One in four people has a condition called pre-diabetes - elevated blood glucose, which means, that they have a higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. There are no clear symptoms of pre-diabetes. You may have it and not even know, reports Health Cleveland Clinic.

To prevent diabetes, Marwan Hamaty, MD, MBA, a staff physician in the Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute, recommends a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you are at risk for type 2 diabetes, nothing beats these two.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include: a family history of diabetes and being overweight. Being overweight can keep your body from making and using insulin properly. How overweight you are matters: the higher the weight, the higher the risk.

You have high blood pressure measuring 140/90 or higher

You have abnormal cholesterol levels with HDL (“good”) cholesterol at 35 or lower, or triglyceride level at 250 or higher

You are of African American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Hispanic American heritage

Exercise not only helps you lose weight, but keep blood glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides at optimal levels. Even just moderate exercise of 30 minutes per day, five days a week can help.

Besides helping to prevent diabetes, the great thing about a healthy diet is that it’s effective for controlling cholesterol and blood pressure too.

The quantity of food you eat is key. Portion control is very important, even if you’re eating all the right foods. Some guidelines for a healthy preventive diet:

Eat foods that are low in animal/saturated fats

Eat foods that are high in fiber

Avoid simple sugars

Get protein sources low in saturated fat: turkey, fish, chicken (not fried)

Get vegetable protein that’s also high in fiber: beans, portabella and other varieties of mushrooms, veggie burgers

Get dairy protein that is fat-free: egg substitutes, skim and soy milk

Use canola and olive oil in cooking.