Diabetes can happen to anyone, not just people who are overweight or have bad eating habits. You might be shocked to learn that some of the things you do every day could be making you more likely to get the disease.

You’re cutting back on coffee

Your coffee habit might not be such a bad thing after all. Studies have shown that drinking coffee, both with and without caffeine, can lower the chance of getting type 2 diabetes.

According to a Harvard study, people who drank six cups of coffee a day had a 33 percent lower chance of getting the disease than people who didn't drink coffee. Some parts of coffee seem to lower insulin resistance and may also speed up glucose metabolism, which is the process of turning glucose into energy. If you do these 21 healthy things, you can avoid getting diabetes.

You’re a chronic night owl

If you like staying up late, you might be increasing your chances of getting diabetes. Men's Health noted that a Korean study found that people who stay up late are more likely to get diabetes than people who go to bed earlier, even if they get seven to eight hours of sleep.

According to a press statement, study author Nan Hee Kim, MD, said that night owls are more likely to be exposed to artificial light from TVs and cell phones. This habit is linked to insulin resistance and poorer blood sugar control. Lack of sleep and bad sleep quality are also linked to staying up late, which can mess up your digestion.

Your diet is light on probiotics

Diabetes risk goes up when there are more bad bugs than good bugs in your gut, says Betul Hatipoglu, MD, a doctor at Cleveland Clinic. Good bacteria in your stomach, called probiotics, are needed for digestion to work right.

If you don't have enough of them, inflammation can happen, which can finally lead to insulin resistance. Some cheeses, yogurt, and sauerkraut are good things to eat this week to get more probiotics. Here are 12 signs that you might be on the verge of getting diabetes.

You microwave leftovers in plastic

Getting rid of your takeout dishes is a good idea because reheating food in them may raise your risk of getting diabetes. The NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City did research and found that two chemicals used to make plastic wrap and takeout containers were linked to a higher chance of diabetes in kids and teens.

Researchers found that the chemicals raised blood pressure and made insulin resistance worse, which is a sign of diabetes to come.

You don’t get enough sun exposure

It is important to stay out of the sun's cancer-causing rays, but staying out of the sun all the time may make you more likely to get diabetes. A Spanish study found that people who don't get enough vitamin D are more likely to have type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, no matter what weight they are.

The experts think that the vitamin from the sun helps your pancreas work properly, which makes insulin and keeps your blood sugar in check. To raise your levels, Dr. Hatipoglu recommends taking a supplement and eating foods that are high in vitamin D, like salmon and milk or cereal that has been treated with vitamin D. Today, 15 new discoveries have made it possible to beat diabetes for good.

You spend your weekends binge-watching TV

You might not want to watch as much Netflix on Sunday. A study from the University of Pittsburgh found that watching TV for an hour raises your chance of getting diabetes by 3.4%. Eric Sternlicht, PhD, a professor of fitness at Chapman University, told Men's Health, "Too much sitting can cause your visceral fat to build up, which makes your waist bigger."

By making your body less sensitive to insulin, having extra belly fat greatly raises your risk of getting diabetes.

You skip breakfast

"Not eating in the morning not only makes you hungry by late morning, but it can also set you up for type 2 diabetes," Ellen Calogeras, a diabetes instructor at the Cleveland Clinic Diabetes Center, told everydayhealth.com. Insulin levels get messed up when you don't eat, which makes it harder to control blood sugar.

You avoid all carbs in favor of protein and fat

People are surprised to learn that whole grains like oats and barley can make you less likely to get type 2 diabetes, even though dietitian Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, author of Prediabetes: A Complete Guide, says that avoiding carbs can make you more likely to get it.On the other hand, tests on mice show that high-fat ketogenic diets make insulin resistance worse.

Weisenberger says that instead of staying away from all carbs, people should eat a lot of different healthy foods and get their carbs from whole foods like yogurt, berries, chickpeas, and black beans instead of processed grains like white bread and pasta. Check out these other 15 things that nutritionists think you should know about dieting for diabetes.

