More exercise and a healthier diet can significantly reduce diabetes

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report nearly a third of American adults have type 2 diabetes or are pre-diabetic.

There are easy lifestyle changes, including food choices and movement that significantly reduce this disease.

Dietitian Patricia Bannan said highly processed fast food diet is a problem. The Western diet is proving to be such a problem experts are noticing the effect it plays in the brain as well.

"The culprit, in terms of things that are worst for your diet, are going to be things that are very high calorie in terms of leading to obesity," Bannan said.

High sugar, high carbohydrate high calorie, low nutrient food gives the body very little to work with.

Bannan said the common thread is the glucose intolerance because glucose resistance in the brain is causing those cells not to absorb energy, which can lead to things like memory loss.

"Certain types of dementia may even lead to Alzheimer's disease, which is why researchers are starting to coin the term type 3 diabetes," Bannan said.

She said a diet based on whole grains, a lot of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and healthy fats is the way to go in terms of stabilizing your blood sugar.

Exercise and fitness are also good steps to take as a review of over 42 clinical trials found moving more and eating better resulted in a reduction of diabetes by more than 39 percent.

"Lifestyle plays a huge role in terms of diabetes and certain types of brain health diseases," Bannan said. "Making lifestyle changes can help reduce or prevent the type of medications that you're on."