An investigation was undertaken in Dharwad and Haliyal area to understand the dietary behaviour and exercise habits of diabetics. The percentage of diabetics doing exercise (42%) was higher than the non diabetics (28%). Among those, majority of diabetics started doing exercise after the diagnosis of the disease (57.14%) and higher percentage of diabetics practised walking as an exercise. Bitter substances such as bittergourd, fenugreek seeds, neem, madhumeha leaves, yakanyeekan root, bael leaf, pomogranate coat etc., were found a place in household remedies for control of disease by diabetics. Majority of diabetics eliminated or reduced several food which are rich in carbohydrates and fat. About 48 per cent of diabetics included new foods such as fenugreek, cereals and millets, etc. regularly in their diets.