Defeating Type 2 Diabetes

Twelve percent of Americans have diabetes, mainly Type 2 diabetes. Another 38 percent have prediabetes. So that adds up to 1 in 2 Americans with either diabetes or prediabetes. Rates in China are similar. Numbers in Canada, the UK, and Europe are significantly lower, though rising.

What is Diabetes?

Think of glucose (sugar) as the fuel your body needs for energy. To get that fuel inside your cells, you need a key. That key is a hormone called insulin. Diabetes happens when your body either doesn’t make enough keys or the locks on the cells stop working.

There are two main types:

• Type 1 Diabetes: The body produces little to no insulin. (No keys).
• Type 2 Diabetes: The body makes insulin, but the cells become insulin resistant. The locks are rusty, so the keys don’t work. Because sugar can’t get into the cells, it builds up in the bloodstream instead. This is the most common form, making up over 90% of cases.

What Causes Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is closely linked to diet and lifestyle, and it develops slowly over time.

• Weight and Fat Distribution: Being overweight doubles the risk of developing it, and obesity triples it.
• Body Shape Matters: Carrying weight around the stomach (apple-shaped) is much riskier than carrying it around the hips and thighs (pear-shaped). This is because belly fat often surrounds vital internal organs (called visceral fat), which causes damage.
• Not Just for Adults: It used to be called “adult-onset diabetes,” but today, it is increasingly diagnosed in teens and children.

Diagnosing Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes

Doctors measure blood sugar (glucose) after you have fasted (not eaten) to diagnose the condition:

Metabolic Syndrome

Pre-diabetes often shows up as “metabolic syndrome.” This is a cluster of warning signs that usually lead to full-blown type 2 diabetes. It includes:

• High blood sugar
• Belly fat (abdominal obesity)
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood)
• Low HDL (“good”) cholesterol

The Health Impact

When blood sugar stays too high for too long, it damages blood vessels and organs throughout the body.

If left untreated, diabetes can lead to severe complications. In fact, most people with diabetes do not die from the disease itself, but from the damage it causes, including:

• Heart attacks and strokes
• Kidney failure
• Nerve damage and leg/foot amputations

The Luck of the Draw? Or Diet and Lifestyle?

Some believe type 2 diabetes to be a matter of bad genes, more than bad habits. While some populations have greater susceptibility, genes serve primarily as a loaded gun. It is almost always diet and lifestyle that pull the trigger. 

Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes can be prevented and active cases put into remission. Because blood sugar levels are high, people often conclude that cutting out sugar is the key to reversal. But the real key is to lose excess body weight, even 10 pounds can help, and to cut out added fat and sugar.

A meta-analysis reviewed 9 well-designed trials, looking at the relationships between dietary choice and diet. They found significant evidence that the choice of a plant-based diet improves glycemic control, and controls potentially damaging blood cholesterol levels and body weight and adiposity in individuals with diabetes.

References

1. American Diabetes Association. 2026
   https://diabetes.org/about-diabetes/statistics/about-diabetes
2. Diabetes in Canada  2025. diabetes.ca
3. Zhou YC et al. 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12128495/
4. Hanick et al. A whole-food, plant-based intensive lifestyle intervention improves glycaemic control and reduces medications in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial. 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39305340/
5. Salas-Salvadó J et al. The role of diet in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2011 Sep;21 Suppl 2:B32-48.