Diabetes is a disease that lots of people are aware of and vaguely understand how you get. However, what is pre-diabetes? Do you have it? Could you be at risk? This is something that isn’t nearly as widely spoken about and therefore the public knowledge isn’t as good as it should be. So in this article we’re going to talk about pre-diabetes, who should be tested for it and how you can prevent it.
What is pre-diabetes?
In the United States, an estimated 54 million people have pre-diabetes and if you do have pre-diabetes you’re at a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes or heart disease. Essentially pre-diabetes is when the glucose levels are much higher than they should be, but not high enough to be actual diabetes.
Who should be tested for pre-diabetes and who’s more at risk?
• Are not physically active
• Have previously been diagnosed with impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance
• Are members of certain ethnic groups such as Asian American, African American, Hispanic American or Native American
• Have been previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes or had a child who weight more than 9 pounds
• Those with elevated blood pressure
• Have an HDL cholesterol level of 35 mg/dl or lower or triglyceride levels of 250 mg/dl or higher
• Been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome
• Or a history of vascular disease
These bullet points above don’t necessarily mean that you do have pre-diabetes, it just means that you have a far higher risk than someone who doesn’t fall under any of these categories. Luckily, there are ways that you can avoid getting diabetes from pre-diabetes, and even ways you can reverse your course if you do in fact already have pre-diabetes.
The two important ways to cause change is diet and exercise or any kind of physical activity.
Diet
Both what you are eating and how much of it you’re eating are both crucial to a healthy and balanced diet. You should control your portions but also cut down on foods that are especially fatty or unhealthy, such as fried foods, butter, or fatty meats. You should eat lean meats, more vegetables and boiled foods instead.
Exercise
One way you are at risk for pre-diabetes or full-blown diabetes is by being overweight. Exercise is just a big part of combating this as diet. Exercise can actually help the muscles accept glucose over using insulin, which is a huge benefit.
Pre-diabetes is not a sentence to suffering for the rest of your life or eventually developing diabetes itself. If you know you are susceptible to it, get checked, and if you find yourself with it by making some easy lifestyle changes you’ll be able to reverse the process with a bit of work and discipline.
