6 lifestyle changes to help reverse diabetes
Published February 2025 | 5 min read
Expert contributor Dr Gary Deed, Chair, RACGP Diabetes Specific Interest Group
Words by Beth Wallace
Did you know adopting healthier lifestyle habits can help prevent, manage or reverse type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes? Here’s how.
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions in Australia right now, with almost 1.9 million Australians living with type 2 diabetes, and a further 2 million living with pre-diabetes.
If not managed correctly, type 2 diabetes can negatively impact your quality of life and life expectancy. The good news? It’s possible to control or even reverse diabetes with lifestyle changes, says Dr Gary Deed, Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Diabetes Specific Interests Group.
“During the early stages of intermediate elevated glucose [pre-diabetes], there's evidence that lifestyle interventions can stop the inevitable progression towards diabetes,” he says.
“There’s now also emerging evidence that during the early stages of diabetes, when it develops, particularly within the first six years or among people who haven't yet gone on to insulin, there’s a chance of going into remission.”

What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body has trouble responding to or producing insulin – the hormone that helps control the amount of sugar (glucose) in your blood. This leads to elevated blood glucose levels, which are responsible for health complications linked to diabetes, including heart attacks, strokes and problems with the kidneys, eyes, gums, feet and nerves.
One test used to diagnose type 2 diabetes is glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), which measures your average blood glucose levels over a three-month period.
Who is most susceptible to type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes can be genetically inherited and is highly prevalent among certain ethnicities, including people over 35 years of age with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Pacific Island, Indian subcontinent or Chinese cultural background.
In addition, people whose mother had gestational diabetes when they were pregnant, plus women who have given birth to a child weighing more than 4.5kg, had gestational diabetes themselves or live with polycystic ovary syndrome, carry a higher likelihood of developing the condition.
The risk of developing diabetes also escalates with age. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that in 2021 just 3.1% of Aussies living with type 2 diabetes were aged under 40, while 59% were aged 65 or above.
Though there’s obviously nothing you can do to alter your genetics, ethnicity or age, type 2 diabetes is also triggered by a number of modifiable lifestyle factors. These include:
- high blood pressure
- excess weight (particularly around the waist)
- physical inactivity
- an unhealthy diet.
Cutting back on sugar is a big part of the puzzle when it comes to preventing or treating these conditions. While consuming too much sugar daily isn't a direct cause of diabetes, it can lead to unhealthy weight gain and have negative impacts on your body (as sugary foods tend to have more kilojoules), which is one of the risk factors.
Some of the main culprits for high-sugar content are soft drinks, energy drinks and baked goods. But there’s also a range of ‘hidden sugars’ found in everyday items, including yoghurt, granola, salad dressings, sauces and flavoured milk. To avoid these, look for some of the alternative ways sugar is labelled on nutrition labels (like glucose, dextrose, sorbitol).
How can you reverse type 2 diabetes?
Dr Deed explains that you can put diabetes into remission when you reduce your average glucose level to a certain amount and sustain that level for three months without glucose-lowering medication. This is considered a reversal of the elevated glucose levels.
“Even though we put the diabetes into remission, we do want people to be aware that they still need to be medically supervised,” he cautions.
Reversing diabetes has obvious advantages. “If you have pre-diabetes, you can stop it developing into type 2 diabetes,” says Dr Deed. “If you have type 2 diabetes, going into remission means you don't need medications and potentially can reduce the risk of hyperglycaemic [high glucose] related complications.”
This was the case for 77-year-old HCF member Joseph Oroszvari, who was able to come off his diabetes medication through lifestyle changes and a focus on moving more.
“I was 62 when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and 65 when I first started to go to the gym,” says Joseph.
He was so serious about his health and fitness he even studied at TAFE to be a personal trainer. But he knew he could do more to improve his health, so finding out he was eligible to join HCF's The COACH Program® – a personalised coaching program – using his health cover seemed like a good idea.
“I came down to the HCF office, looked at some of the brochures and came across this coaching program,” he says. “I liked it and have been on it ever since.”
Offered to eligible HCF members*, The COACH Program® offers personalised health coaching, including regular phone check-ins and written reports from a personally assigned health coach (an Australian-qualified dietitian, pharmacist or nurse).
Since launching in 2022, The COACH Program has seen impressive graduation results, from 98% of members feeling satisfied or very satisfied with the program and 87% of members feeling the program helped them reach their goals, to 89% of members believing HCF is a trusted health partner.
