Pre-Diabetes-Can You Reverse It?
Pre-diabetes is a warning that Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes is not far from taking over. If you are diagnosed as prediabetic, consider yourself lucky and get to work.
How does one, diagnosed pre-diabetic, turn thing around to be completely free from that dreaded disease, diabetes?
Pre-diabetes is reversible. Diet and exercise seem to be the answer to how to fighting this disease. Type 2 diabetes is also reversible. Both can be treated the same. The objective is to lose weight, exercise more and continue a healthy lifestyle.
It took time to develop pre-diabetic &/or Type 2 diabetes and It could take as much time to reverse it, but it can be done. Unfortunately, there are millions of people that are in the prediabetic stage and don't even know it. If you are aware of having it, consider yourself lucky.
Ask your doctor for a blood sugar test. If your blood glucose level is between, 100 mg/dL and 125 mg/d it means that you are possibly developing insulin resistance or diabetes. Which means that insulin is less able to allow glucose to enter into the cells and be used as fuel. Your doctor will best be able to tell you at what stage of pre-diabetes or diabetes you are.
Upon testing, should your doctor finds a fasting blood sugar of more than 125 mg/dL or a non-fasting blood sugar of 160-200 mg/dL, your doctor can explain your personal diabetic condition to you based upon your test results. Poor diet, access weight, and glucose blood testing, your diagnosis will have come full circle.
The time of pre-diabetes is perhaps the best time to make dietary changes to prevent diabetes from ever happening. This is the time to take a hard look at yourself and your diet and commit to a more healthy lifestyle.
Soda and Juice
One of the worst things for diabetes is drinking sugar-containing sodas. Sodas contain as much as ten teaspoons of table sugar per can of soda. While you might think that switching to fruit juice is a good alternative, the truth is that juice can be almost as bad as soda.
Juice, on the other hand, has all of the sugar of the fruit but none of the fiber, which is contained in the pulp of the fruit but removed in the juicing process. The juice contains a large amount of sugar that is dumped into the blood system over a very short time. It would be better to eat the fruit whole, with the fiber, and thus allow for slower peak absorption of glucose after eating,
Fruits and Vegetables
Vegetables are technically better than fruit because they contain more complex carbohydrates than fruit. Complex carbohydrates are eventually broken down into simple carbohydrates but this burns fuel and allows for gradual absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. Pre-diabetes is the best time to learn good ways to incorporate both fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Fruits provide the sweetness of much worse foods but many provide healthy antioxidants and vitamins as well. As mentioned, whole fruits are much better for you than fruit juice and the fiber is good for the bowels.
Starches
it’s okay to eat starchy foods like potatoes, pasta, corn, and sweet potatoes as a prediabetic but don’t make these foods the staples of your diet. Remember to limit the amount of rich sauces and butter as they can add to your weight. They are really not good for high blood pressure as they contain a lot of salt.
Meats and Proteins
Twenty-five percent of your calories should come from meats and other proteins. Meats should be as lean as possible so as not to add to much fat to your diet. Trim all visible fat from meats you are cooking and pour off any grease after pan-frying meats. The best way to eat meat is grilled, baked, or broiled with something to catch greasy drippings from the meat.
Grease doesn’t really affect pre-diabetes but it can add to your weight and this plays a strong role in developing diabetes.
Don’t forget the benefit of plant-based proteins like nuts, beans, and legumes.
Fish is probably the most high-quality protein, it is loaded with nutrients, very low in fat and calories, and fatty fish gives you heart healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats.
Eat to lose weight
Unless you are of normal weight, the pre-diabetic state is a good time to bring your weight down to a lower level, ideally into a body mass index of 25 or less.
You can calculate your body mass index or BMI by this calculation: Take your weight in pounds and divide it by your height in inches squared. Multiply the result by 703. Numbers over 30 indicate you are obese and you should then lose weight. Even a 5% to 7% reduction in body weight can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Have a look at the Paleo Diet! It's a high protein low carb diet that of foods that looks good and taste good & healthy.
Exercise is another crucial consideration if you have pre-diabetes because it can go a long way to preventing the onset of the disease. It is also important for healthy weight loss. Have you tried Yoga?