When creating a healthy diet, calorie control should be your top priority. One good reason: New statistics from the American Diabetes Association show mind-boggling growth in cases of type 2 diabetes--caused almost entirely by being overweight and not exercising.
• 13.8 million Americans of all ages have type 2 diabetes, compared with 5.8 million in 1980.
• Based on current rates, as many as 22 million American men, women, and even children will have type 2 diabetes by 2030.
• 3 out of 10 are overweight when diagnosed; 6 out of 10 are obese.
• 40 to 45% of people with diabetes have some degree of diabetic retinopathy, the most common cause of adult blindness.
• In a federal study of 388 people with prediabetes--blood glucose levels above normal but not high enough to be diabetes--8% had early signs of diabetic retinopathy.
• 41 million Americans ages 40 to 74 now have prediabetes.
• By 2030, up to 70 million Americans will have prediabetes, if present trends continue.
PHOTO (COLOR): Eat light, avoid insulin trouble
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By Gloria McVeigh
Anti-diabetes ally: D
Getting adequate vitamin D daily in food and supplements may help stop type 2 diabetes, say Tufts University researchers. In their 20-year study of 81,700 women, those with the highest vitamin D intake had a 28% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those with the lowest. Good food sources: milk, fatty fish, and eggs.
