How to reverse prediabetes and avoid type 2 diabetes

When you're living with prediabetes, even small lifestyle changes can have a positive impact. Improving your diet, exercising regularly and achieving healthy weight loss can have as much of an impact as medication when it comes to successfully managing your condition.

It's important to remember that progression to type 2 diabetes is not inevitable. With the guidance and support from your healthcare team and a personal commitment to proactive condition management, you can learn how to reverse prediabetes and improve your overall health.

What is prediabetes?

Prediabetes is an incredibly common condition that affects over 97.6 million adults in the U.S., meaning one out of every three adults has it. It is so common in fact that many who have it do not know that they do.

People are diagnosed with prediabetes when their glucose (blood sugar) levels are higher than normal. Specifically, they are considered prediabetic when their blood glucose measures between 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) and 125 mg/dL.

If not controlled or monitored, prediabetes can result in abnormal metabolism (your body's process of turning calories from food into energy to function) and can progress into type 2 diabetes.

Who is more at risk for prediabetes?

Anyone can develop prediabetes, but certain factors may increase your level of risk. You can change some factors, like poor diet or excess body weight. Other factors like race and family history are beyond your control.

Determining your individual level of risk starts with having an open discussion with your primary care provider. They will work closely with you to assess, identify and monitor any potential concerns of developing prediabetes.

When does prediabetes turn into type 2 diabetes?

If you have prediabetes, you may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you:

• Are 45 years of age or older
• Are overweight
• Have a family history of type 2 diabetes
• Are physically active fewer than three times per week
• Had diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes) or gave birth to a baby that weighed more than nine pounds

Progression into type 2 diabetes is not the only potential consequence of uncontrolled prediabetes. Higher blood sugar levels can cause wounds to heal more slowly. This makes it easier to get infections or have other complications. Over time, prediabetes can damage the nerves, muscles and tissues in vital organs like:

• Your eyes
• Your kidneys
• Your heart
• Your brain

A diagnosis of prediabetes can be a wake-up call to make lifestyle changes to prevent type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, some people take the diagnosis less seriously than they should. This diagnosis is not just a "warning sign" but instead is a full-fledged condition that should be managed carefully.

Preventing type 2 diabetes

Normalizing (lowering) your blood sugar levels is the most important part of reversing prediabetes. While you may need to change your lifestyle to successfully lower your blood sugar, you don't have to change everything all at once. Small, steady improvements often lead to the best results over time.

Although a diagnosis of prediabetes can lead to serious health problems, you can still avoid type 2 diabetes. Proactively managing your condition and living healthier can make a big difference.

Ignoring prediabetes will put your health at risk and lead to more severe consequences. To prevent type 2 diabetes, start by treating your prediabetes.

How can I treat prediabetes at the initial stage?

If you are currently living with prediabetes or have recently been diagnosed, there's good news: Managing your condition doesn't have to be difficult. Even minor adjustments to your lifestyle can help you take back control and lower your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Here's how to reverse prediabetes and start taking back control:

Check your blood sugar often

Successfully managing your prediabetes means routinely monitoring your blood sugar levels. Testing and recording your levels will familiarize yourself with your body's natural metabolism. They also help you identify behaviors or foods that spike your blood sugar levels. You should test and document your blood sugar levels during the following times of day:

• In the morning, before you start eating or drinking anything besides water. This is known as fasting blood sugar.
• In the middle of the day, often after lunch.
• In the evening.

Once you are more familiar with your body's natural rhythms, you may not need to test your blood sugar levels as frequently. When in doubt, talk to your doctor about how often to monitor your levels.

Improve your diet

Proper nutrition plays an important role in normalizing and maintaining your blood sugar levels. It also impacts nearly every part of your health and wellness. When you're able, choose to eat:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Lean meats like chicken or fish
• Whole grains like nuts and rice instead of foods that are flour-based or high in saturated fats and sugar

Main Line Health offers nutritional counseling and individualized nutritional support for patients looking to learn healthier habits. This added support can make it much easier to change your diet and maintain it long-term.

Control your weight

Being overweight can increase a person's risk for type 2 diabetes. It can also negatively impact our physical and emotional health in many ways.

Achieving healthy weight loss and maintaining this healthy weight will help your body regulate its blood sugar levels. It also improves your metabolism and strengthens your immune system.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), losing just 5% to 10% of your body weight and getting 30 minutes of daily exercise can have more of an impact than medication for prediabetics.

