It’s such a growing problem world-wide that I want to discuss pre-diabetes at the beginning of this new year. It you have pre-diabetes, then you join 79,000,000 Americans. Worldwide, diabetes experts predict that 470 million will have pre-diabetes by year 2030!!! IF you have pre-diabetes and don’t do something NOW, you will probably develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years. So, let’s get into action NOW!!
Even with pre-diabetes there can be early signs of chronic kidney disease, diabetic retinopathy and vascular disease. You’ll want your glucose numbers to be in good control (fasting glucose is 70-99 mg/dl).
What lab values put you in the pre-diabetes range?
- Fasting glucose: 100-125 mg/dl and/or and
- A1C of 5.7-6.4%
Lifestyle changes that can reverse pre-diabetes:
- weight loss in midsection,
- moderate intake of minimally processed carbohydrate foods,
- drinking sugar-free, carb-free beverages, and
- daily physical activity of at least 30 minutes
Usually two things are going on in pre-diabetes: the pancreas does not produce sufficient insulin and there is insulin resistance from the tummy fat. Fortunately lifestyle changes are often the only thing that needs to happen to get glucose readings back to the normal range. How cool is that???
