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Things You Should Know About Prediabetes  

Let’s talk about prediabetes. 

Prediabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels are elevated over a period of time and within a particular range. The prediabetes stage can be associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes (without it becoming diabetes) may also increase the risk of having a cardiovascular disease, stroke and heart attack. It could also already begin the cellular damage that will lead to complications with eyesight, nerve pain, and kidney function if you later develop diabetes. 

Prediabetes is not a recent phenomena. It is however a newly identified state of unhealth which rivals the global epidemic of obesity and lack of exercise. Previous to the identification of prediabetes, the medical profession were differentiating only two physical states connected to diabetes: the normal state, and the diabetic state.  

It was only in 2002 that the American Diabetes Association came up with a term to officially define this in-between stage which, if ignored, could catapult a patient into the diabetic stage. With the identification of this in-between stage, prevention of diabetes now has a higher chance of success. Ongoing research indicates that even if you have prediabetes, you can with a healthy lifestyle and proper care, delay or even prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

Signs and Symptoms  

Excessive thirst, blurred vision, extreme fatigue and frequent urination are signs to alert you that you might be prediabetic. But in too many people, these symptoms do not present themselves. That’s what makes it a very dangerous state to be in. It attacks by stealth, this silent would-be killer. Medical researchers say millions of people are prediabetic and don’t know it, and already developing some reversible and irreversible damage at this stage.  

Causes  

If you have pre-diabetes, it's likely a result of your body's insulin not working effectively to transport glucose into your body's cells. This is often referred to as insulin resistance and can progress over time into type 2 diabetes. Glucose is the sugar converted from food with carbohydrates as the primary source. So e ating a diet high in carbohydrates such as muffins, cakes, cookies and yes, even bread and rice, and other prepared foods will contribute to high glucose production. The pancreas, which is responsible for insulin production gets overloaded, and in prediabetes, will start to fail in its function to regulate glucose and transport it into your cells.  

The body functions well if the glucose enters into our cells to serves as fuel. When glucose is not able to get into cells, your cells’ production of energy slow down and all types of disorder begin.  

Diagnosis  

How will you know if you have this condition? The only way is through a blood test. If your fasting blood sugar levels are below 100mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L) it is considered normal. However, if your fasting blood glucose measures between 100 and 125mg/dl (5.6 -6.9 mmol/L) on more than one occasion, then you are in this so-called prediabetic stage. Diabetes is diagnosed when the fasting blood glucose is 126 mg/dl (7 mmol/L) or greater on more than one occasion. 

Prevention: Get Over It, You Need To Change What You Eat 

Once the doctor diagnoses you to have prediabetes, you need to follow your doctor’s instructions. This condition can be prevented by engaging in a healthy lifestyle. And the first thing to change are your eating habits.  

Eating food with high fibre content is the best. Some of the foods rich in fibre are seeds, fruits, vegetables and cereal. These foods have helped people in keeping their weight down and have a healthier life therefore preventing prediabetes. You need to eat food with low saturated fat but high in soluble fiber. In summary, that would mean, no, not going on a diet, but eating MORE of healthy foods.  

Last year, I (yes, me, the lady selling you the chia seeds) managed to reverse my prediabetes by going 50% raw (vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts), and eating lots of chia seeds, other seeds, and nuts, to compensate for the loss of protein from meat. Chia seeds also have high dietary fibre and great for energy. If you have a creative imagination, you can enjoy countless ways of incorporating chia seeds into your new eating habits.  

Xylitol 

Sugar, sugar, sugar. How the world loves its sweetness! But it has become the bane of those of us who have inherited tendencies towards weight gain, and worse, diabetes. I have found a way to satisfy my sweet tooth without sugar or saccharine – by replacing all my sugar with a natural product from birch tree. This product is called Xylitol.  Read more about Xylitol here.