The Prediabetes Diet Everyone Should Follow
Skip the sugary sodas and processed food, and opt for whole foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low-fat dairy, and healthy fats like olive oil and avocado, Experts believe the number of people living with diabetes will rise dramatically over the next 40 years. If current trends continue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as one in three adults could have the disease by 2050. And about 79 million American adults now have prediabetes, a condition marked by above-normal blood sugar levels that aren't high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. If there's a silver lining to these alarming statistics, it's that there's plenty you can do to prevent the disease or slow the progression, including eating a balanced diet. Everyone can benefit from a healthy eating plan aimed at containing prediabetes, regardless of whether you're at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, says Barbara Borcik, RD, a certified diabetes eductor at the Diabetes & Nutrition Center at Northwest Hospital in Randallstown, Md. 7 Golden Rules of Healthy Eating Here are seven sound diet principles that can keep your blood sugars from creeping upward, among other health benefits. Skip the sugary drinks. No sweet tea. No juice. No soda. No sweetened lemonade. No mocha latte coffee creations. "My number one recommendation to people is: Don't drink your sugar," Borcik says. Sugary drinks provide nothing more than empty calories, and they won't help you feel full. "All the sugary drinks out there are a real risk factor for obesity," she stresses. Pull back on portions. You still can eat many of the foods you like, just have smaller amounts of them, Borcik says, adding that this is especially true for starchy foods like white rice, white potat Continue reading >>
8 Ways To Keep Prediabetes From Becoming Diabetes
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20 Ways To Halt Pre-diabetes In Its Tracks
Learn how small changes in your daily routine may help ward off type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a dangerous disease, and one that can be a challenge to manage. It can lead to heart and kidney disease, blindness and many other health conditions. Until a cure is found, people with the disease have to watch what they eat, measure their blood sugar and take medication each day. Am I at-risk? 86 million people in the U.S. have pre-diabetes, and even more are at-risk. Pre-diabetes is when blood glucose levels are above normal, but not high enough to be in the diabetic range. But, people with pre-diabetes are already at a higher risk for heart disease and other complications. You are at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes if you: Are overweight Exercise fewer than three times each week Have a family history of diabetes Are African-American, Hispanic, American-Indian or Pacific Islander Are older than 45 Had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) Have high blood pressure or cholesterol Have a history of heart disease Small changes, big rewards Pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes can often be prevented. And it does not require a complete overhaul of your lifestyle. Research shows that reducing your body weight by 5 percent to 10 percent – 10 to 20 pounds for someone who weighs 200 pounds – can cut your diabetes risk in half. Weight loss can also delay the onset of diabetes. Reduce your risk The key to stopping type 2 diabetes is to reach a healthy weight. And the trick to long-lasting weight loss is a healthy diet and regular exercise. Exercise Work up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week. Always check with your doctor before you start an exercise program. Consider these exercise tips to get started: Exercise does not have to happen all at once. Continue reading >>
How To Prevent Pre-diabetes From Becoming Diabetes
Have you been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and are you worried about the possibility of developing Type 2 diabetes? Are you lying awake at night thinking about how to stay healthy? You’re not alone. Almost 90 million Americans were diagnosed with pre-diabetes in 2012, and those numbers continue to climb. Thankfully, researchers continue to study all stages of diabetes and can tell us more about the risks and preventative measures to take. The good news: pre-diabetes is totally reversible. You are not destined to becoming a diabetic. Although you can’t turn back the clock on your age (being over age 45 is one major risk factor for developing diabetes), you can change your level of risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Changing your long-term diet and exercise routine can lower your blood sugars and remove the risk of developing diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, not making these lifestyle changes increases your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 15% to 30%. Focus on five key areas. Don’t waste any time after you’ve been diagnosed with pre-diabetes; start focusing on these five areas to reverse your diagnosis: Weight loss Healthy eating Physical activity Management of blood pressure & cholesterol Quality sleep When you think about diabetes prevention in just five bullet points, it doesn’t seem as scary. Plus, there are tons of resources that can help you along your new journey, like this downloadable food and activity tracker. Why weight loss? Weight loss and long-term weight management are important for diabetes prevention because being overweight or obese reduces your body’s sensitivity to insulin. You want your body to be sensitive to insulin because insulin regulates blood sugar levels. The Mayo Clinic says that losing just 5% to 10% of Continue reading >>