You eat the wrong vegetable and carb combinations

You should eat a lot of vegetables, but to keep your dinner plate balanced, you need to know which ones are starchy.Famed nutritionist and media expert Lisa DeFazio, MS, RD, says that starchy veggies like corn and peas are more of a carb source than a vegetable. In moderation, you can eat them, but you don't want to eat too many.

If you eat a lot of starchy foods with refined grains, like white rice, it could make you gain weight and cause your blood sugar to rise, which both raise your risk of getting diabetes.

You eat most of your calories at night

DeFazio says that anything that makes you gain weight greatly raises your risk of getting diabetes. This includes binging before bed. "You can gain weight because you sleep on the calories if you eat most of your calories at night," she says.

A study from the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine found that eating late at night raises insulin and blood sugar levels. Both of these are factors that lead to type 2 diabetes.Keep an eye out for these 10 diabetes signs that you might not be aware of.

You assume one workout is all the exercise you need

Any exercise is good activity, but Weisenberger stresses how important it is to be active all day long. "Being active only once a day is also not a good idea for preventing diabetes," she says. "For better blood sugar management, the American Diabetes Association recommends taking three-minute breaks every 30 minutes to do something active."

Studies show that if you don't exercise for at least 60 to 75 minutes every day, you aren't fully making up for the hours you spend sitting all day. Weisenberger suggests taking a short walk around the office or stretching to break up that time of sitting still.

You skip strength training

Weisenberger says that muscle is like a "storage bucket" for sugar in the blood, especially after you eat. "So lift weights for two to three days to make that storage bucket a little bigger," she says. One Harvard study even found that lifting weights five days a week for 30 minutes could cut the risk of getting type 2 diabetes by up to 34%.

You’re gluten-free for no reason

It might seem like a good idea to cut out gluten, but a study from the American Heart Association found that people who ate the most gluten had a 13% lower chance of getting diabetes than people who ate the least gluten.

"This was probably because people in the gluten-free group ate fewer high-fiber grains," says Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, author of the 2 Day Diabetes Diet and registered nutritionist. She says going gluten-free won't help you if you don't have an illness. What you should worry about instead of gluten is the quality of your grains. Choose whole grains that are high in fiber whenever you can. Eating this one food may lower your risk of getting diabetes.

You get too much salt

Eating a lot of fast food and processed foods can make your blood salt levels rise, which may raise your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Palinski-Wade says, "The direct link is unknown, but it seems that eating a lot of salt may make insulin resistance worse, which can eventually lead to diabetes." "One study found that people who ate the most salt were up to 58% more likely to get type 2 diabetes than people who ate the least salt."

Also, eating a lot of salt makes you more likely to have high blood pressure and be overweight, which are both risk factors for diabetes. The present Dietary Guidelines for Americans say that people shouldn't eat more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. Find out more about how eating too much salt can make you more likely to get diabetes.

You take cholesterol meds

You might be more likely to get diabetes if you have high cholesterol. A new study, however, found that taking popular cholesterol medicines called statins can raise your risk of getting the disease even more in people who are already at risk. Palinski-Wade says that statins can make the chance of getting type 2 diabetes 30% higher.

Statins are often prescribed to lower cholesterol. To lower your cholesterol level through lifestyle changes like dieting, losing weight, and exercise should be the first step in treatment to avoid this higher risk. If you are taking statins, you should also live a healthy life to lower your risk of getting diabetes. Learn more about type 2 diabetes that you may not have known.

You don’t drink enough water

A long-term study that looked at how much water people drank found that people who didn't drink much were more likely to have high blood sugar. Palinski-Wade says, "This could be partly because of how well they are hydrated." Scientists think that when your kidneys and liver don't get enough water, your blood sugar may go up. Palinski-Wade says, "Or it could be linked to other things.

For example, people who drink less water may eat more because they're not as full after meals, or they may have less energy and be less active." Some people are less likely to be overweight and have more energy if they drink a lot of water. The reason for this link is not clear. Here are some more simple ways to keep from getting type 2 diabetes.

You skip the organic aisle

Pesticides may have something to do with diabetes, according to scientists who have been looking into the link. Based on levels that could be found in the blood or urine, one meta-analysis showed that pesticide exposure could increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 64%. "Research on farmers has found that higher levels of exposure to all forms of pesticides can increase the risk of diabetes," Palinski-Wade adds.

