As soon as diabetes type 2 symptoms appear, you should see your GP.
Diabetes UK estimates that almost 3.7 million people suffer from diabetes in the UK, with 90 per cent having developed type 2 diabetes.
People are more at risk of developing the condition if they are overweight, have high blood pressure or have previously had a heart attack or stroke, among other factors.
Treatment includes changes to diet and lifestyle, focusing on exercising more regularly and eating more healthy foods.
Diabetes UK recommends that you should drink red topped, skimmed milk, to combat your condition.
“All of us, whether we have diabetes or not, need some dairy products,” says the charity on its website.
“Some dairy foods, however, can be high in saturated fat, so choose lower-fat alternatives where you can.”
The charity recommends switching to a lower fat milk if milk is already in your diet, with the red topped skimmed, or skim if you’re in the US, milk being best for sufferers.
This is because it contains the least amount of fats. If you have diabetes type 2, it is important to reduce fat consumption, as this can lead to your body receiving too many calories, causing weight gain and affecting diabetes control.
Red topped milk can be purchased from most UK supermarkets for the same price as other milks, including blue topped full fat milk.
“Switching to lower-fat milk, such as semi-skimmed milk (green top) from whole milk (blue top), which contains the most fat, is a good start,” said the charity.
“To make even more of a difference, try one per cent fat milk (orange top) or even better skimmed milk (red top).
“Lower fat milk will have all the goodness of whole milk, including calcium, all you lose is the fat.”
They recommend that you should drink up to three portions of 190ml glasses a day, it this is your only source of dairy, which contains important calcium.
Skimmed milk contains about 0.1ml of fat for every 100ml, whereas one per cent, orange topped contains 1ml, semi-skimmed, green top, contains 1.8ml, and whole milk, blue top, contains 3.6ml.
Previous research has shown that diabetes type 2 can be reversed, if sufferers make changes to their lifestyle and diet.
“It is certainly possible to wake up the insulin producing cells of the pancreas by losing a substantial amount of weight,” said Professor Roy Taylor at Newcastle University.
He has previously led research into reversing this condition.
“This happens because the fat content in there pancreas decreases.
“Previous studies have shown that fat stops insulin release. The insulin producing cells recover their special function, and this continues providing fat is not allowed to accumulate.”
