More than half of the people with Type 2 diabetes say they're worried about developing diabetes-related complications, according to an International Diabetes Foundation survey.

Fortunately, two new studies may offer an incentive to take optimal care of yourself and your diabetes and avoid the risk of heart, liver, kidney, and brain complications that come along with the lack of blood sugar control.

Want to avoid heart attack, stroke, and A-fib?

A study in The New England Journal of Medicine reveals that intensive control of blood pressure in people with Type 2 diabetes — that is, achieving and maintaining systolic blood pressure (the top number) below 120 mg/Hg, as opposed to the recommended 140 mg/Hg — does the trick very effectively.

You can also live longer on a healthy plant-based diet. But the emphasis is on healthy.

A study presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology shows that people with heart woes (that's most people with Type 2 diabetes) who reduce their animal protein intake and eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and drink tea and coffee reduce their risk of premature death as well as heart disease and cancer by 7% to 24%.

But if you eat an unhealthy plant-based diet, you increase your risk for early death by 28% to 36%. So choose wisely.

To help you do that — and control your blood pressure — make the switch to a plant-based diet. Discover how to do that with my books "What to Eat When" and "This Is Your Do-Over."