A Prediabetes Diagnosis? Holy Hell, what do I do Now!?

Uh-oh, so you had your annual visit and the results tell you that you are prediabetic. Prediabetes!!?? WTF is that, you say…

You know it’s not good. You know you don’t want any parts in this foolishness because you’re a foodie. You love good food and a vibrant social life, and you dread the drab diet life. But here you are and you don’t have a choice, it’s time to DO SOMETHING, but what? I’m going to tell you exactly that. But first, a discussion about what prediabetes is, how you were diagnosed, and how it develops.

You have seen it over and over (or maybe not): 1 in 3 American adults has prediabetes, and 90% don’t even know it. That’s because there really aren’t any noticeable symptoms for most people. Many go years and years without a clue and then BAM! They get slammed with type 2 diabetes and have to take pills, or worse, inject insulin. 

And black people experience not only a greater risk, but also less favorable outcomes.

African Americans are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. In addition, they are more likely to suffer complications from diabetes, such as end-stage renal disease and lower extremity amputations.

US Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Minority Health

But if you’ve been tested and diagnosed as prediabetic, you should really consider yourself lucky because you have a second chance to completely reverse it. You can make sure that you never develop type 2 diabetes in your life, and it’s all up to you.

Now, I’ve had my own prediabetes scare, but it was kind of an overreaction. I’ve had several family members pass away from type 2 diabetes complications, and maybe you have too.  So I am well aware that I have those genes. When the doc told me my level was 5.6, which is not even prediabetic, but it was just too close for comfort for me and I was like, OH HELL NO! So I did some research and tweaked my lifestyle and now it’s further back in the normal zone. I understand how scary this can be. And I’m gonna empower you with everything you need to know to whoop prediabetes’ ass.

What is Prediabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic lifestyle disease. Prediabetes occurs when your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet to the level of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. In other words, unless you make some changes in your life, you are IN DANGER of developing type 2 diabetes.

Normally, here is what happens. When you eat, your food is converted to glucose and your pancreas releases insulin. Insulin acts like an escort to transport the glucose inside the cells so it can be used for fuel.

But when something goes wrong (that we will discuss later) the body isn’t responding to the insulin in the bloodstream  (this is called insulin resistance) and instead of escorting the glucose it’s wandering around all willy-nilly and creating havoc elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the glucose levels are rising and rising because it’s not being escorted into the cells where it needs to be and this causes a whole host of problems.

As the glucose levels continue to rise, the pancreas switches into over time producing even more insulin, and this is a vicious cycle because the glucose still isn’t responding to the insulin. So you have way too much insulin AND way too much glucose. Not good.

Exactly what does all this excess glucose in the bloodstream do?

All that glucose causes hardening of your arteries, which can lead to heart disease and stroke.

“High blood sugar levels cause proteins in the inner lining of blood vessels to become sticky and to accumulate in the blood. These sticky proteins form plaques in the walls of the arteries. LDL… cholesterol particles enter this sticky wall and cause the blood vessels are too narrow, restricting blood flow. When plaque develops in the arteries, high blood sugar levels increase the likelihood that the plaque may break off and cause a clot, which could block the vessel and cause a stroke.”

~Sharecare Healthy Humans

Now, above when I mentioned things going wrong to set off this whole nightmare of insulin resistance I was referring to the following events:

• Consistently overeating – Eating too many calories causes there to be an elevated level of free fatty acids circulating in the blood. Free fatty acids are important to health for things like absorbing fat soluble vitamins, blood clotting and nervous system maintenance. However, too much begins to cause insulin resistance to increase.
• Being obese or overweight – this is closely related to consistently overeating because this is what causes being overweight or obese but the other issue is that adipose tissue, or body fat, is an endrocrine organ and releases hormones like other endrocrine organs. In this case, the fat releases proinflammatory cytokines that disrupt fat metabolism, leptin sensitivity and insulin sensitivity.
• Dietary imbalance – a balanced diet with appropriate percentages of protein and fiber help to lessen the impact of added sugars by slowing its absorption and thereby preventing sudden and extreme spikes in blood glucose that overwhelm insulin’s ability to do its job. Please note that this does not mean that eliminating or severely limiting any food groups or macronutrients is the solution to preventing type 2 diabetes. 

How is prediabetes diagnosed?

Most of the time people may not have any symptoms of elevated blood glucose levels and so it may go undiscovered for years. There are blood tests to measure your levels. When you go to the doctor they are testing for the amount of glucose in your bloodstream.

Let’s look at how the test results are interpreted.

If you had a hemoglobin A1C test:

Normal – 5.6% or lower

Prediabetes – 5.7% – 6.4%

Diabetes – 6.5%+

If you had a fasting plasma glucose test:  (no eating 8 hours before) 

Normal – less than 100

Prediabetes – 100-125

Diabetes – 126 or higher

If you had an oral glucose tolerance test: (Taken after the fasting test, 2 hours after drinking some sweet liquid)

Normal <140 

Prediabetes – 140-199 

Diabetes – 200+

Preventing type 2 diabetes requires a radical change in your thinking.

If you were diagnosed with prediabetes that absolutely does not mean that you WILL become a diabetic, and get heart disease, and lose your sight and legs. You can completely prevent that from happening by being both vigilant and realistic about your healthy lifestyle changes.

