Myth v fact: How to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes – SBS

Were constantly reminded of the importance of being healthy eating the right kinds of foods and making the right lifestyle choices to lower our risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
But how many of us actually know the specifics on what being healthy is and understand, exactly, what we should eat daily to decrease our risk of type 2 diabetes?
Given that diabetes is Australias fastest-growing chronic condition and type 2 diabetes accounts for 85 per cent of all diabetes, its worth knowing the facts.
Tackling multiple risk factors, instead of concentrating on one certain lifestyle factor, should be the cornerstone for reducing the global burden of type 2 diabetes.
Myth 1: To decrease your risk of type 2 diabetes, all you have to do is improve your diet
Fact: It’s more complicated than that
A new international study, published in the European journal Diabetologia today, shows that people with the healthiest lifestyle have a 75 per cent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with the least healthy lifestyle.
Chinese researchers came to this conclusion after analysing 14 studies based in the USA, Asia, Europe, Australia and the rest of Oceania, involving over a million participants. 
Although the study is vague on what a healthy lifestyle is specifically, it does state that physical activity, diet quality and sleep pattern may affect your weight. On top of weight, your smoking and drinking habits also influence your risk.
The study stresses that although weight plays a dominant role in the risk of type 2 diabetes, its individual association with the condition was found to be weaker than that of combined lifestyle factors.
Tackling multiple risk factors, instead of concentrating on one certain lifestyle factor, should be the cornerstone for reducing the global burden of type 2 diabetes.
Myth 2: Sugar directly causes diabetes
Fact: There’s no direct association
Dr Alan Barclay  Accredited Practising Dietitian and spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia – tells SBS that theres no evidence to suggest that sugar directly causes type 2 diabetes. There is no association between sugar consumption and type 2 diabetes,”  Dr Barclay says. “We need to kill off that myth.
However, Dr Barclay says, there is an association between soft drink consumption and type 2 diabetes. But theres more than just

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