jan 19 2012151 intro nearly 25 percent of americans are thought to have prediabetes a condition of slightly elevated blood sugar levels that often develops into diabetes within 10 years but only 4 percent of people know it whats worse of those who are aware less than half really tried to reduce their risk by losing weight eating less and exercising more these are just a few of the goodforyou habits that can reverse prediabetes and ensure you never get the real thing which can mean a lifetime of drugs and blood sugar monitoring an increased risk of heart disease alzheimers disease and other scary health threats read on for 12 simple tricks everyone can start today more from prevention quicklist 1category 12 ways to avoid diabetestitle nudge the scaleurl text shedding even 10 pounds can significantly slash your risk even extremely overweight people were 70 percent less likely to develop diabetes when they lost just 5 percent of their weight even if they didnt exercise if you weigh 175 pounds thats a little less than 9 pounds use our calorie calculator to see how many calories you consume and how many you need to shave off your diet if you want to lose a little quicklist 2category 12 ways to avoid diabetestitle pick the right appetizerurl text eating greens with a vinaigrette before a starchy entre may help control your blood sugar levels in an arizona state university study people with type 2 diabetes or a precursor condition called insulin resistance had lower blood sugar levels if they consumed about 2 tablespoons of vinegar just before a highcarb meal vinegar contains acetic acid which may inactivate certain starchdigesting enzymes slowing carbohydrate digestion said lead researcher carol johnston in fact vinegars effects may be similar to those of the blood sugar lowering medication acarbose precose before you eat that fettuccine enjoy a salad with this dressing whisk 3 tablespoons vinegar 2 tablespoons flaxseed oil 1 clove garlic crushed 14 teaspoon honey 3 tablespoons yogurt and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste makes four 2tablespoon servings more from prevention quicklist 3category 12 ways to avoid diabetestitle ditch your carurl text walk as much as you can every day youll be healthier even if you dont lose any weight people in a finnish study who exercised the most up to 4 hours a week or about 35 minutes a day dropped their risk of diabetes by 80 percent even if they didnt lose any weight this pattern holds up in study after study the famed nurses health study for example found that women who worked up a sweat more than once a week reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 30 percent and chinese researchers determined that people with high blood sugar who engaged in moderate exercise and made other lifestyle changes were 40 percent less likely to develop fullblown diabetes why is walking so wonderful studies show that exercise