Prediabetes
What Is Prediabetes? Prediabetes is a “pre-diagnosis” of diabetes—you can think of it as a warning sign. It’s when your blood glucose level (blood sugar level) is higher than normal, but it’s not high enough to be considered diabetes. Prediabetes is an indication that you could develop type 2 diabetes if you don’t make some lifestyle changes. But here's the good news: . Eating healthy food, losing weight and staying at a healthy weight, and being physically active can help you bring your blood glucose level back into the normal range. Diabetes develops very gradually, so when you’re in the prediabetes stage—when your blood glucose level is higher than it should be—you may not have any symptoms at all. You may, however, notice that: you’re hungrier than normal you’re losing weight, despite eating more you’re thirstier than normal you have to go to the bathroom more frequently you’re more tired than usual All of those are typical symptoms associated with diabetes, so if you’re in the early stages of diabetes, you may notice them. Prediabetes develops when your body begins to have trouble using the hormone insulin. Insulin is necessary to transport glucose—what your body uses for energy—into the cells via the bloodstream. In pre-diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or it doesn’t use it well (that’s called insulin resistance). If you don’t have enough insulin or if you’re insulin resistant, you can build up too much glucose in your blood, leading to a higher-than-normal blood glucose level and perhaps prediabetes. Researchers aren’t sure what exactly causes the insulin process to go awry in some people. There are several risk factors, though, that make it more likely that you’ll develop pre-diabetes. These are Continue reading >>
You Docs: How To Keep Prediabetes From Becoming Diabetes
You Docs: How to keep prediabetes from becoming diabetes This summer's top horror story doesn't feature Lord Voldemort, your tan line or watching the Houston Astros. The villains: metabolic syndrome and prediabetes, two rapidly increasing blood sugar problems. Here's the deal: There's a very good chance that you or someone you know already has one of these silent conditions. But have you ever heard anyone but us talking about metabolic syndrome and prediabetes? So we're making some noise. Both disorders put you on the expressway to type 2 diabetes and prediabetes and metabolic syndrome both effect millions: 79 million Americans and 6 million Canadians have prediabetes and almost as many more have metabolic syndrome (a cluster of problems that set you up for diabetes). Finding out you have one of these conditions can be a shocker. But there's an upside: It means there's time to make the U-turn that'll keep you from developing full-blown diabetes and its devastating consequences: heart attacks and strokes, nerve damage, vision loss, kidney failure and more. A major tip-off is buying ever-bigger belts. Ask your doctor for a fasting blood sugar test. If the results are 100 to 125 mg/dl, chances are you've got prediabetes. If you have any three of these -- a waist over 35 inches for women, 39 inches for men; blood pressure higher than 129/84; high blood sugar; high triglycerides; low good cholesterol (HDL under 50) -- you have metabolic syndrome. If you have even one of them, these six steps will slash your risk. 1. Become a regular at your local farm stand. Chowing down on produce cuts your risk by 24 percent or more, thanks partly to all that blood-sugar-steadying fiber. New evidence shows that just having some tangy arugula, crunchy baby spinach or tender bok choy daily Continue reading >>
Prediabetes
Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Approximately 84 million American adults—more than 1 out of 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, 90% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The good news is that if you have prediabetes, the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you make lifestyle changes to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems. Causes Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells for use as energy. If you have prediabetes, the cells in your body don’t respond normally to insulin. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas can’t keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes—and type 2 diabetes down the road. Symptoms & Risk Factors You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes show up. It’s important to talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested if you have any of the risk factors for prediabetes, which include: Being overweight Being 45 years or older Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes Being physically active less than 3 times a week Ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds Race and ethnicity are also a factor: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk. Getting Tested You can get a simple blood Continue reading >>
Pre-diabetes: Can You Prevent It From Becoming Type 2 Diabetes?
The line between “pre-diabetes” and “type 2 diabetes” is a very thin line. According to the American Diabetes Association, an A1C between 5.7 to 6.4 percent will earn you a diagnosis of “pre-diabetes.” Anything above 6.5 percent will be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. In terms of blood sugar readings, a fasting blood sugar between 100 to 125 mg/dL qualifies as pre-diabetic. Anything above is considered type 2 diabetes. The unfortunate part of that very thin line between “pre-diabetic” and “type 2 diabetic” is that your blood sugars just need to run a smidge higher in order to qualify you for an overwhelming and life-changing diagnosis. The benefit to that very thin line is that it shows just how little change needs to occur in your A1C in order to prevent your status from escalating to “full-blown” type 2 diabetes. Certainly, there are many mysteries that still persist when it comes to understanding type 2 diabetes, such as why changes in diet and exercise are enough for some people to manage healthy blood sugar levels while they’re not enough for others. Research continues to dig into why people who are thin and active can develop type 2 diabetes, and on the contrary, why obesity alone does not indicate diabetes since not all people who are obese present with high blood sugars or insulin resistance. It’s actually far more complicated than simply what you eat, how much you exercise, and what you weigh. But for many, there are things you can do to reduce your risk of developing pre-diabetes, and, if given that diagnosis, there are things you can do to reduce the likelihood of it progressing to a status of type 2. What Causes Pre-Diabetes? “It’s the job of the body’s pancreas to make insulin to be used to bring glucose that results from our Continue reading >>
Prediabetes: 7 Steps To Take Now
Getting diagnosed with prediabetes is a serious wake-up call, but it doesn't have to mean you will definitely get diabetes. There is still time to turn things around. “It’s an opportunity to initiate lifestyle changes or treatments, and potentially retard progression to diabetes or even prevent diabetes,” says Gregg Gerety, MD, chief of endocrinology at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, N.Y. Making these seven changes in your daily habits is a good way to start. Becoming more active is one of the best things you can do to make diabetes less likely. If it's been a while since you exercised, start by building more activity into your routine by taking the stairs or doing some stretching during TV commercials, says Patti Geil, MS, RD, author of What Do I Eat Now? “Physical activity is an essential part of the treatment plan for prediabetes, because it lowers blood glucose levels and decreases body fat,” Geil says. Ideally, you should exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Let your doctor know about your exercise plans and ask if you have any limitations. If you're overweight, you might not have to lose as much as you think to make a difference. In one study, people who had prediabetes and lost 5% to 7% of their body weight (just 10-14 pounds in someone who weights 200 pounds) cut their chances of getting diabetes by 58%. See your doctor every three to six months, Gerety says. If you're doing well, you can get positive reinforcement from your doctor. If it's not going so well, your doctor can help you get back on track. "Patients like some tangible evidence of success or failure," Gerety says. Continue reading >>
8 Actions To Take If You Have Prediabetes
Changing the Path to Type 2 A whopping 86 million Americans have prediabetes. That’s according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- that's 37 percent of American adults over age 20 and 51 percent of adults over age 65. Research shows about 70 percent of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes over time. Despite these scary stats, only 11 percent of people who have prediabtes know it. The good news is you can prevent or slow the progression of prediabetes to type 2. Numerous research studies conducted over the last 30 years show that early and aggressive management with continued vigilance over time is what prevents or delays type 2 diabetes. And the earlier you detect it and put your plan into action, the better. Here are eight ways to manage prediabetes. 1. Get Tested to Know for Sure. Do you have family -- parents or siblings -- with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes? Are you carrying extra weight around your middle? Don't get enough exercise? These are a few of the risk factors for prediabetes. A good first step to see if you are at high risk is to use the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Type 2 Diabetes Risk Test. You can take the test by visiting diabetes.org/risk. If you’re at high risk, schedule an appointment with your health care provider to get a check of your blood glucose level -- or, better yet, your A1C (an average of your blood glucose over two to three months). See the blood test results to diagnose prediabetes on the next page. 2. Max Out Your Insulin-Making Reserves. It's well known that at the center of the storm of the slow and steady onset of prediabetes is insulin resistance -- the body's inability, due to excess weight and genetic risk factors, to effectively use the insulin th Continue reading >>
5 Ways To Prevent Prediabetes From Becoming Diabetes
Prediabetes, or elevated blood sugar, puts you at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, especially if you are overweight, but you can take steps to prevent it. The Prediabetes Explosion: More than 86 million American adults—approximately one-third of those over age 18 and half of those over 65—have prediabetes, and most of them don’t even know it. If you have prediabetes, it means your blood sugar levels are consistently higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes puts you at higher-than-normal risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control, up to 30% of overweight men and women with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within five years of diagnosis. You don’t have to be one of them! Here are five steps you can take to reduce your diabetes risk. 1. Get Tested Not everyone with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes, but everyone with prediabetes is at higher-than-normal risk. So talk to your healthcare provider about determining your own risk and getting a simple blood test for diabetes screening. If necessary, find out what steps you should take right now to avoid or delay the development of type 2 diabetes and related medical conditions. 2. Change Your Diet If you have prediabetes, you can reduce your risk of developing more serious conditions by eating better and losing any excess weight. Eating better means choosing more healthful foods (e.g., lean meats or protein substitutes, fresh veggies, high-fiber starches, healthful fats); eating a wide variety of these foods to balance your meals and be sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need; and sticking to small portion sizes. It also means eating regularly scheduled meals and snacks to avoid e Continue reading >>
How To Prevent Prediabetes From Becoming Type 2 Diabetes
Getting diagnosed with prediabetes can be scary. After all, prediabetes is an indication that you could develop type 2 diabetes, increasing your risk of heart disease or a stroke if you don’t make some serious lifestyle changes. But If your doctor or healthcare practitioner tells you that you have prediabetes, you should actually consider yourself lucky. Here’s Why: Prediabetes is actually affecting a TON of people. 86 million people living in America today are prediabetic, but only a chilling 11% of people who have prediabetes actually know it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And research has shown about 70% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes over time. Now that’s scary. But- don’t freak out. There’s good news. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), prediabetes can be reversible if you focus on losing weight, make time for routine physical activity, and exercise nutritional control. DIAGNOSING PREDIABETES: HIGH BLOOD SUGAR, BUT NOT TOO HIGH. Prediabetes is a “pre-diagnosis” of diabetes, which usually expresses itself in middle age. “Prediabetes is a precursor stage before type two diabetes in which not all of the symptoms to diagnose diabetes are present, but blood sugar is abnormally high.”According to Chief Medical Officer and founder of saludmovil.com Dr. Joseph Mosquera. Normal vs. Higher than Normal Blood Sugar Levels: “It can be recognized by when fasting blood sugar level (blood glucose) is consistently in the range of being higher than 100 but no greater than 126.Its routinely high, but it’s not high enough to be considered diabetes mellitus.” Says Dr.Mosquera. For someone without diabetes, a fasting blood sugar on awakening should be under 100 mg/dl. Before-meal norma Continue reading >>
Preventing Prediabetes From Becoming Diabetes By 80%