Be vigilant in the sense that you know this is serious and you’re in it for the long haul. You didn’t develop this condition overnight, and yo-yo diets and quick fixes are not the way to go.

It can be tempting to run out and buy various supplements and products, because there are plenty of companies out here trying to profit from your prediabetic anxiety. They’ll tell you to eat cinnamon, drink green tea, swallow apple cider vinegar…but none of these have been proven to lower blood glucose. You will need to suck it up and commit to permanent lifestyle changes because you need consistency and sustainability in order to get off the path towards a type 2 diabetes diagnosis for good.

And once you achieve a test that indicates that you’re back in the normal range, you will not be able to revert to your old habits! It may be tempting to reward yourself with a janky binge. Don’t do it. And you don’t have to because you will not be restricting or eliminating any foods or food groups. The key to your success will be not only changing your lifestyle, but also changing your mindset, for good. Are you ready?

The bottom line on how to reverse prediabetes.

The lifestyle habits that cause unhealthy weight gain and obesity are the exact same habits that contribute to insulin resistance, which often leads to type 2 diabetes. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control Diabetes Prevention Program, losing as little as 5-7% of your body weight will decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%.

In short you’ll need these two things:

An individually balanced diet with an emphasis on real whole foods that (unlike ultra-processed food) are not calorie dense and promote overeating calories. Junk food and fast food manufacturers design food to specifically to cause overeating so they can make money.

Rather than worry about which macronutrients to ration, you need to focus on what foods trigger you to eat too many calories and zap your energy and keep you from exercising. (this is usually high calorie, low nutrient, quickly digested food, or junk like fast food, processed snacks, etc.), not things like vegetables, fruits, legumes/seeds, and hearty whole grains. For example, if you eat a donut for breakfast you’ll likely be starving again within two hours and out looking for more food. But if you instead ate some beans and brown rice, you’d be getting some protein, lots of fiber and micronutrients and you won’t be hungry again for a while.

By concentrating fat, salt and sugar in products formulated for maximum “bliss,” Big Food has spent almost a century distorting the American diet in favor of calorie-dense products whose consumption pattern has been mirrored by the calamitous rise in obesity rates.

Scott Mowbray, NYT, You Really Can’t Eat Just One, and Here’s the Reason

It’s hard to overeat fresh fruits and vegetables. They’re generally lower in calories than other foods and full of fiber, which makes you have to chew a lot. Your jaws would get tired! But we all know how easy it is to overeat a box of cookies, right?

Calories matter, but don’t bother counting calories because your caloric needs will change, day to day, season to season, even year to year so it’s damn near impossible to keep up with all of that. Instead, practice mindful eating. Mindful eating will sensitize your brain to how to tell when you’re actually hungry, satisfied or too full and adjust accordingly. Learning your body’s rhythms is key.

Regular and consistent exercise because when your muscles contract during physical activity, your cells are able to take up glucose and use it for energy whether insulin is available or not. (It lowers blood glucose). If you’re out of shape or don’t know where to start, check out GirlTrek!

One size never fits all.

You can read this post and then go on and read post after post, article after article that will try to give you a set prescription to reverse prediabetes. It just seems easier to just follow a set diet so you don’t have to spend as much time testing, trying, adjusting and repeating. In this case that can be a complete waste of time, and you don’t have all the time in the world, and here’s why.

A food that spikes your blood glucose may not spike someone else’s blood glucose, or vice versa. Some foods may cause hormone disruptions that affect weight gain or loss in some but not other people. So duplicating someone else’s plan based on their circumstances, needs and preferences is a lost cause. All of the following factors may affect how your body responds to a particular diet:

• age
• current state of health
• stress level
• climate you live in
• genetics
• gender
• occupation
• fitness level
• access to foods
• gut microbiome
• seasonal availability of fresh food
• food tastes and preferences
• and more

So whatever you do to get your life together and avoid type 2 diabetes will need to be fine tuned to fit YOUR INDIVIDUAL LIFESTYLE. And this is the reason why so many people have struggled and will continue to struggle with maintaining their health. It is time to break away from the stagnant, linear and outdated ways of thinking about how to prevent chronic lifestyle diseases and live the best and healthiest life you can.

The Prediabetes Reversal Action Plan

You need to start today. It’s fine to ease into it, one habit at a time until you get into the swing of it.

• Do not count, ration or eliminate macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate and protein)
• Don’t count calories.
• Focus on adding vegetables, fruits, legumes/seeds and hearty whole grains instead of avoiding foods.
• Don’t settle for bland and boring health food. Hook it up and make it so amazing that your family will love it.
• Don’t ban junk food, instead, truly concentrate your efforts on eating more healthy foods and a little junk every now and then won’t hurt.
• Don’t buy supplements, superfoods or fall for diabetes reversal myths.
• Don’t be drastic and go vegan. The only vegans who are healthier than non-vegans are because they are eating lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes/seeds and hearty whole grains, NOT because they avoid meat, poultry, seafood and dairy.
• Practice mindful eating to control your portions and caloric intake.
• Get some exercise on the regular, muscles demand that blood glucose.

Now, this is not difficult, but if it’s much different from what your currently used to it can be challenging, and so might feel like balancing a bunch of spinning plates on sticks! I can help you get through each of the necessary steps and customize your plan for simplicity and sustainability.

Schedule a free prediabetes assessment strategy call now to kickstart your fully customized prediabetes reversal action plan today!