Quit smoking and vaping

Smoking and vaping put nearly every organ system in the body at risk. This includes parts of your body that control your weight, digestion and metabolism. People who smoke are 30% to 40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers are.

Every nicotine product you smoke or vape increases your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. You're also more likely to develop heart disease, retinopathy (eye damage) or neuropathy (nerve damage). Main Line Health offers free classes to help tobacco and vape users quit.

Manage your stress without relying on food

It can be easy to reach for a snack whenever we're feeling stressed. But these "comfort foods" are not risk-free for those living with prediabetes. Adopting healthier stress-management habits like exercise, meditation or other mindfulness practices limit your risk. They also can help you avoid unhealthy eating habits.

Make a lifelong commitment to these changes

To work, these changes must be permanent. The effort you put into adopting a healthier lifestyle won't matter if they don't become part of your normal routine. Relying on the expert guidance of your physicians and the ongoing support of your counselors and loved ones can make all the difference in your journey to healthier living and reversing your prediabetes.

How can I support someone with prediabetes?

If someone you love is living with prediabetes, you can help them take control of their condition by showing your support. Join them as they work to adopt healthier living habits. Partner up to shop for groceries, cook healthier meals or start exercising together. Your added support can make all the difference as they continue to monitor and improve their health.

What are the signs that prediabetes is improving?

What improves prediabetes is what improves your whole life: eating healthy by choosing nutritious food sources and reducing how many calories you consume, maintaining a healthy weight for your body, regularly engaging in physical activity, ceasing smoking and finding more effective ways to manage stress.

If you make those changes then you should see improvements in the blood tests that diagnose prediabetes. One is a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test that measures your blood sugar during a single instance. The other is the A1C test that tells us your average blood sugar over the past three months.

FPG fasting blood sugar results range from:

• Normal: Below or at 99 mg/dL
• Prediabetic: 100-125 mg/dL
• Type 2 diabetic: Higher than 125 mg/dL

A1C blood sugar results range from:

• Normal: Below 5.7%
• Prediabetic: 5.7%-6.4%
• Type 2 diabetic: Higher than 6.5%

If you don't have access to blood tests, signs of improvement can include:

• Eating fewer calories, focusing on healthier foods that are part of an insulin resistance diet
• Losing extra weight
• Getting regular physical exercise
• Avoiding smoking and vaping
• Using more mindful ways to deal with stress instead of eating

PreventT2 program reduces risk of type 2 diabetes

PreventT2 is a lifestyle change program offered in your community. It is part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, which is led by the CDC. PreventT2 uses a proven approach to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.

PreventT2 emphasizes healthy eating for prediabetes through better food choices and physical activity. This approach can help you lose 5-7% of your body weight, which is equivalent of 10 to 14 pounds for someone who weighs 200 pounds. If you have prediabetes, losing this much weight with these lifestyle changes can cut your risk in half, of developing type 2 diabetes.

Without weight loss and lifestyle changes such as these, many with prediabetes are destined to develop type 2 diabetes within the next five years. Some who develop type 2 diabetes will be at further risk of:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Blindness
• Kidney failure
• Loss of feet, toes or legs

How the PreventT2 program works

When you join a PreventT2 group, you'll work with a trained lifestyle coach and other participants to learn diet and lifestyle skills to help you make lasting changes. In addition to healthy eating and physical activity, you will learn to manage stress, stay motivated and solve problems that might get in the way of your progress.

This supportive environment with others who have prediabetes allows you to celebrate one another's successes and overcome obstacles together. How the PreventT2 program is structured:

• All meetings are at Main Line Health King of Prussia
• The program lasts for one year
• Meetings are once a week during the first six months
• Meetings are once or twice a month during the second six months

Next steps

Looking for a trusted partner to help you manage your diabetes? Main Line Health's Diabetes Management and Nutrition Center offers individual sessions and group classes led by nurses and dietitians to guide your diabetes management. We will teach you how to monitor your blood sugar, plan meals, add exercise into your day and manage your medication. To learn more about the program, call 484.580.1800.

Your glands and hormones also can impact diabetes. That's why Main Line Health's Endocrinology and Metabolism specialty is dedicated to rebalance your hormones as part of your diabetes treatment. To schedule an appointment with an endocrinologist at Main Line Health, call 1.866.CALL.MLH (225.5654).

Related posts

Access healthy recipes to eat better with prediabetes

Uncovering the complex relationship between peripheral artery disease (PAD) and diabetes

Understanding the link between stress and weight gain