Research

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Intensive lifestyle interventions, including medical nutrition therapy and physical activity, can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals (impaired glucose tolerance, overweight) by reducing the risk by up to 58-71%.

If you are overweight and have impaired glucose tolerance, you can significantly lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes through lifestyle changes. Focus on losing weight, eating less saturated fat, eating more fiber, and getting 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days. This approach is more effective than medication alone for prevention, especially for older adults.

StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
The initial results of a similar study, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)... indicate that participants in the intensive lifestyle modification group reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 58% compared with the medication intervention group... individuals over 60 years of age in the intensive lifestyle modification group decrease their incidence of developing type 2 diabetes by 71%.
Joyce Green Pastors et al. · Diabetes Care · 2002

Why this rating

Supported by large randomized controlled trials (Finland Diabetes Prevention Study, DPP) with thousands of participants.

Source

The Evidence for the Effectiveness of Medical Nutrition Therapy in Diabetes Management

Joyce Green Pastors et al. · Diabetes Care · 2002

DOI 10.2337/diacare.25.3.608

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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