A new study has found that practicing five healthy lifestyle factors could help cut down on the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, even if a family history of the disease puts one at greater risk.

People with diabetes have blood glucose levels too high for the body to compensate for on its own. Over time, high levels of glucose can lead to heart disease, stroke, and a host of other medical conditions. Yet the results of one study suggest that several lifestyle factors practiced in concert can reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

The recently released results of the study, published in the September 6, 2011 issue of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that practicing each of five healthy lifestyle factors incrementally lowered a person's risk of contracting diabetes by an additional 31% to 39% in an 11-year study of approximately 207,000 men and women aged 50 to 71 years.

While other studies have focused on individual factors that might reduce the risk of getting diabetes, the new study sought to determine the combined effects of some of these factors on diabetes risk.

The characteristics of the low-risk, healthy lifestyle groups for each of the five factors were:

1. Maintaining a Normal Weight: The healthy lifestyle, low-risk group were neither overweight nor obese, and had a Body Mass Index (BMI) below 25;

2. Not Smoking: The healthy lifestyle group had never smoked or had not smoked for 10 years or more.

3. Being Physically Active: The healthy lifestyle group engaged in at least 20 minutes of intense aerobic exercise at least three times per week;

4. Eating a Healthy Diet: The healthy group ate high fiber diets, with little trans fat or refined or sugar-based carbohydrates, and a high ratio of polyunsaturated (good) to saturated (bad) fats.

5. Consuming a low amount of- or no alcohol: The healthy group did not consume alcohol, or consumed it in moderation, meaning one or less drink per day for women and two or less drinks per day for men.

When combined, the five healthy lifestyle factors practiced together lowered the risk of diabetes by approximately 80 percent.

The researchers reviewed data obtained from 114,996 men and 92,483 women, aged 50 to 71 years, collected in 1995 to 1996, part of an 11-year study of diet and health factors, known as the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. 

None of the participants demonstrated evidence of heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. At the outset of the study, in 1995 and 1996, the participants filled out "a comprehensive survey of demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors, including dietary intake, body weight and height, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption." Participants were then divided into low-risk and high-risk groups based on the initial reports of each of five lifestyle factors.

The high-risk group for each lifestyle factor reported characteristics generally opposite to those listed above.  Approximately 10 years into the study, 9.6 percent of all men in and 7.5 percent of all women in the developed physician-diagnosed diabetes.

The researchers analyzed the relationships between the participants' lifestyle characteristics (whether high-risk or low-risk) with respect to the above lifestyle factors, individually and combined, and the incidence of diabetes.

Maintaining a healthy weight was found to be the factor that had the most pronounced affect on lowering a person's risk of diabetes, with normal weight itself reducing the risk of developing diabetes by 60 to 70 percent.

However, the researchers determined that each of the lifestyle factors had an incremental affect on lowering a person's risk of developing diabetes.

"For each additional lifestyle factor in the low-risk group, the odds for diabetes were 31% lower (odds ratio [OR], 0.69 [95% CI, 0.68 to 0.71]) among men and 39% lower (OR, 0.61 [CI, 0.60 to 0.63]) among women," the authors wrote.

 "Lifestyle factors, when considered in combination, are associated with a substantial reduction in risk for diabetes," the authors concluded. The American College of Physicians (ACP), in a release published alongside the study, said that "Changes in multiple lifestyle factors can make a big difference in risk, but even small changes can help."

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