Type 2 Diabetes Management through Lifestyle Changes

This article discusses the importance of lifestyle changes in managing type 2 diabetes, including increased physical activity, smoking cessation, and healthy eating habits. It explores the benefits of these changes in controlling blood glucose levels and reducing the risk of complications associated with type 2 diabetes.

Running head: TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 1
Type 2 Diabetes Management through Lifestyle Changes
Name of Author
Institution
Date of Submission

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 2
Type 2 Diabetes Management through Lifestyle Changes
Introduction
Diabetes is ranked among the most prevalent lifestyle diseases affecting people globally.
More specifically, type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a lifelong disease that abounds many health
complications and lead to increased mortality rates. The management and control of glucose
levels can help delay associated complications resulting from T2D. Balk et al., (2015) notes that,
implementation of long-term diabetes management goals especially lifestyle modification
significantly reduces the adverse health impacts associated with T2D. The emphasis on the
significance of living healthy lifestyles is justified by programs that advocate for awareness
creation to the victims of T2D on healthy living styles. Such programs advocate for the long term
behavioral and lifestyle changes among the diabetic patients to improve their quality of lives.
This paper argues that lifestyle changes based that are increased physical activity, smoking
cessation, and healthy eating habits are optimal methods of managing type 2 diabetes.
Physical Exercise
According to Aune et al. (2015), regular physical activity is instrumental in the
prevention of T2D onset, reduction of complication risks as well as improvement of blood
pressure control among the patients with T2D. Physical activity is thus a crucial measure that
enables the achievement of both prevention and management of T2D cases. The individuals
suffering from T2D have excess glucose in their blood. The excess glucose could be caused by
lack of adequate insulin to convert glucose to glucagon for storage or lack of response from the
victim’s system to insulin a phenomenon referred to as insulin resistance. In such situations,

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 3
exercise can be used effectively to achieve glycemic control. Notably, increased physical activity
enables increased activity of the skeletal muscles and hence increased uptake of much needed
glucose into the cells to sustain activity. In this process, the excess glucose will be metabolized
to provide energy and hence reduced to manageable levels. Further, physical activity reduces the
intra-abdominal fat in people that is associated to insulin resistance hence leading to increased
insulin sensitivity.
Moreover, exercise helps prevent the victims of T2D from being infected by
opportunistic diseases like arteriosclerosis. According to Colberg et al. (2016), moderate to high
physical activity reduces significantly the cardiovascular related complications associated with
T2D. Increased physical activity through exercise effectively reduces the amount of cholesterol
in the body and hence reducing the probability of individual developing heart complications. As
such, it shall have reduced the risks of a health complication to victims of T2D. Similarly, high
blood pressure that is associated to T2D can have adverse effect to the quality of life of the T2D
patients. Physical activity reduces the probability of individuals developing the health
complication as exercise ensures weight loss. Reduction in weight implies proper blood
circulation and improved fat metabolism reducing the risk of T2D developing high blood
pressure.
Food Consumption
Salas-Salvadó et al. (2015) notes that, there is a link between diet and type 2 diabetes.
The intake of soft-drinks increases the symptoms and associated to other complications like
obesity. The rationale is due to the large quantities of fructose used in the manufacture of such

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 4
drinks that when consumed by the T2D patients’ raises their body mass index as well as blood
glucose hence exacerbating the effects of T2D. Moreover, some of the foods consumed act to
augment insulin resistance among individuals like the glycated chemicals found in soft drinks.
Insulin resistance will sustain the T2D in patients and affect their health outcomes adversely.
On the other hand, the consumption of vegetables and fruits help in the protection of the
body against development and progression of T2D. This is because, the vegetables and fruits
abound nutrients such as minerals, fibers and other antioxidant elements cushioning the body
against the harmful effects of T2D. Hence, they do not only delay the development but also
prevent the development of other health complications associated with T2D by boosting the
immune system. Similarly, healthy eating habits will also help in the maintenance of healthy
body weight. This point to the synergistic effect of exercise and healthy eating habits towards the
management of T2D in patients (Jannasch, Kröger & Schulze, 2017). Notably, the dietary
guidelines for the T2D are associated with both quantity and quality of the food consumed
especially their glucose composition. As noted above, there is need for increased T2D patient
education on the best dietary choices as a way of helping them manage their health. According to
Zheng, Ley and Hu (2018), patient education on healthy eating habits can help reduce the
progression of T2D significantly as well as prevent the development of associated health
complications like the cardiovascular diseases.
Smoking Cessation
In some countries like the United States; cigarette smoking has been categorized as
leading cause of preventable deaths. Cigarette smoking causes profound and intricate impacts to

