Ways To Reverse Prediabetes
You might have asked yourself, what is Prediabetes? You might have never heard of this medical condition, even though it affects 40% of Americans. Prediabetes is a serious condition where your blood sugar is elevated between normal levels and the higher levels of a type-2 diabetes diagnosis.
What is Prediabetes & How to Reverse It
Even though the exact cause of this condition is not known, it has been linked to insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to regulate the glucose level in our body system. Insulin Resistance occurs when the insulin produced by the pancreas isn’t absorbed well by the cells in the body.
A lot of people live with this condition without realizing it. In fact, according to the American Diabetes Association, nine out of ten Americans live with this condition and don’t even know it. And this is because this is a silent condition with very few symptoms that aren’t easily detected without a blood test.
Using a standard blood test like the Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) test, the glucose challenge, and the likes, detecting the presence of this condition is surprisingly easy; the FPG test result range for Prediabetes is somewhere between 100 and 125, or A1C, results of between 5.7% and 6.4%.
Now, being diagnosed with Prediabetes doesn’t mean you automatically get Type-2 diabetes, but it can develop into it if left untreated. Type-2 diabetes occurs when your body cannot absorb the glucose in your system, leading to a spike in your blood sugar.
If this is also left untreated, it can lead to complications like a heart attack, kidney disease, tissue damage, and other life-threatening conditions. Although Prediabetes comes with some tissue damage, have no fear because it can be reversed with some lifestyle changes. Here are five ways in which you can reverse Prediabetes naturally
1. Change Your Diet
Changing your food is an excellent approach to getting started on the path to curing Prediabetes. For persons who want to avoid Type 2 diabetes, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) recommends a low-fat, low-calorie diet.
Even though there is no universal eating plan for people with either diabetes or Prediabetes, a person should eat various foods low in added sugars, saturated fats, and trans fats. Smaller quantities of high-calorie, fat- and sugar-containing items should be included in one’s diet.
Foods high in carbohydrates should be avoided and swapped out with low-carb foods. This doesn’t mean carbs should be avoided totally, as *research shows that low carb and very low carb plans can help reduce blood sugar levels in people with type-2 diabetes as 40-45% of their daily calories can be gotten carbohydrates.
The Klinio app offers excellent meal plans for people with Prediabetes and Type-2 diabetes as it can help you create tailor-made diet plans.
2. Exercise Regularly
The American Diabetes Association (AMA) says that a workout can continue to lower your blood sugar for up to 24 hours after the fact as it improves your energy and reduces Insulin Resistance.
Easing exercise into your routine combined with a great meal plan is a sure way to reverse your diabetes fast, and you don’t have to start with the hard stuff before you begin to see some changes.
Short exercises of 10-20 minutes to start your day, and then extending that after some time into slightly more intense workouts is the way to go until you can confidently manage a workout session of 30 minutes to an hour for at least five hours a day.
The AMA also recommends HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) as large muscles going through intense activity are said to have an insulin-like effect for up to 48hours. According to the AMA, ″Through HIIT, glucose control is improved more accurately and over a more extended period. ″
3. Lose Weight
Losing weight is critical in curing Prediabetes since being overweight or obese makes lowering blood sugar and managing diabetes difficult.
It can also expose you to several severe health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and even cancer. It has also been linked with reduced insulin sensitivity, worsening Prediabetes to type-2 diabetes.
One of the most effective ways to improve insulin sensitivity, lower your blood sugar, and, in turn, reverse Prediabetes is to lose some weight. The Centre for Disease Control recommends that losing between 5% and 7% of your weight is ideal for someone diagnosed with Prediabetes. Even though that number might seem small, it can significantly improve your blood sugar.
The best way to lose weight is to adopt a lifestyle change that combines regular exercise and healthy eating.
4. Get Adequate Sleep
Sleep is essential as it affects every aspect of your health and well-being, and taking Prediabetes into account, the stakes become much higher. A lack of adequate sleep can cause one to have mood problems, reduce productivity, and make it much harder to lose weight.
According to a 2016 study, too little sleep can make insulin resistance worse and make your blood sugar much more challenging to control. When a regular amount of proper sleep isn’t gotten, your Prediabetes is more likely to advance into type-2 diabetes.
5. Avoid Stress
When dealing with Prediabetes, all forms of stress should be avoided as things like depression and anxiety can mess up your sleep and weight loss plan.
Stress sometimes makes some people overindulge in unhealthy foods, skip exercising, smoke heavily, or consume more alcohol, which is harmful to people with Prediabetes or type-2 diabetes. Stress can affect your insulin and blood sugar levels, leading to the progression of diabetes.
When you are stressed, your body produces more cortisol, a hormone that increases blood pressure, causes muscles to tense, and increases your heartbeat. This can significantly increase the risk for type-2 diabetes as the function of cortisol is to thwart the effect of insulin.
This can result in the body remaining in a general insulin-resistant condition while cortisol levels stay chronically high. This can result in the pancreas struggling to keep up with the body′s high demand for insulin because of high glucose levels in the blood. Stress can be managed with therapy and stress-management programs like meditation, deep breathing, and yoga exercises.
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