The Power To Prevent Or Delay Diabetes Is In Your Hands
If your doctor says you have prediabetes, that means your blood sugar is high, but not high enough to qualify as diabetes—yet.
However, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts it, don’t let the “pre” in prediabetes fool you. Prediabetes is a serious condition. It puts a person at risk not only for Type 2 diabetes but for heart disease and stroke. The CDC estimates that one in three Americans has prediabetes, though many may not know it.
Step one, then, is to have your blood sugar checked through a simple blood test known as A1C, according to primary care doctors Manjaree Daw, MD, and Preeti Saran, MD, two of the physicians who have recently started at the new primary care office at RWJBarnabas Health at Bayonne. “An A1C of 6.5 is diabetes, so a blood test result between 5.7 and 6.4 is prediabetes,” Dr. Daw explains.
“There are people who are at risk because of certain factors like being over age 45, extra weight, having sleep apnea and not being active enough,” says Dr. Saran. “High blood pressure and high cholesterol can contribute to the risks. Prediabetes can exist without symptoms, but it is so easy to diagnose with a blood test.”
Small Steps
The good news is that simple changes in eating and activity can help to either delay or outright prevent diabetes.
“I know that changing what you eat is easier said than done,” notes Dr. Daw. “If you’re not ready for an overall change in nutrition, just start with smaller amounts of what you regularly eat. Or try eating less red meat and more chicken and fish. Avoid or cut back on processed foods, swap out white rice for brown rice, or try whole-wheat pasta with veggies.
“Start small. I had one patient who eliminated one piece of toast every morning, and the next time she came to see me, her numbers were down.”
“Think about dividing your plate up, with mostly vegetables and lean proteins or plant-based protein and then, just one- fourth of the plate being rice, bread or pasta,” advises Dr. Saran. “Those kinds of small things go a long way.”
“It is also crucial to think ahead,” says Dr. Daw. “I know that if I don’t plan what I am eating, I am likely to come home and just order takeout food.”
Movement is another crucial component in the fight against prediabetes because it helps control weight and naturally lowers blood glucose levels. “Getting physically fit can be a gradual process,” says Dr. Saran. “Start walking or being active in some way, at least 20 minutes a day, and it doesn’t have to be all at once. Start with five or 10 minutes of walking, several times a day. Shoot for approximately 150 minutes a week.”
“If you are time-strapped and can’t get to a gym, just incorporate movement into your regular life,” says Dr. Daw. “Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up from your desk a few times a day and walk back and forth from the water cooler. Couple that Netflix binge with standing or marching in place while you are watching your shows.
“There’s one big thing I wish all my patients knew about prediabetes,” says Dr. Daw. “It’s that they have the power to prevent it—or reverse it.”