ABSTRACT
Diabetes and obesity are concurrent epidemics across the globe. Women have unique risk factors for acquiring diabetes, overweight, and obesity over their lifetimes compared to men because of reproductive stages, epigenetic influences, genetics, and social and environmental exposures. Once acquired, diabetes and obesity impact a woman’s long-term health and potential for secondary complications. Despite traditional pharmacologic treatments for diabetes and obesity, remission or reversal are difficult to achieve without surgical interventions, such as bariatric surgery, or intensive therapeutic lifestyle change. This chapter discusses Lifestyle Medicine treatments including dietary changes, physical activity, behavioral modifications as nonsurgical interventions for remission and reversal of type 2 diabetes, overweight, and obesity that should be routinely prescribed to women as part of the standard of care.