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 5
the individuals suffering from T2D. Smokers are about 35% more likely to develop T2D than the
non-smokers (Hu et al., 2018). The smokers have increased difficulties controlling T2D disease
even with the use of medications and exercise. Notably, smoking causes adverse effects to both
T2D and T1D. The associated complications associated to smoking in T2D include heart and
disease health conditions, poor circulation of blood in the body especially to the legs that can
increase chances of leg amputation, retinopathy as well as other forms of peripheral neuropathy.
As noted above, cigarette smoking increases the risk of the T2D patients developing
cardiovascular complications and hence increased mortality incidences. Further, cigarette
smoking among the T2D patients increases the blood pressure of the T2D patients as well as
elevating their lipid profiles (Lycett et al., 2015). These incidences are associated with the
development of insulin resistance. This indicates that the excess glucose in the body will be
sustained for long as a result of the reduced insulin sensitivity.
Notably, as a lifestyle change program smoking cessation will help in the effective
management of T2D. Smoking cessation programs should be provided to the T2D patient
population to enhance their behavioral change. However, care should be taken while devising
the best smoking cessation programs to prevent the T2D patients who are heavy smokers from
developing depression and post cessation weight gain (Hu et al., 2018). For instance, the medical
providers may choose to administer nicotine replacement therapy as a method of achieving
smoking cessation.

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 6
Evaluation and Conclusion
As noted above, T2D is a very common lifelong disease that affects many people
globally. The health complications and mortality risks associated with T2D are a major concern.
There is need for the implementation of elaborate lifestyle changes to reduce risk of both
mortality and health complications. The lifestyle changes are evidence-based ways of improving
the quality of life and health outcomes of the T2D patients. As noted, the three major lifestyles
changes that can be made include healthy eating habits, increased physical activity and smoking
cessation. For example, increased physical activity evidentially helps delay the onset of T2D in
many patients, reduce the risk of T2D patients developing high blood pressure as well as other
health complications like cardiovascular issues. Similarly, it has been noted that physical activity
enables the reduction of intra-abdominal fat that is associated with insulin resistance. Hence, the
implementation of the lifestyle changes by the T2D patients has promising effects to manage the
development and progress of the disease. It is worth highlighting that the effectiveness of the
lifestyle changes as noted above, relies heavily on the availability of support programs to educate
the patients and their relatives.

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 7
References
Aune, D., Norat, T., Leitzmann, M., Tonstad, S., & Vatten, L. J. (2015). Physical activity and the
risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis.
Balk, E. M., Earley, A., Raman, G., Avendano, E. A., Pittas, A. G., & Remington, P. L. (2015).
Combined diet and physical activity promotion programs to prevent type 2 diabetes
among persons at increased risk: a systematic review for the Community Preventive
Services Task Force. Annals of internal medicine, 163(6), 437-451.
Colberg, S. R., Sigal, R. J., Yardley, J. E., Riddell, M. C., Dunstan, D. W., Dempsey, P. C., ... &
Tate, D. F. (2016). Physical activity/exercise and diabetes: a position statement of the
American Diabetes Association. Diabetes care, 39(11), 2065-2079.
Hu, Y., Zong, G., Liu, G., Wang, M., Rosner, B., Pan, A., ... & Sun, Q. (2018). Smoking
cessation, weight change, type 2 diabetes, and mortality. New England Journal of
Medicine, 379(7), 623-632.
Jannasch, F., Kröger, J., & Schulze, M. B. (2017). Dietary patterns and type 2 diabetes: a
systematic literature review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. The Journal of
nutrition, 147(6), 1174-1182.
Lycett, D., Nichols, L., Ryan, R., Farley, A., Roalfe, A., Mohammed, M. A., ... & Aveyard, P.
(2015). The association between smoking cessation and glycaemic control in patients
with type 2 diabetes: a THIN database cohort study. The lancet Diabetes &
endocrinology, 3(6), 423-430.

TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT THROUGH LIFESTYLE CHANGES 8
Salas-Salvadó, J., Guasch-Ferré, M., Lee, C. H., Estruch, R., Clish, C. B., & Ros, E. (2015).
Protective effects of the Mediterranean diet on type 2 diabetes and metabolic
syndrome. The Journal of nutrition, 146(4), 920S-927S.
Zheng, Y., Ley, S. H., & Hu, F. B. (2018). Global aetiology and epidemiology of type 2 diabetes
mellitus and its complications. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 14(2), 88.