It’s strongly linked to what you eat and how much you exercise, can eventually lead to blindness, heart disease and kidney failure, and is the one of the fastest growing chronic conditions in the world.

It’s type 2 diabetes, and it affects over 463 million adults worldwide.

Most of us know someone with type 2 diabetes. It’s the most common type of diabetes, representing 85 to 90 per cent of all cases. The other two types are type 1 – an autoimmune disease which often starts in childhood or early adulthood and is not linked to lifestyle – and gestational diabetes, which affects pregnant women.

What is type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a condition where your body cannot regulate blood sugar levels properly. After you’ve eaten a meal it’s normal for blood glucose levels to rise. When they do, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, which acts like a key to let the glucose pass from your bloodstream into your body’s cells, producing energy.

If you have type 2 diabetes, you either don’t produce enough insulin or it’s not doing its job properly. This means glucose doesn’t easily move into your body’s cells, and your blood glucose levels stay too high for too long. It’s these prolonged high blood glucose levels that can cause damage to blood vessels throughout the body, including your eyes, kidneys and extremities like your feet.

Diabetes is a complex disease, and there are a number of common misunderstandings surrounding it.

1. You can’t reverse type 2 diabetes

We used to think that a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes meant that you had it for life, but studies have now shown otherwise. There have been some new data that shows that you can reverse type 2 diabetes.

One UK study published in The Lancet in 2019 put people diagnosed with diabetes within the last six years on a strict calorie-controlled meal replacement program.

“They were able to show that after a year, almost 50 per cent of participants were able to reverse their diabetes and went back to normal glucose levels without medication,” explains Dr Hocking.

When it comes to preventing and treating diabetes, losing weight is the most effective strategy, says Dr Hocking. But if you find this difficult, studies show that losing as little as five per cent of your body weight can make a significant difference, as does increasing exercise and improving your diet – whether you lose weight or not.

2. Sugar causes diabetes

Diabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are too high, so it can be easy to think that eating too much sugar is the cause. But this is a very simplistic message, says nutrition scientist Dr Joanna McMillan. “It’s not that sugar causes diabetes,” she explains. “It’s true we eat too much sugar, but we also have too much processed food and too many kilojoules. Rather than blaming one single dietary aspect like sugar, we should look at the dietary patterns of the foods we consume.”

Sugar is found naturally in fruit and vegetables (as fructose) and diary foods (as lactose). But it’s also added to food and drink by food manufacturers, and it’s this added sugar – found in confectionary, cakes, biscuits, fruit juices, soft drinks, smoothies, syrups and honey – that we need to cut down on. That’s because it’s easy to over-consume, often comes in products also high in fat and other refined carbohydrates, and can lead to weight gain, which in turn increases your risk of diabetes.

If you have diabetes, aim to eat plenty of plant foods such as wholegrains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fewer highly processed foods and refined carbs (sugar, white bread, products made from white flour, white rice and pasta). For tailored advice on what to eat, talk to your doctor who may refer you to a dietitian or other specialist.

3. You can’t exercise if you have diabetes

Exercise is beneficial for everyone, whether or not they have diabetes. This myth probably came about because people with type 1 diabetes have to be vigilant about balancing their insulin doses with food and activity, to avoid blood sugar going too high or too low.

But exercise is key to staying healthy whatever type of diabetes you have. It can also help prevent and manage type 2 diabetes. Regular physical activity can:

•               Help you maintain a healthy weight.
•               Help lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease.
•              Reduce stress.
•              Increase your insulin sensitivity. Resistance or strength training is particularly effective at improving your body’s ability to use insulin and process glucose. The ability of your muscles to store glucose increases with your strength, making your body better able to regulate its blood glucose levels.

For good health, you should aim for 30 minutes of exercise every day, and plan to do two sessions of strength or resistance training each week. This can be done at home using your body weight, free weights, or resistance bands, or at a gym.