Prediabetic

[Pyewacket400]

I have had a blood test and the doctor thinks I may be prediabetic, I need to know

How to control it before diagnosed with diabetes , any help out there for me please?

I'm new here.

[Activity2004]

Has your doctor suggested that you go on a low carb high protein or low carb high fat diets? Do you count carbs. for each meal and snack?

[TheAwfulToad]

You may wish to join the LCHF (low-carb) group. The good news is, since you've caught this at an early stage, it's completely fixable. You need to change the way you eat. This isn't painful or unpleasant, but it does require a change of mindset:

healthunlocked.com/lchf-diet

Lots of people use the low-carb lifestyle to maintain a healthy bodyweight, but as you may be aware, obesity and Diabetes Type 2 are basically two sides of the same coin. One does not cause the other: they are part of a cluster of symptoms (which includes heart disease) usually called "Metabolic Syndrome". People who are drastically overweight are prediabetic by definition. Simply reducing your carb intake to a sensible level fixes a whole raft of problems.

There's a little more to it than that, but in many ways it's simple to understand and easy to stick with. Try this introductory article to start with:

healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

[Bob00752]

I didn't have the warning about prediabetes, so my Dr didn't give me a chance to turn things around before putting me on metformin. Prediabetes means that you are at risk of being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (Type 1 is due to the pancreas producing too Iittle insulin and its treatment is different - treating type 1 with type 2 regime won't fix it!)

I assume you have had an HbA1c test, usually used to diagnose type 2 diabetes (the old dieting (fasting) blood glucose test is more of a snapshot and indicates that you need an HbA1c to confirm any diagnosis.

I think in retrospect I would have liked to have been given a chance to improve my lifestyle. That generally means "diet and exercise", but there is no fixed diet and no fixed exercise. If you can find a way of lowering your blood glucose that you find relatively enjoyable then you'll be more motivated to stick with it. Everyone is different and you may find that cutting out sugary fizzy drinks, the more sugary puddings/sweets and balancing your carbohydrates more evenly across the meals you have will be sufficient to get on top of things and get you out of the prediabetes range. Your Dr should have weighed you and given you your BMI. If not try this calculator - if you are over 25 (overweight) or over 30 then it would be a good idea to lose a bit of weight until you are as this will bring down your blood glucose levels: nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educat...

[Bob00752]

Thanks for your suggestion, Concerned. I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic in Dec 2012 and put on Metformin plus Levothyroxine and a Statin - the Levo for low thyroid and the Statin for highish cholesterol.

By Dec 2013 I had lost 2 stone, so BMI had dropped to 23.5 from 28.5.

At that point they accepted that diet and exercise ould hold things steady and took me off Metformin as 8 had been losing weight too fast!!

Since then the Statin has been halved, the Levo has increased a bit and my blood glucose has been steady. The thyroid is permanently damaged, so no point in trying to reduce that medication. The statin doesn’t do much so no point in fighting it. I’m not a great fan of a low carbohydrate diet but for those that can cope with it then by all means give it a try. I try to balance my carbs so that they are more evenly distributed over the day and that they are slow release rather than big hitters and I take plenty of fibre with them which also helps slow their release. Everyone is different! Find out what suits you by trial, error, reading what others do and hopefully you’ll be able to get your blood glucose under good control.

[Bob00752]

Now you are exercising my brain and getting me to wonder what to digest to ensure it doesn’t grow rusty. Not sure my Sudukos and other brain training puzzles are ideal brain exercise! The brain training I do need is to stop my fridge raiding impulses, especially late at night!

To be serious though, we have our physiology inherited through our DNA and our micro biota or gut bacteria that started off with those inherited by our mothers, possibly augmented by any in our baby milk, and thereafter modified by what we eat and how our guts respond to our disparate food intake.

Research into microbiomes is still quite new and I will not be volunteering for a faecal transplant, especially not from a gorilla!!