A diagnosis of prediabetes puts you at a crossroads: Either your body pursues a more healthful pathway forward, or you travel down a gloomier trail that ends up in full-blown diabetes.
Fortunately, there is much you can do to improve your health.
In fact, a diagnosis of prediabetes gives you the opportunity to reverse the condition, “perhaps keeping a diagnosis of diabetes at bay for many years,” says
Rita Smith, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator based in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Prediabetes is a diagnosis that does not carry with it the inevitability of moving into type-2 diabetes,” she says.
Lifestyle changes are the key to preventing prediabetes from progressing. And one of the best ways to get your body back on track is to change your diet.
Tips for eating well and reversing prediabetes
Eating junk food and other unhealthful foods often leads to weight gain, particularly around your midsection. This body fat can make your cells resistant to insulin, the hormone that moves sugar out of the blood and into the cells.
When insulin fails to do its job, the pancreas responds by producing more insulin. As the pancreas becomes overtaxed, it begins to produce insulin less efficiently, setting the stage for diabetes.
If you want to reverse prediabetes and diabetes, “the goal is to keep the pancreas working well,” Smith says.
Steps you can take to help make this happen include:
Eating mindfully and modestly.
You should enjoy three meals with
moderate-sized portions on a regular schedule, including spacing meals evenly apart, such as 7 a.m., noon and 6 p.m., Smith says.
Going easy on carbohydrates.
Foods loaded with
carbohydrates raise glucose levels within one or two hours after you consume the meal. So, choose them well. “Good choices include those carbohydrates that have an excellent fiber content,” Smith says. Examples include fresh fruits, cooked and raw vegetables, legumes, starches such as sweet potatoes, and
whole grains such as
brown rice and multi-grain pasta.
Keeping beverages sugar-free.
This helps you avoid glucose spikes. “Great choices are water,
tea and
coffee,” Smith says.
In general, avoid
processed foods and refined sugars that the body processes quickly, leading to large spikes in your blood sugar.
Getting active to reverse prediabetes
Increasing your level of activity is another way to improve your health and keep prediabetes at bay.
Research shows that the body is more sensitive to insulin for up to four days after exercise, which helps to keep sugar from accumulating in the blood.
Smith says a simple 30-minute daily walk can make a big difference in getting your glucose levels back to the normal range. So can losing weight.
“Weight loss, especially in the midsection, sharpens the body's ability to use insulin,” Smith says. “Less insulin is needed to get the job done.”
Tracking your progress and staying on track
As you work to reverse prediabetes, it is important to stay in touch with your doctor or other medical provider. You will need regular checkups and bloodwork, Smith says.
“When glucose levels are slightly elevated, as with prediabetes, you cannot feel it,” she says “But it is still placing stress on the pancreas.”
Smith says making healthful food choices, eating moderate portions and exercising regularly -- like the 30-minute daily walk she recommends -- can help glucose levels return to normal. It is even possible to remain in this healthy for years if you maintain the program, Smith says.
“Whatever changes were made to get back to normal glucose will need to continue for a lifetime,” she says.
As a bonus, she notes that eating better and getting more exercise can lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, helping to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
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