"Now in the gym, I stretch first up, then I get on my stationary bike, use the cross trainer, treadmill and I do a little bit of boxing,” he explains. “And I've got a spin class every Wednesday morning at 6am."
He’s also changed his eating habits. For breakfast, he tends to eat porridge with blueberries or blackberries, and walnuts, then he might have smoked salmon slices mid-morning and soup or a frozen meal for lunch.
After six months, Joseph says he now sleeps better and feels stronger.
6 ways to manage or reverse type 2 diabetes
While you should always check with your GP or health professional before changing any lifestyle and health habits, here are six ways you may be able to avoid, manage or reverse type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes.
1. Maintain a healthy diet
Dr Deed points to RACGP’s recently released Management of type 2 diabetes: A handbook for general practice, which encourages people with diabetes to eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods in appropriate portion sizes. This can go a long way towards achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, he says, adding: “A diet that's sustainable and nutritionally balanced is the way to go.”
The handbook also recommend 5 to 10% weight loss for people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or obese.
Need help getting started? Eligible HCF members can access the evidence-based CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet^ for support with achieving their weight-loss goals.
2. Commit to regular physical activity
Regular exercise improves quality of life in many ways for people living with diabetes, including:
- helping insulin work more effectively
- reducing insulin resistance and blood glucose levels
- maintaining a healthy weight
- lowering blood pressure
- reducing heart disease risk
- improving joint and muscle movement
- strengthening bones
- reducing stress and anxiety
- improving sleep.
Though it’s important to speak with your GP before starting any new fitness plan, the physical activity and exercise guidelines for Australian adults (18 to 64 years) recommend being active most (ideally all) days. Over the course of a week, people in this age group should aim to complete either:
- 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate-intensity (can talk while exercising or hum a tune) physical activity, like a brisk walk, dancing or hiking;
- 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous-intensity (can briefly talk but certainly not sing) physical activity, like jogging or aerobics; or
- an equivalent mix of both moderate and vigorous activities.
For people aged 65 and over, the guidelines recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.
If your GP has recommended an exercise or gym program to treat a specific medical condition, like diabetes, you may be able to claim the cost of your classes or gym membership depending on your level of cover.
3. Manage blood pressure
High blood pressure can be common among people with diabetes and can trigger serious health complications.
Alongside losing excess weight, exercising regularly and not smoking, Dr Deed recommends monitoring your salt intake to keep blood pressure levels where they should be.
“A healthy Mediterranean or DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension] diet may be appropriate for a person who's got elevated blood pressure,” he adds.
4. Lower cholesterol levels
People with diabetes often have low ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) levels and high ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) levels, which increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Following a heart-healthy eating pattern that’s high in fibre, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats can help to lower ‘bad’ cholesterol levels. This involves eating lots of fresh and unprocessed foods (fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds) and limiting unhealthy fats, salt and added sugar.
5. Reduce smoking and alcohol intake
Anyone who smokes should try and get help to quit, advises Dr Deed, who says smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke not only increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but once you have the condition, smoking can bring on diabetes-related complications.
Vapes or e-cigarettes can wrongly be perceived as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes, but research suggests they can also increase diabetes risk and trigger other negative health issues.
Meanwhile, alcohol consumption among people with type 2 diabetes need be “no different to people without diabetes”, says Dr Deed. He explains that RACGP’s recommendations for people with diabetes are the same as the Australian Alcohol Guidelines for healthy adults: no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than four on any one day.
6. Schedule preventive health checks
Regardless of your risk status for diabetes, it’s important to get regular health checks to nip any issues in the bud.
Eligible members can also access a free heart health check+ thanks to our partnership with the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. The test includes checks for blood pressure, total cholesterol and blood glucose levels – which can help you identify any risks and get advice on healthy heart habits to help you be your healthiest self.
All HCF members with health cover can also access a standard GP visit (up to 10 minutes) for a fee of $50 through online video GP service GP2U.
Coaching support for diabetes
Do you have a heart condition or diabetes? You can trust HCF to help you be your healthiest self – that’s why we’ve launched The COACH Program®. Delivered by qualified health professionals like nurses, dietitians, exercise physiologists and pharmacists, this telephone support program is provided at no extra cost for eligible members* with heart conditions or diabetes.
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
* Eligibility criteria apply. For more information see hcf.com.au/coach
^ Eligibility criteria apply. For more information see hcf.com.au/csiro-total-wellbeing-diet
+ Must have hospital cover with HCF (excluding Overseas Visitors Health Cover). For more information, see hcf.com.au/victorchang
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