“Growing up, I often had chips, takeaways, white bread, sweet foods and soft drinks,” says Sandra Taylor, 42, a mother of two from Melbourne. By her twenties, she was gaining weight and seemed destined to develop the type 2 that her parents, two brothers, grandmother and aunt were already living with.
Sandra’s story is far from uncommon. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest-growing health conditions in the world. It occurs when your body can no longer effectively produce or use the hormone insulin, which it needs to convert food into energy. This leads to a build-up of glucose in the blood. Over time, elevated BGLs can damage nerves and blood vessels, and increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, eye problems and kidney issues.
About 280 Australians develop diabetes each day, and two million are living with prediabetes, the precursor to type 2. Risk factors vary but, according to Diabetes Australia, if you have a close family member, such as a parent, with type 2, your risk of also developing it is two to four times higher.
“The risk goes up if you have certain lifestyle factors, including high blood pressure, being
