Mixed
Adherence to a low-risk lifestyle profile (BMI <25, high cereal fiber/polyunsaturated fat, low trans fat/glycemic load, moderate-to-vigorous exercise, no smoking, moderate alcohol) reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by approximately 91% compared to non-adherent women.
To drastically lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, focus on maintaining a healthy weight (BMI under 25), eating a diet rich in fiber and healthy fats while avoiding trans fats and high-glycemic foods, exercising for at least 30 minutes daily, not smoking, and if you drink, do so moderately. You don't need to be perfect; even adhering to three of these habits can prevent the majority of diabetes cases.
As compared with the rest of the cohort, women in the low-risk group (3.4 percent of the women) had a relative risk of diabetes of 0.09 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.05 to 0.17). A total of 91 percent of the cases of diabetes in this cohort (95 percent confidence interval, 83 to 95 percent) could be attributed to habits and forms of behavior that did not conform to the low-risk pattern.
Why this rating
Large prospective cohort (84,941 women), long follow-up (16 years), rigorous adjustment for confounders.
Source
Diet, Lifestyle, and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Women
Frank B. Hu et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2001
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →