How To Lower A1c Levels
The hemoglobin A1C level is a blood test that measures how “sugar coated” the hemoglobin is in your body. When the blood sugar is high, the glucose attaches to hemoglobin, becoming “glycated hemoglobin”. Elevated hemoglobin A1c levels can indicate prediabetes or diabetes. In testing the hemoglobin A1c level, the doctors are looking for this: Levels less than 5.7 percent are considered to be normal. Levels of between 5.7 percent and 6.4 percent are considered to indicate prediabetes. Levels of 6.5 percent or higher indicate that a person has diabetes. The hemoglobin A1c level can be used to diagnose diabetes. It is most often used, however, to monitor the effect of treatment on type 1 and type 2 diabetics. According to the American Diabetes Association, the hemoglobin A1c level in diabetics should be less than 7 percent to be considered in good control of diabetes. How do you lower Hemoglobin A1c levels? If you are diabetic or prediabetic, there are things you can do in order to lower the hemoglobin A1c level so that you can have a normal level even with the diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Reduce intake of simple sugars Simple sugars include glucose, fructose, galactose, and sucrose. These are small sugars that easily enter the bloodstream and cause elevations in blood sugar levels. Simple sugars can be found in table sugar, cakes, pies, ice cream, and cookies. There are a lot of simple sugars in processed foods you purchase at the store. These sugars have a high glycemic index or GI. The higher the glycemic index, the greater is the rate of absorption of the sugar into the bloodstream. You can lower your hemoglobin A1c level by eating foods that are low in glycemic index and instead eat protein-containing foods or foods that contain complex carbohydrates Continue reading >>
Hba1c And Weight Loss
It’s long been established — based on both research studies and real-world clinical experience — that in many people with Type 2 diabetes, losing weight can help control blood glucose levels. In fact, one of the very first posts here at Diabetes Flashpoints was a personal account of losing weight and reaching a lower HbA1c level (a measure of long-term blood glucose control) on a low-carb diet. But different studies over the years have focused on different populations of people with Type 2 diabetes, some of whom had higher HbA1c levels or were more overweight or obese than others. So in a study published last month in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, researchers sought to combine the results of several studies to find out whether there’s an overall pattern to how much HbA1c levels can be reduced by losing weight. They found 58 studies that met their criteria, conducted between 1990 and 2012, in which overweight or obese people with Type 2 diabetes lost weight through reduced-calorie diets, weight-loss drugs, or bariatric surgery. In these studies, a total of 17,204 people were followed for between 3 and 24 months after beginning their weight-loss intervention. As noted in an article on the study at Physician’s Briefing, the researchers found that overall, there was a linear relationship between weight loss and HbA1c reduction. Specifically, the average person saw their HbA1c drop by 0.1% for each kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of body weight lost — regardless of whether it was the first or last kilogram of weight loss over the course of the study. But that’s doesn’t mean this average applied to everyone — in fact, people with a higher starting HbA1c level saw a bigger drop in HbA1c for each kilogram of body weight lost, compared with those wh Continue reading >>
Benefits Of 5-10 Percent Weight-loss
Benefits of 5-10 Percent Weight-loss To view a PDF version of this article, click here. When thinking about weight-loss, one often has an “ideal” body weight in mind or an ultimate weight-loss goal. It’s very common for people to think that unless they lose dozens of pounds, they will not be any healthier. This is a misconception. Studies have shown that health benefits resulting from weight-loss are evident with a weight reduction as low as 5-10 percent. This means that an individual that weighs 200 pounds will benefit greatly from losing 10 to 20 pounds. There’s scientific evidence that many obesity-related conditions improve with a 5-10 percent weight-loss. Let’s look at these related conditions and see how modest weight-loss may greatly improve them and your overall quality of health: Cholesterol Although we have good medications that decrease our “bad” cholesterol also called LDL cholesterol, doctors and patients alike know how hard it is to increase the “good” cholesterol otherwise known as “HDL cholesterol” even by a few points. A 5-10 percent weight-loss can result in a five point increase in HDL cholesterol. This deserves applause as raising HDL by these few points can lower the risk of an individual developing heart disease. HDL cholesterol of more than 40 mg/dl for men and more than 50 mg/dl for women is protective against heart disease. There are other fat-like particles in the blood that are harmful in elevated amounts. They are called triglycerides. People with high triglycerides are at higher risk for heart attacks and strokes among other problems. A normal level should be below 150 mg/dl, while anything above 200 mg/dl is considered high. Losing 5-10 percent of body weight was shown to decrease triglycerides by an average of 40 mg/d Continue reading >>
Can You Lower Your A1c With Diet And Exercise?
This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website. This post may also contain items sent to A Girl's Gotta Spa! for consideration. Can You Lower Your A1C with Diet and Exercise? If you just received test results back from your doctor and he/she has indicated that you have an elevated HbA1C (or A1c for short), you may be wondering what that means and just what you can do to lower it to within normal range. Back in December I decided I wanted to be a Living Kidney Donor . Im at a point in my life where Im no longer satisfied with just living a basic life. I want to do more, see more and touch more lives before my time is up. To become a candidate for living kidney donation you have to go through a battery of tests over the course of several months. The very first round of bloodwork includes testing your HbA1C level to determine if you have diabetes or are considered pre-diabetic. Obviously you dont have to be looking to donate a kidney to have this test done, as its something your doctor will do when you have blood sugar issues. Mine was in the pre-diabetic range (5.8%) and it left me trying to figure it out what I needed to do to lower it. Dr. Manisha Ghei of Praana Integrative Medicine & Holistic Health Center, PLLC told me that, HbA1C is a test of hemoglobin glycation and hemoglobin is present inside our Red Blood Cells (RBCs). Our RBCs regenerate every 120 days so it will take A1C approximately 3 months to change. A1c is a test of average long-term blood sugar control over the three months prior to the date of the blood test. Think about what you eat over the course of 3 months. Do you have a few bad days where you emotionally eat or go on a chocolate and fried food binge? No? Just me? Well for those of you not in the big fat l Continue reading >>
Low-carb, Low-fat Diet Similarly Affect Weight, A1c In Diabetic Patients
Low-Carb or Low-Fat Diet May Similarly Affect Weight, A1C in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes July 21, 2009 A low-carbohydrate diet may have effects similar to those of a low-fat diet on weight and hemoglobin A1C (A1C) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, but patients following the low-carbohydrate diet have a greater increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels after 1 year, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial reported in the July issue of Diabetes Care. "Optimal weight loss strategies in patients with type 2 diabetes continue to be debated, and the best dietary strategy to achieve both weight loss and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes is unclear," write Nichola J. Davis, MD, MS, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, and colleagues. "Prior studies, done primarily in patients without diabetes, demonstrated weight loss outcomes with low carbohydrate diets comparable to that with other diets. Based on the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss, recent guidelines from the American Diabetes Association state that for short-term weight loss either a low carbohydrate or low-fat calorie-restricted diet may be effective." The goal of this study was to compare the effects during 1 year of a low-carbohydrate diet and a low-fat diet on weight loss and glycemic control in 105 overweight adults with type 2 diabetes. The main endpoints of the study were weight and A1C levels, and secondary endpoints were blood pressure and lipid profile, measured at 3, 6, and 12 months. Weight loss occurred faster in the low-carbohydrate group vs the low-fat group (P = .005), with the greatest decrease in weight and A1C levels occurring during the first 3 months. However, both dietary groups had a Continue reading >>
Effect Of Weight Reduction On Glycated Haemoglobin In Weight Loss Trials In Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.
Generate a file for use with external citation management software. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2017 Sep;19(9):1295-1305. doi: 10.1111/dom.12971. Epub 2017 May 22. Effect of weight reduction on glycated haemoglobin in weight loss trials in patients with type 2 diabetes. Department of Clinical Pathology and Genetics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. AstraZeneca Research and Development, Gothenburg, Sweden. To quantify the effect of weight loss on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) at group level, based on data from published weight loss trials in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). A systematic literature search in MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL (January 1990 through December 2012) was conducted to identify prospective trials of energy-reduced diets, obesity drugs or bariatric surgery in adult, overweight and obese patients with T2D. Based on clinical data with follow-up from 3 to 24 months, a linear model was developed to describe the effect of weight reduction on HbA1c. The literature search identified 58 eligible articles consisting of 124 treatment groups and 17 204 subjects, yielding a total of 250 data points with concurrent mean changes from baseline in weight and HbA1c. The model-based analyses indicated a linear relationship between weight loss and HbA1c reduction, with an estimated mean HbA1c reduction of 0.1 percentage points for each 1 kg of reduced body weight for the overall population. Baseline HbA1c was a significant covariate for the relationship between weight loss and HbA1c: high HbA1c at baseline was associated with a greater reduction in HbA1c for the same degree of weight loss. The collected trial data also indicated weight-loss-dependent reductions in antidiabetic medication. At group level, weight loss in obese Continue reading >>
- Effect of Probiotics on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Meta-Analysis of 12 Randomized Controlled Trials
- The interpretation and effect of a low-carbohydrate diet in the management of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
- Clinical Trials and the Type 1 Diabetes Cure
50 Lb Weight Loss But Fbg Worse, A1c Unchanged
50 lb weight loss but FBG worse, A1c unchanged Member Child of a type 2, sibling of a type 2 50 lb weight loss but FBG worse, A1c unchanged I'm newly diagnosed Pre-D and have lost 50 lbs... but it didn't lower my FBG at all, and my recent A1C is still sitting at 5.7 even after two doses of Trulicity (two weeks). I was switched to Metformin, which doesn't seem to be doing much but giving me gastric troubles and making me hungry. I would think after losing 50 lbs (gained over about 4 years with 50 in 3 months from prednisone, which gave me Cushings Syndrome.. now resolved). I'm rather confused that I've lost that much and no change in FBG or A1C. It's been about 10 months since I came off prednisone, so my doc says that's not a factor at all. And I was started on Trulicity (.75) about 3 weeks ago, took for 2 weeks, then she switched me to Metformin (500mg once daily because I have issues with chronic diarrhea). Metformin has given me diarrhea, and I'm hungry and have cravings. On the Metformin I've had FBG ONCE that was 98, but I didn't eat much the day before due to nausea etc. The other day my FBG was 119. So, 50 lb weight loss didn't seem to change anything, even with the meds so far. The Trulicity did actually work better to keep my FBG at either below 100 or, at it's highest on it.. 110. And I'm tired. Tired tired tired. Trulicity didn't do that to me, and when I asked my doc if I could stay on it she just said she wanted me off of it. My weight... I am very overweight right now, very. I spent my life thin, healthy, active.. but it all changed, and I gained a ton over the past 4 years, around the middle (insulin was tested and is high), couldn't lose weight to save my life. I was 128 lbs 4 years ago, 5ft 5 1/2 ins tall... and people told me I looked way too thin. Fa Continue reading >>
6 Ways To Lower Your A1c Level
Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that can lead to many complications. When managed properly, diabetes does not have to control your life or ruin your health. Getting tested, especially if you are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, is a proactive measure you can take for yourself and your future. In the early stages of diabetes, there are no symptoms. An early diagnosis helps you get treatment before complications occur. The A1C test is a blood test that checks for type 2 diabetes. It is also used to see how well you are managing your diabetes if you have already been diagnosed. The test provides information about a person’s average levels of blood sugar over a two- to three-month period. The number is reported in the form of a percentage. The higher the percentage, the higher your average blood glucose levels are, and the higher your risk for either diabetes or related complications. A1C is one of the primary tests used for diabetes diagnosis and management. It can test for type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but it can’t test for gestational diabetes. It can also be used to predict the likelihood that someone will get diabetes. The A1C test measures how much glucose, or sugar, is attached to hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells. The more glucose attached, the higher the A1C. This test is groundbreaking, as it 1) doesn’t require fasting, 2) gives a picture of blood sugar levels over a period of days and weeks instead of at just one point in time like fasting sugars, and 3) can be done at any time of day. This makes it easier to administer and easier to make accurate diagnoses. According to the National Institutes of Health, a normal A1C is below 5.7 percent. If your score is between 5.7 and 6.4 percent, the diagnosis is prediabetes. Having prediabetes put Continue reading >>
The Effects Of Weight Loss On The A1c
An A1C test is commonly used to diagnose diabetes. It measures your blood sugar levels over a 3-month period by showing the amount of glucose that is attached to your red blood cells. The glucose sticks to the cells until they die which is typically two to three months, reports Utah.gov. Having too much blood sugar can cause an excess amount of glucose to attach to the cells which will give you a higher A1C and increase your risk of diabetes. Lower your A1C and your risk of diabetes by losing weight. Video of the Day Lower A1C Losing weight is the first step to lowering your A1C. Your A1C should be below 120 mg/dL, or between 4 to 6 percent. Having two separate tests showing an A1C 120 mg/dL to 140 mg/dL, or 6 to 6.5 percent, may determine that you have pre-diabetes, reports MayoClinic.com. If your A1C is above 150 mg/dL, or 7 percent, your doctor may diagnose you with diabetes. In some cases, your doctor may also suggest medications to help lower your A1C if weight loss is not enough. Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Your doctor will use the A1C results to diagnose or treat your diabetes. The more fatty tissue you have in your body, the more resiliant you become to insulin. Your body uses insulin to regulate the movement of sugar into cells. The higher your A1C, the greater your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and having diabetes complications, according to MayoClinic.com. There is no cure for type 2 diabetes, but you can reduce your risk and lessen the complications. Eat a healthy diet full of whole grains, vegetables, fruits and lean meats. Also, increase your physical activity to lose weight and help lower your A1C. Having a high A1C puts a tremendous strain on your body. Losing weight and lowering your A1C can reduce your risk of a heart attack and other cardiova Continue reading >>
6 Ways Weight Loss Can Help Control Diabetes
Losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight might help you better manage your type 2 diabetes and keep blood sugar levels under control. Here’s how. Thinkstock Maintaining a healthy weight has its obvious health benefits — but it can also help you better manage your type 2 diabetes. In fact, losing weight can bolster your blood sugar control and lower your risk for diabetes complications like high blood pressure and plaque buildup in the arteries. Nudging down the number on the scale by just 5 to 10 percent has also been shown to help some people reduce the amount of diabetes medication they need, according to an article published in Diabetes Care in June 2015. “Weight loss is very high on the priority list,” says Joanne Rinker, RD, CDE, LDN, senior director for community health improvement at Population Health Improvement Partners in Morrisville, North Carolina, and a spokeswoman for the American Association of Diabetes Educators. Rinker admits that dropping pounds isn’t easy, but when you succeed, you’ll reap a host of health benefits, such as: Improved insulin resistance. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t properly respond to the insulin produced by the pancreas, and your blood glucose levels go up. That’s called insulin resistance, and it’s linked to excess weight. When you drop the extra pounds, your body becomes more efficient and can use the insulin more easily, Rinker explains. As a result, insulin resistance goes down, which is a good thing for diabetes management. Better A1C results. Since insulin sensitivity improves with weight loss, you’ll see better results when your doctor does an A1C test, which provides a picture of your blood glucose levels over the previous three months. “This is why lifestyle change through diet and exercise Continue reading >>
One Man's Weight Loss Was A Sign Of Type 2 Diabetes
Kim Palmaffy was diagnosed with diabetes at age 51. (KIM PALMAFFY) If you have type 2 diabetes, you may feel abnormally thirsty and have a need to urinate frequently. One other possibility? You may lose weight without even trying. If it sounds like a weight-loss dream come true, it's actually more of a nightmare. Because your body doesn't have enough insulin or is losing sensitivity to insulin, you can't shuttle blood sugar into muscle cells. Blood sugar rises to toxic levels and you begin to excrete that excess sugar into the urine. At this point some people may shed pounds without dieting. Kim Palmaffy, 61, a contractor in Maplewood, N.J., was close to 300 pounds when he began to show signs of type 2 diabetes ten years ago. At 5'10", he knew he needed to lose weight. And then it started happening all on its own. The pounds started flying off, sometimes up to three pounds a week. "I got down to like 250 pounds over a period of weeks." You may feel exhausted His clothes began to fit better, but Palmaffy was feeling terrible. "I couldn't sleep, I started to urinate all the time, and I was always thirsty." It began to interfere with his work. "I had to get off the roof and take a leak all the time, as dumb as it sounds," he says. A visit to his doctors showed that Palmaffy's blood glucose, the type of sugar the body uses for energy, was a whopping 450 mg/dL, four times what's considered normal on a fasting blood glucose test110 mg/dL. "He started me on a whole battery of medications; I found that the medications were very positive," he said. "We finally settled on Glucotrol (glipizide), five milligrams twice a day." He also takes a cholesterol-lowering drug. Palmaffy had to make some dietary changes to cope with the diagnosis. He found it wasn't that difficult. His Continue reading >>
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David’s Guide To Getting Our A1c Under 6.0
The A1C test is our best scorecard to show how well we are controlling our diabetes. It measures how much glucose has been sticking to our red blood cells for the previous two or three months. Since our bodies replace each red blood cell with a new one every four months, this test tells us the average of how high our glucose levels have been during the life of the cells. The experts recommend that we should get our A1C level tested at least twice a year. People who take insulin need to get it about four times a year. If the test shows that our blood glucose level is high, it means that we have a greater risk of having diabetes problems. Think of the A1C as an early warning system for the insidious complications that we can get down the road when we don’t control our condition. But what do we mean by a “high” A1C level? Here the experts disagree. The American Diabetes Association says that we need to keep our A1C results below 7.0 percent. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists sets the target at 6.5 percent. The International Diabetes Federation, or IDF, also recommends that most people with diabetes keep their levels below 6.5 percent. The more our A1C level is higher than normal, the greater the likelihood that we will suffer from one or more of the complications of diabetes. And here too the experts disagree with how they define “normal.” People who don’t have diabetes have A1C levels below 6.0 percent. That’s the gist of what I wrote here recently in “The Normal A1C Level.” The IDF agrees. But more aggressive endocrinologists say that a truly normal A1C ranges from 4.2 percent to 4.6 percent. That’s what Dr. Richard K. Bernstein wrote in Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution. No matter what our level is, we can be sure that lower is Continue reading >>
5 Reasons Why A Small 5 Or 10% Weight Loss Is A Big Win.
There are so many promises that we’ll lose a bazillion pounds in 14, 20, or 30 days that when we lose only a fraction of that number, like when we achieve a 5 or 10 percent weight loss, we can’t help but feel disappointed. Yes we recognize that many of the “4 Weeks, 20 Pounds, Lose it Faster” claims are unrealistic; yes we know those detox diet claims were suspicious; at the same time though, it’s difficult to not feel like we’ve achieved nothing when a month into weight loss we’ve lost like a pound or two. We were supposed to have lost 20 by now, or 10 at least, one or two pounds per month is nothing! At this pace it’ll almost take a year to lose 10-20 pounds. And when you have, say, 50 pounds to lose… That’s 3 years. 3 years of weight loss. I sense the overwhelment here. But some of us don’t even get started in the first place. If you weigh 200 pounds and want to lose 50, losing, e.g.,10 doesn’t sound like a big deal; you’ll still have 40 to go. So you don’t get started anyway. So for those of you who feel frustrated with weight loss, for those of you who’ve achieved 10 percent of weight loss already but feel like failures, for those of you who don’t even want to get started because this effort seems like it’s gonna be huge, I have good news: even a modest amount of weight loss can have a tremendous effect on your health, science says. But can losing just 5, 10, or 15 pounds really have significant effects on health that justify it as a worthwhile goal and not something to be disappointed about? Absolutely! Read below. How can a small 5 or 10 percent weight loss improve health? We all know that obesity can have some detrimental effects on our body, even if you’re fat and fit. Excess weight forces the heart to work harder, boosts the Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes: 8 Steps To Weight-loss Success
Losing weight is at the top of many people's to-do lists. But for those with type 2 diabetes, weight control is especially important. “Carrying excess body fat increases the body's resistence to insulin, making blood glucose management more challenging,” says Sue McLaughlin, RD, CDE, past 2009 national president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association. "According to the World Health Organization, 90 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese." In fact, research indicates that the longer someone has a high body mass index or BMI (a common measure of being overweight or obese), the greater their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It’s no secret that losing weight — and keeping it off — isn’t easy. But it is possible, and the benefits for those with diabetes are great. So how do you get started? Experts say the right way to lose weight is to incorporate a healthful diet into your overall diabetes management plan. Diabetes Diet Control: Steps to Success Here's how to get started on the path to weight-loss success: Get physical. Exercise can help keep off the weight. “Research shows that people who increase physical activity along with reducing calorie intake will lose more body fat than people who only diet,” says McLaughlin, now a certified diabetes educator at Nebraska Medicine, Children's Hospital and Endocrine Clinics, in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. For confirmation, look at the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), a database of 10,000 men and women who have lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off. Only 10 percent reached and maintained their weight-loss goal without exercise. Most people in the register chose walking as their form of exercise. Eat breakfast. The most effective diabetes die Continue reading >>
The Dilemma Of Weight Loss In Diabetes
People with diabetes receive mixed messages about weight loss from magazines, newspapers, friends, family, and, yes, even health professionals. Few subjects have accumulated as much misleading and potentially dangerous folklore as the subject of obesity. A common message is that losing weight is just a matter of willpower, and if you have been losing weight and reach a plateau, it's because you've lost your willpower and are no longer following your diet. Furthermore, for people with type 2 diabetes, the message often is that weight loss is the answer to improving glucose control: “If you just lose 20 lb, you won't need insulin.” What does research tell us about these issues, and what should our messages as health professionals be to people with diabetes? Obesity is a serious worldwide problem and is associated with the risk of developing diabetes. Today, more than 1.1 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and 312 million of them are obese.1 In the past 20 years, the rates of obesity have tripled in developing countries that have adopted a Western lifestyle, with the Middle East, Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, India, and China facing the greatest increase. Consequently, the number of people with diabetes in these countries is expected to increase from 84 million in 2000 to 228 million by 2030. Thus, preventing obesity is a high priority for the prevention of diabetes and other chronic diseases. According to some obesity researchers, it may not be possible to decrease the current numbers of overweight and obese people in the United States, but we need to try to slow or prevent the increase that has been occurring at an alarming rate.2 The hope is that slowing the rising prevalence of obesity will also slow the diabetes epidemic. Can this be accomplished? Thus fa Continue reading >>
