Aim for at least seven serves of fruit and vegetables daily

8 ways to prevent diabetes

Millions of Canadians are living with diabetes and prediabetes. There are steps and lifestyle changes you can take to ward off the disease

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4. Aim for at least seven serves of fruit and vegetables daily

And factor in three servings of whole grains, too. Following a low-glycaemic diet packed with fresh fruit and vegetables and whole grains‚ and cutting back on white bread, white rice, foods made with white flour, and sweets helps keeps blood sugar low and steady. Research shows it also redresses chronic low-grade inflammation in the body, which interferes with the action of insulin and the absorption of blood sugar by cells.

In a recent study of 486 women, Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that those who ate the most fruit were 34 percent less likely to have metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors, including insulin resistance, that predispose a person to diabetes. Women who ate the most vegetables cut their risk of metabolic syndrome by 30 per cent. Meanwhile, German researchers who followed 25,067 women and men for seven years recently found that those who got the most fibre from whole grains were 27 per cent less likely to develop diabetes than those who got the least.