She says that even though most people wouldn't be as exposed as farmers, it's still smart to buy organic food and always wash it. Because chemicals in cosmetics have also been linked to a higher chance of diabetes, you might want to switch to natural beauty products. Also, eating this one thing every day might make you more likely to get diabetes.

You spend a lot of time alone

A new study shows that people with fewer social connections are more likely to get diabetes, but no one knows why. The people who wrote the study think that preventing isolation and loneliness could help stop diabetes. Deborah Serani, PsyD, a psychologist and author of Depression in Later Life, says, "Having friends and family gets you out of the house or office."

She says that doing easy things like getting dressed, driving, walking, talking, and hanging out with other people are good for your health. Learn what doctors who deal with diabetes do to keep their own blood sugar in check.

You’re not treating depression

There is a stronger connection between your mind and body than you think. For example, researchers have proven that sadness and diabetes are linked. Depression makes it hard to take care of yourself, which can make other diabetes risk factors worse. Dr. Serani says that depressed people don't always eat well, sleep well, work out, or keep up with other good habits.

"When someone is depressed, they usually eat something easy to make or get because they feel so weak. Most of the time, these are unhealthy foods." When people are depressed, they often turn to bad comfort foods, which make them feel better but also raise their blood sugar levels in dangerous ways.

You get super-stressed

Stress does raise the risk of getting diabetes, according to studies. Given all the other bad things it can do to your brain and body, that might not be a surprise. "Stress can make your immune system weaker and raise your blood sugar and heart rate," says Dr. Serani. "Additionally, stress makes people irritable, makes them make snap decisions, and makes them want to numb their bad feelings even more."

So, people who are stressed might not be able to take good care of themselves. An interesting new study, on the other hand, found that stress could raise the chance of diabetes even in healthy people. This may be because stress causes hormones to react in ways that affect blood sugar levels. Another surprising new reason why the number of people with diabetes is going up.

You snore

Sleep apnea is a risk factor for high blood pressure, weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes. If you snore a lot, especially if it stops you from breathing, you may have it. "People with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have a 30% higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes than people who don't have OSA," says Richard Shane, PhD, the creator of the Sleep Easily method and an expert on sleep.

He says that people with weak or moderate OSA are 23% more likely to get type 2 diabetes than people who don't have OSA. Sleep apnea makes your body lack oxygen, which causes stress. This stress raises your heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels, which in turn raise your blood sugar. Dr. Shane says that when people with sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes get treatment for sleep apnea, their blood glucose levels and insulin sensitivity get a lot better.

You take antibiotics when you don’t need them

When you get sick again, ask your doctor if you really need that prescription medicine to get better.Over a 15-year time, researchers found that people were more likely to get diabetes if they took more antibiotics. "The findings raise the possibility that antibiotics could raise the risk of type 2 diabetes," study author Kristian Hallundbaek Mikkelsen, MD, of Gentofte Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark, said in a press release.

The results only show a link between the drugs and diabetes. It's also possible that people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to get infections. The study authors think that antibiotics may lower the amount of "good" bacteria in the gut, making it harder for the body to process sugar. Since mouthwash also changes the amount of germs in the mouth, this could be why using it has been linked to a higher risk of getting diabetes.

Lesson Summary

The text discusses various unexpected behaviors and factors that can increase the risk of developing diabetes:

• Skipping breakfast
• Microwaving leftovers in plastic
• Staying up late
• Excessive TV watching
• Inadequate sun exposure
• Lack of probiotics
• Excessive salt intake
• Skipping strength training
• Isolated lifestyle
• Stress
• Depression
• Pesticide exposure
• Excessive use of antibiotics
• Sleep apnea

It is recommended to reduce the risk of diabetes by maintaining a healthy lifestyle:

• Make good dietary choices
• Engage in regular exercise
• Ensure proper sleep

A study suggests a potential link between antibiotic use and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Antibiotics might affect the balance of gut bacteria, influencing sugar processing. It is mentioned that individuals with type 2 diabetes could be more susceptible to infections. Another unexpected factor is the use of mouthwash, which alters the oral microbiome and has been associated with a higher risk of diabetes.