It’s a no-brainer that maintaining a healthy weight will improve your health and prevent future health problems.
Weight control also promotes healthy blood sugar levels and has been shown to reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
Even a 7% reduction in body weight can decrease your risk of developing diabetes by up to 58%, and it seems to work even better than medication (90).
What’s more, these decreased risks can be sustained over the years (91, 92, 93).
You should also be conscious of your waistline, as it is perhaps the most important weight-related factor for estimating your diabetes risk.
A measurement of 35 inches (88.9 cm) or more for women and 40 inches (101.6 cm) or more for men is associated with an increased risk of developing insulin resistance, high blood sugar levels and type 2 diabetes (94).
Having a healthy waist measurement may be even more important than your overall weight (94).
BOTTOM LINE:Keeping a healthy weight and waistline will help you maintain normal blood sugar levels and decrease your risk of developing diabetes.