November is National Diabetes Month, a time to raise awareness about the condition and its effects on so many people across the country. Today, the team at Doctors United in the Bronx, White Plains, Ardsley, and Yonkers, New York, would like to discuss prediabetes, the warning stage for type 2 diabetes.
If you have prediabetes, you probably aren’t aware of it, since there are few symptoms. The internal medicine specialists can provide you with the testing you need to confirm you have the condition and, more importantly, help you with a management plan before your condition turns into type 2 diabetes.
Normal blood sugar levels range from 70 to 99 milligrams per deciliter, which is abbreviated as mg/dl. Prediabetes ranges from 100 to 125 mg/dl, and type 2 diabetes starts at 126 mg/dl and above.
You can reverse prediabetes with some attention to lifestyle factors like healthy eating and an increase in activity levels. You can avoid the need for medication management by taking steps now to lower your blood sugar levels.
Prediabetes results from the same condition that causes type 2 diabetes: insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that signals cells in your body to accept glucose (sugar) from your blood to use as fuel.
When these cells “stop listening” to the insulin messenger, blood sugar levels start to rise. The pancreas produces more insulin to overcome this rise, and your cells respond to this louder message.
When your pancreas no longer produces enough insulin to overcome resistance, then blood sugar remains chronically high, a condition known as hyperglycemia. Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes follow unless you intervene.
The most effective way to treat prediabetes is through sustainable lifestyle modifications. Typically, we recommend a three-way approach.
Weight loss is often a significant way to reduce the risk of your prediabetes from progressing. Obesity is a major risk factor for insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels. Even modest amounts of weight loss can lower the amount of glucose in your body.
A two-week fad diet won’t help here. To make a lasting difference, you’ll need to sustain healthy changes across the board. We can help with nutrition counseling and advise that you base your shopping and food preparation on healthy eating plans such as the DASH diet or the Mediterranean diet, which emphasize plant-based foods, lean proteins, healthy fats, and whole grains.
Exercise helps open your cells for accepting glucose from your blood. You don’t need to join a gym or hire a personal trainer. Just 30 minutes of moderate, low-impact activity a day, five times a week, can have a positive impact on your blood sugar levels. Adding weight or resistance training provides further benefits.
The key to dealing with prediabetes is finding out if you have it. Contact Doctors United at the nearest of our five locations, online or by phone, to book an appointment with our team today.
