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Doctors have now proven that exercise and weight loss can greatly reduce the chances of millions of Americans contracting diabetes - and it doesn't take a starvation diet or running a marathon.

The NIH (National Institute of Health) study studied 3,234 Americans who not only had the risk factors of diabetes but also had an exam - the oral glucose tolerance test - which showed their bodies already were not properly processing blood sugar. Almost half of the subjects belonged to minority races.

Fifty-eight percent of the subjects who did moderate exercise for 150 minutes a week and lost 5 to 7 percent of their initial body weight staved off diabetes for at least the three years of the study. The benefit was seen for every race and ethnicity. The oldest people, over the age of 60, reduced their risk most, by 71 percent.

Most of the subjects walked. They ate 1,200 to 1,800 calories a day, which cut fat consumption to 25 percent of daily calories. This was helped by such dietitians' tips as to choose meals such as baked chicken over fried and seasonal vegetables with lemon.

Walking and dropping, on average, 15 pounds helped people with a very high risk of getting the most common form of diabetes cut those odds by 58 percent, concluded the study by the National Institutes of Health.

Some 10 million Americans are at a very high risk of contracting Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes and could benefit from the findings - if only they knew they were at risk. Type 2 diabetes - where people gradually lose the ability to use insulin, a hormone crucial to converting glucose into energy - accounts for most cases. It's increasing at epidemic proportions as Americans get older, fatter, and less active.

Risk factors include being over the age of 40; being overweight; being black, Hispanic or American Indian; and having diabetic relatives. Now the question is how to find all those people who need help. Unfortunately, diabetes screening is not routine.

For people who can't do that, a daily pill called metformin may be an option, the study found. Metformin reduced the diabetes risk by 31 percent - not nearly as effective as changing lifestyle and an option that carries the risk of side effects. Still, it's the first medication ever with proven protective against diabetes.

Metformin reduced risk by 31 percent and so is a second option, which could help people who physically can't exercise, said lead researcher Dr. David Nathan of Massachusetts General Hospital. No one knows if taking the daily pill plus diet and exercise would work better, because that wasn't studied. Also, metformin cannot be consumed by people with kidney disease because of a rare but life-threatening side effect.

According to the National Institues of Health (August 2001), the Food and Drug Administration has approved metformin only as a diabetes treatment. Bristol-Myers Squibb, which sells it under the brand name Glucophage, is considering whether to seek FDA approval to market the drug as a way to prevent diabetes, too.

Information provided is courtesy of and compiled by the Academy of Anti-Aging Research.