.

If cooking at home is a challenge, there are many healthy meal or grocery-delivery services that are convenient for people with special dietary needs, like Instacart, Munchery
, Hello Fresh or Blue Apron.

For recovering diabetics, junk food is simply not an option for regular meals. The time and available resources must be spent on developing a pleasurable, healthy relationship with food - for life.

3. Learn to balance eating with activity - forever.

Healthy eating is the lifelong goal for diabetics, but trouble can easily arise when individuals feel too restricted. This often leads to unhealthy choices or a binge session with a favorite junk food.

The important thing to understand is that managing blood sugar doesn't mean you can't have your favorite foods - it simply means you have to balance your food choices with physical activity.

This isn't an exact science, but a sweet treat for dessert, for example, may be offset by a walk after dinner. The main goal is to not get caught up in feelings of deprivation, but also to not overindulge.

Simple tweaks to your lifestyle, especially incorporating more physical activity into your daily life, can significantly help with better blood sugar control.

Source: The Atlantic
Photo: Pexels