Recent research reveals that exercise and minor weight loss are vital in reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even for those predisposed due to family history. According to the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), obesity significantly likens the chance that someone will develop type 2 diabetes.
Is weight loss the solution for those who have already developed disease? Yes.
However, it can be more difficult to lose weight once a person has developed type 2 diabetes. This is because the master metabolic hormone, insulin, loves to store fat in the body, making weight loss trickier for those living with diabetes. A very small study found that, in a group of 12 overweight adults and their spouses, those who had diabetes had a harder time losing weight.
Still, weight loss is doable for those living with type 2 diabetes and is a recommended protocol; some say it should be the first step—before medication. Drugs that lower sugar produced in the liver or increase muscle cells' sensitivity to insulin (biguanides, sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones) make it even harder to lose weight, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
These prescriptions are, in many ways, worse than the health problems they’re supposed to help. And they’re linked to a boatload of serious side effects: low blood sugar, weakness, hunger, weight gain, high cholesterol, bone fractures, and heart failure.