Type 2 diabetes, which is the type we're talking about here with this article so I'm strictly sticking to just Type 2, is primarily caused by obesity which is the primary factor that leads to diabetes.

Just for anyone watching who might smugly think "yeah, but I'm not fat," like I did before I discovered my prediabetes: you don't have to be fat - I'm not, I'm thin. I work for a living, light physical labor, but constant. I cut sugared drinks out of my life in over 20 years ago and I am what I considered to be a "relatively healthy" eater, maintaining about a 60-40 ratio between raw vegetable intake and animal protein in my meals.

But I developed a bit of a sweet tooth in the past few years. I make ice cream as a hobby, and while I never eat a whole pint, I might eat two or three tablespoons a day. I paid no attention to what kind of carbs I was eating, whole grains never really crossed my mind. And I have a bowl of my favorite candies, which I got in the habit of rewarding myself with at the end of every day - one or two. Or three. After all, I didn't figure I was a candidate.

Ah, but I was. Shocked the crap out of me, tbh.

Still, 3 months of healthy eating and cutting out all of those bad habits was enough to course correct for me. I am no longer prediabetic. My message is this: refined sugar is poison. Try and eat whole foods and when it comes to sugar, moderate yourself accordingly - particularly as you get older.