A new study on the harms of sedentary living published in the journal Diabetologia found that breaking up sitting with short bouts of standing and light-intensity walking was even more effective than an equivalent amount of a concentrated traditional exercise (in this case, cycling) in controlling the blood sugar of patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Rather than proselytize, Mr. Adams prefers to teach by example, introducing people to healthy foods and providing helpful information. “I don’t want to become an annoying vegan,” he said. “My hope is that by having people focus on adding healthy things to their plates, rather than unhealthy things, they’ll eventually only have room for the healthy ones.”

Mr. Adams hopes to encourage more people to make “reasonable alterations” in how they eat and move through a series of initiatives, including a newsletter, a cookbook of healthful recipes, community and business events that incorporate healthy eating, speaking engagements and fliers distributed to the public at train stations. He’s also planning a competition for schoolchildren to identify the most effective way to go from soil to plate with wholesome foods.

“At every event, I talk about how health is the cornerstone to our prosperity,” he said. The changes he’s made in his eating and exercise habits have done a lot more than reverse his diabetes. “All my numbers improved in just three months,” he said, including his blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which are now in a healthy range, thereby lowering his risk for heart disease and stroke.

He bemoans the dependence of most Americans on processed foods and meals prepared by many stores and restaurants that are laden with unhealthful ingredients. Relying on such foods not only can be bad for your health; it also deprives people of a “spiritual relationship” with the foods they eat, he said. “I never cooked before; now I love cooking, and I’ve become very creative in my cooking ability.” He has learned to add spices like cinnamon, oregano, turmeric and cloves into many of the foods he makes. “Food should be tasteful and enjoyable,” and it can be without using sugar, salt and fat, he maintains.

Most patients with Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, are prescribed medication to reduce the amount of blood sugar released by the liver and enhance the body’s sensitivity to insulin. But even though there is no known cure for Type 2 diabetes, lifestyle factors can have a big impact. Numerous studies have demonstrated that losing weight (for those who are overweight), eating a diet low in refined carbohydrates and sugar, and being more active can reduce a person’s dependence on medications and sometimes eliminate any need for drugs.

A loss of just 5 percent to 10 percent of body weight can often control the disease in people who are overweight. Among people who are obese, going on a very low calorie diet or inducing extreme weight loss through bariatric surgery often can reverse the disorder. In one small study in England, Type 2 diabetes went into remission in nearly half the people who consumed a very low-calorie liquid diet for eight weeks and stayed in remission for six months after they resumed normal eating.

However, for most people, the changes they make in their eating and exercise habits to control or reverse diabetes must be maintained indefinitely to keep the disease at bay.