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I was ten years old the day I turned blue and collapsed at school, struggling to breathe. For months, I had been rapidly losing weight despite eating everything in sight, and I was literally dying of thirst. The school nurse called my mother while my father was on the phone with my pediatrician, who had just called with the test results we had been waiting for. The diagnosis was Type 1 diabetes. I was rushed to the hospital and admitted to the ICU.
Years later, my father was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. He wasn’t overweight, and he walked two miles every day. In both cases, diabetes caught us off guard. My family’s story reminds me that diabetes doesn’t always fit our assumptions. It can affect children and adults, people who are overweight and people who aren’t, and it often arrives with warning signs.
Although both conditions affect blood sugar, and can occur in children or adults, they are not the same disease. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, making lifelong insulin therapy essential. Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn’t produce enough of it. While medications are often needed for Type 2 diabetes, healthy lifestyle changes play a significant role in prevention, treatment, and, for some people, remission.
Today, more than 40 million people in the United States have diabetes, and most of them have Type 2 diabetes. In 2024, according to the CDC, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Fortunately, advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment have made earlier detection and better outcomes possible.
Whether you are living with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, healthy lifestyle habits are essential for achieving the best possible outcomes.
The American Diabetes Association and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine agree that six foundational pillars of lifestyle medicine are first-line strategies for preventing and managing Type 2 diabetes:
-Whole-food, plant-predominant eating patterns
-Regular physical activity
Restorative sleep
-Stress management
Healthy social connections
-Avoiding risky substances
Lifestyle changes should always be made in partnership with your medical team. As your health improves, your blood sugar levels may change, insulin sensitivity may increase, and your need for medication may decrease. At the same time, you may find yourself walking farther, swimming longer, or enjoying more turns around the dance floor. Your healthcare team can tailor a lifestyle medicine plan alongside your medications and glucose monitoring to achieve the best results.
For some people with Type 2 diabetes, these changes have been significant enough to discontinue diabetes medications and achieve remission.
While healthy habits do not lead to remission for Type 1 diabetes, they are some of the most important tools for improving health and reducing complications. The Joslin Medalist Study found that people who have lived exceptionally long, healthy lives with Type 1 diabetes shared several common habits, including healthy eating, regular physical activity, and strong social connections.
Once I embraced these healthy lifestyle habits, my insulin needs dropped by 70%, and my A1C improved dramatically. In fact, just last week, my A1C was 6.0, a level near the normal range. My 73-year-old father still walks two miles every day, enjoys an active social life, and recently had an A1C of 6.3. Healthy lifestyle choices have given us both a better quality of life and more time together with our family and friends. That’s something worth celebrating.
If you or someone you love has any of the following symptoms, please contact your healthcare provider and get checked for diabetes:
Frequent urination
Extreme thirst
Extreme hunger
Unexplained weight loss
Fatigue or weakness
Blurred vision
Slow-healing sores
Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet.
If you or someone you love is living with diabetes and would like support making healthy lifestyle changes, call the Lifestyle Medicine Center at (432) 221-4935.
