fiber to their diets gradually (about 3-5 grams a day) to prevent bloating. They also advised drinking at least 8 cups of liquid (besides those containing caffeine or alcohol) to ward off constipation.
Exercise improves insulin resistance
And several studies have bolstered the theory that getting exercise may fend off diabetes in those at risk. The New England Journal of Medicine, for example, published a study by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine showing that after six weeks of moderate exercise, 10 adult children of diabetics — all sedentary but not overweight and all suffering from insulin resistance — significantly improved their sensitivity to insulin.
Letitia Thomas knows well the value of regular workouts and smart food choices in high-risk people like herself. Thomas, a study coordinator at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is an African-American and mother of two boys; her brother, mother, and maternal grandmother all have diabetes. Thomas herself had gestational diabetes during her two pregnancies, and most of her life she has struggled in vain to lose weight. “I [thought] I couldn’t escape the disease,” she says. “And I was afraid.”
But rather than resigning herself to failing health, Thomas decided two years ago to do something about the risk factors she could control. At that time she hit the scales at
