From eu.lohud.com
Prediabetes is characterized by blood sugar that’s higher than normal but not yet high enough to be considered Type 2 diabetes. This progressive condition is a silent threat because it has no symptoms. In fact, more than 80% of Americans diagnosed with prediabetes don’t notice any signs of it.
Left unchecked, prediabetes can lead to Type 2 diabetes, which can damage your kidneys, heart, and eyes and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. The good news is that you can halt its progression with some lifestyle changes. Even better, these changes have been proven not just to stop but also to reverse prediabetes. Here’s how.
3 proven ways to reverse prediabetes
The sooner a person adopts these three lifestyle changes, the less likely they are to develop Type 2 diabetes.
1. Losing some weight: If you’re overweight, even a small amount of weight loss can lower your risk of developing diabetes. Losing 5% to 7% of your body weight (10 to 15 pounds for a 200-pound person) can go a long way.
2. Regular physical activity: Regular physical activity means getting at least 150 minutes of brisk walking or a similar activity every week. That’s just 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
3. A healthy diet: There’s no one-size-fits-all food plan for preventing diabetes, but a diet centred on vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and lean protein is recommended. The fibre in whole fruits and vegetables can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. It’s also important to avoid added sugars by limiting soft drinks, sweets, and refined carbs like white bread, white rice, and white pasta. Whole fruits are a better option than fruit juices or smoothies because smoothies pulverize the fibre naturally present in whole fruit. As a result, blended fruit isn’t nutritionally equivalent to the same fruit left whole, according to some experts.
Simple blood tests can detect prediabetes
Screening for prediabetes typically includes tests performed during your annual primary care physical exams that measure blood sugar or glucose levels. Even slightly high blood sugar needs to be taken seriously. Without intervention, as many as 30% of those with prediabetes will develop full-blown Type 2 diabetes within three to five years. Even if the condition progresses more slowly, excess sugar in the blood can begin to damage vital organs.
Early detection is key
More than 80% of Americans diagnosed with prediabetes don’t notice any symptoms. Signs of persistent high blood sugar, like increased thirst, frequent urination, and blurred vision, don’t usually appear until prediabetes has progressed to Type 2 diabetes, which is more serious and much harder to control.
The risk of prediabetes increases with age, so the American Diabetes Association recommends screenings for everyone beginning at age 35. That said, it’s on the rise in teens. One in three adolescents is now believed to be living with prediabetes.
Screening is recommended for people of any age with the following risk factors:
- Being obese or overweight
- Having high blood pressure or high cholesterol
- Smoking tobacco
- Having had gestational (pregnancy-related) diabetes
- Having certain health conditions like HIV and polycystic ovary syndrome
- Having a parent or sibling with Type 2 diabetes
- Being of African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, or Indigenous American descent
- Living a sedentary lifestyle (which may include being physically active fewer than three times a week or having a job that requires sitting for long hours each day)
Consider enrolling in a designated Diabetes Prevention Program
It’s possible to make changes on your own, but a lot of people find greater success by enrolling in a personalized, CDC-recognized Diabetes Prevention Program. Developed in collaboration with health-care providers throughout the U.S., these programs provide individualized lifestyle modification plans and support teams of nutritionists, exercise therapists, and other experts. In a key research study, people who successfully completed a Diabetes Prevention Program saw a 58% reduction in their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes over the next three years. Participants over 60 reduced their risk by 71%. Speak with your doctor about the right program for you.
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