Here's some sound advice for all people - not just those with diabetes - to enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods such as vegetables, legumes and fruit; cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles - preferable whole grain ); and lean meat; reduced fat dairy products and plenty of water, Take care to:

Limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake. Being overweight or obese can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, and can worsen the disease. Aim to reduce your intake of saturated fats that are found in foods such as meat products ( like sausages and bacon ), butter, full fat milk, and cheese and palm and coconut oil. Good substitutes include lean meat and fish, poly- or monosaturated margarines like canola, sunflower, skim milk, and smalll amounts of olive oil.

Exercise regularly . Maintain a healthy body weight is important for the management of diabetes, so aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Exactly where you carry your weight can be of great importance. In general, if you are "apple" - shaped (carrying weight around the middle ), you are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes thatn if you're "pear" shaped ( carrying weight around the hips and thighs ).

Get some sleep. Boston University medical researchers recently found that people who slept too little ( six hours or less ) were 66 percent more likely to have diabetes than those who slept 7 to 8 hours.