How to Reverse Pre-Diabetes

Pre-Diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are elevated although not yet high enough to warrant a full blown diabetes diagnosis. When no preventive measures are taken this condition almost always turns into type 2 diabetes.  The good news is that pre-diabetes is fully reversible with good prevention measures and just a few lifestyle changes.

• Proactive screening - Pre-diabetes, also known an insulin resistance produces no noticeable symptoms.  The only way to know you have this condition is through routine blood glucose tests.  The test most often used is the fasting blood glucose test.  In this test you are asked to fast for at least 8 hours.  A sample of blood is then tested to determine the glucose concentration.  A diagnosis of pre-diabetes falls in the range between 100 to 125 mg/dl. 


• Know and reduce your risk - You are more likely to be diagnosed as pre-diabetic if you have a family history of the disease, or if you are overweight or inactive.  Making a few changes to your exercise and diet habits is a very important key to reversing pre-diabetes and preventing diabetes.


• Diet - A very important lifestyle change to prevent diabetes is to change your diet. Cutting out simple carbohydrates such as candy, cake, white bread and junk food should be the first step.  Replacing these with complex carbohydrates such as fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains will work wonders to lower blood sugar levels.  The higher nutritional value in complex carbohydrates will increase your overall health. Eating lean protein and lots of fiber with each meal will also help to stabilize your blood sugar by slowing down the release of glucose into the bloodstream.


• Exercise - A high amount of body fat, especially abdominal fat, increases insulin resistance.  Reducing this fat through exercise will allow the body to reverse this condition naturally.  Both strength training and cardiovascular exercise will help your body to reduce fat.  Cardiovascular exercise will burn the fat immediately while strength training will increase metabolism allowing the body to burn fat constantly at a higher rate.  Another benefit of exercise is that it reduces stress.  Lowering stress will enable the body to better fight many diseases, diabetes included