Many people living in the United States — 60% in fact — struggle with a chronic disease, and diabetes makes up a large majority of those long-term illnesses. However, diabetes can often be prevented. Type 2 diabetes makes up 95% of diabetes cases, and you can prevent its onset through attainable lifestyle changes.
If your blood sugar levels start to reach prediabetic levels, diabetes does become harder to avoid. But, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to prevent developing type 2 diabetes altogether.
Because November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, our team, led by Elaine Phuah, DO, MBA, FACOI and Leon Tio, DO, MA, FACOI at Clover Internal Medicine Associates located in Fort Worth, Texas, want give you more information on prediabetes and how to reverse the condition if you’ve been diagnosed with it.
Prediabetes is the precursor to type 2 diabetes. This means that you have blood sugar levels that are elevated, but they’re not high enough for an actual type 2 diabetes diagnosis. It’s also called impaired glucose tolerance.
Almost every case of type 2 diabetes is precluded by prediabetes; however, it can be tricky to catch since it almost never presents with symptoms. Eighty-four million people living in the United States have prediabetes, and 90% are unaware that they have it.
If you’ve received a prediabetes diagnosis after a check of your blood sugar levels, you might be wondering what steps you can take to prevent type 2 diabetes and regain your overall health.
Thankfully, making some simple lifestyle changes can go a long way in either avoiding type 2 diabetes or delaying its onset. Here’s a few that you can start with:
Shedding some extra pounds and keeping them off can do wonders for your blood sugar levels. Losing even 5-10% of your body weight not only can go a long way in helping to prevent type 2 diabetes, but it can also have a huge positive impact on your overall health.
A consistent exercise routine plays a huge role in diabetes prevention by using up all that extra blood sugar. Strive to exercise for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. This can include brisk walking, swimming, bicycle riding, running, and strength training. However, even everyday activities such as gardening and housework can count towards that exercise time.
Changing your diet can do wonders for your blood sugar levels and your health. Focus on eating foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and lean proteins such as chicken or fish. You want to avoid foods that are high in saturated fats and are processed and sugary. Cut out all sugary beverages, and drink water instead.
If you’d like to learn more about how to turn around your prediabetes condition, our team would love to answer any questions you have. You can contact Clover Internal Medicine Associates by giving us a call or by using our online scheduler to set up an appointment today.