Home / Conditions / Obesity / Preventing Prediabetes from Becoming Diabetes by 80% Preventing Prediabetes from Becoming Diabetes by 80% In a new international clinical trial, it was shown that the drug liraglutide 3.0 mg may reduce diabetes risk by 80% in individuals with obesity and prediabetes. Prediabetes, also commonly referred to as borderline diabetes, is a metabolic condition and growing global problem that is closely tied to obesity. If undiagnosed or untreated, prediabetes can develop into type 2 diabetes; which, whilst treatable, is currently not fully reversible. At this point in time (March 1, 2017), the FDA has not approved any drugs to treat prediabetes, except to improve nutrition and increase physical activity, even though a number of drugs have been shown in studies to reduce the risk of prediabetes becoming diabetes. The study ran between June 1, 2011, and March 2, 2015. They randomly assigned 2,254 patients to receive liraglutide (n=1505) or placebo (n=749). 1,128 (50%) participants completed the study up to week 160, after withdrawal of 714 (47%) participants in the liraglutide group and 412 (55%) participants in the placebo group. By week 160, 26 (2%) of the 1,472 individuals in the liraglutide group versus 46 (6%) of 738 in the placebo group were diagnosed with diabetes while on treatment. The mean time from randomization to diagnosis was 99 (SD 47) weeks for the 26 individuals in the liraglutide group versus 87 (47) weeks for the 46 individuals in the placebo group. Taking the different diagnosis frequencies between the treatment groups into account, the time to onset of diabetes over 160 weeks among all randomized individuals was 2.7 times longer with liraglutide than with placebo (95% CI 19 to 39, p<00001). Liraglutide induced greater weight lo Continue reading >>
The Right Diet For Prediabetes
A prediabetes diagnosis can be alarming. This condition is marked by abnormally high blood sugar (glucose) most often due to insulin resistance. This is a condition in which the body doesn’t use insulin properly. It’s often a precursor to type 2 diabetes. According to the Mayo Clinic, people with prediabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years. With prediabetes, you may also be at risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, a prediabetes diagnosis doesn’t mean you will definitely get type 2 diabetes. The key is early intervention; to get your blood sugar out of the prediabetes range. Your diet is important, and you need to know the right kind of foods to eat. How diet relates to prediabetes There are many factors that increase your risk for prediabetes. Genetics can play a role, especially if diabetes runs in your family. Excess body fat and a sedentary lifestyle are other potential risk factors. In prediabetes, sugar from food begins to build up in your bloodstream because insulin can’t easily move it into your cells. Eating carbohydrates doesn’t cause prediabetes. But a diet filled with carbohydrates that digest quickly can lead to blood sugar spikes. For most people with prediabetes, your body has a difficult time lowering blood sugar levels after meals. Avoiding blood sugar spikes can help. When you eat more calories than your body needs, they get stored as fat. This can cause you to gain weight. Body fat, especially around the belly, is linked to insulin resistance. This explains why many people with prediabetes are also overweight. You can’t control all risk factors for prediabetes, but some can be mitigated. Lifestyle changes can help you maintain balanced blood sugar levels as well as a healthy weight. Watch carbs with Continue reading >>
Preventing Type 2 Diabetes
Perhaps you have learned that you have a high chance of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes. You might be overweight or have a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes. Maybe you had gestational diabetes, which is diabetes that develops during pregnancy. These are just a few examples of factors that can raise your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, and eye and foot problems. Prediabetes also can cause health problems. The good news is that type 2 diabetes can be delayed or even prevented. The longer you have diabetes, the more likely you are to develop health problems, so delaying diabetes by even a few years will benefit your health. You can help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes by losing a modest amount of weight by following a reduced-calorie eating plan and being physically active most days of the week. Ask your doctor if you should take the diabetes drug metformin to help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.1 How can I lower my chances of developing type 2 diabetes? Research such as the Diabetes Prevention Program shows that you can do a lot to reduce your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Here are some things you can change to lower your risk: Lose weight and keep it off. You may be able to prevent or delay diabetes by losing 5 to 7 percent of your starting weight.1 For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds, your goal would be to lose about 10 to 14 pounds. Move more. Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week. If you have not been active, talk with your health care professional about which activities are best. Start slowly to build up to your goal. Eat healthy foods most of the time. Eat smaller portions to reduce the amount of calories you Continue reading >>
