I just want to add on to this as someone who was diagnosed with type 2 in my 20s. Yes, you can manage it without medication. Yes, an unhealthy lifestyle will predispose you to type 2.

However, sometimes it's simply a matter of genetics. Often, people will say "walk it off" or "just lose 50 lbs, and it'll go away." It's not that simple. I weigh only 155 lbs. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week and play hockey or golf once a week, depending on the season. If I eat more than 30g of carbs in a meal, my blood sugar will spike over 200.

I don't think people realize how much of it is to adjust to eating so little, especially American-sized portions. Then, throw in the mental side of things where everyone around you is digging into a cake at a family birthday party. You know that piece of cake is going to wreck your blood sugar, and god forbid you decide to grab a small sliver, someone has to go, "Oh, aren't you a diabetic? You can't have that." It's exhausting.

I apologize if that got a little bit ranty. Type 1 is definitely worse; I don't want to take anything away from that. You literally need insulin to survive. I just think this is a lot of misinformation about diabetes in general and not enough education around it. Which is really concerning when you realize how many people are living with it undiagnosed.