Prediabetes: Signs, Risks and Prevention

You may have come across terms like "prediabetes," "borderline diabetes," "impaired glucose tolerance," or "insulin resistance" before. All of these terms refer to a stage before the development of type 2 diabetes. In this stage, blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. During the prediabetic stage, the pancreas still produces sufficient insulin in response to carbohydrate digestion. However, insulin is less effective at removing sugar from the bloodstream, resulting in high blood sugar levels. The good news is, prediabetes can be prevented with lifestyle changes, and it does not always progress to diabetes. 

 

Warning signs of prediabetes  

Detecting this health condition is challenging, as symptoms are apparent in only 20% of individuals. However, it is essential to keep a lookout for certain indicators that increase the risk of developing diabetes, as per the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). 

 

Here are the major ones: 

 

Being overweight / having excessive abdominal fat 

Lack of physical activity Age 45 and above 

High blood pressure or cholesterol 

Familial connection to type 2 diabetes 

A medical history of heart attacks, strokes, gestational diabetes, or polycystic ovary syndrome.

Signs that it is indeed prediabetes 

Regular medical check-ups are crucial for individuals with risk factors associated with prediabetes, a disease that often passes unnoticed. To identify prediabetes early on, doctors may recommend laboratory tests such as glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) or the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The HbA1c test provides a better overall picture of an individual's sugar levels in the past three months compared to the OGTT. Normal HbA1c levels range between 4-5.7%, while levels between 5.7-6.4% are indicative of prediabetes. To minimize the risk of developing prediabetes or diabetes, certain preventative measures should be taken. 

 

How to reduce the risk of diabetes and prediabetes 

Now we have reached the most important part - prevention, which is recommended for anyone who is at one level of risk or another, even more so if they have not yet developed insulin resistance. Fortunately, in a large-scale study conducted under the banner of the NIDDK Diabetes Prevention Program, it was discovered that there is much hope for all those at risk. The study showed that, with the help of certain lifestyle changes, the risk of developing diabetes can be reduced by 58% within 3 years, which is the period in which diabetes itself may already appear (3-5 years from the moment prediabetes is discovered). 

 

1. A balanced diet 

Try to consume as many foods rich in nutrients, such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and heart-healthy fats. Dietary fiber is especially important in the diet. As far as grains are concerned, make sure to choose complex carbohydrates (whole grains). Limit your consumption of sugar, including sugary drinks and baked goods, as they lack essential nutrients. Consider consulting a nutritionist to create a daily or weekly meal plan that includes pre-diabetic-friendly foods. 

 Try to exercise for a total of 150 minutes per week, or 30 minutes per day, 5 days a week. Engage in physical activities such as walking, cycling, swimming, or hiking. 3

 

3. Maintaining a healthy weight 

Maintaining a healthy weight is also crucial, as excess weight and abdominal fat increase your risk of developing prediabetes. Experts recommend losing at least 5-7% of body weight and 30% of abdominal fat to lower your risk. 

 

Consulting with a medical practitioner or a nutrition expert about the modifications required in your diet is crucial. In case it is necessary, you can also reach out to a fitness trainer. They can customize exercises for you that can aid your body in achieving a safe weight.

4. Medications  

The treating doctor may recommend medications like metformin, which was found to be highly effective at preventing diabetes. 

 

However, not everyone is immediately given medication upon diagnosis. It is recommended that lifestyle changes be made first for a few months. 

 

The duration for which medication is prescribed varies from patient to patient, depending on their overall health, age, and the risk factors they are exposed to.

Start today  

Aside from medications that are typically administered once efforts to alter one's lifestyle have been exhausted, you may consider the remaining tips blanket advice for overall well-being. However, they serve as a reminder that the state of your health is your responsibility, especially when dealing with pre-diabetes. Preventing the illness is entirely up to you. By prioritizing your health today, you will do yourself a favor in the future by saving money on medication and avoiding unnecessary suffering.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.  

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New Study Reveals: Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar

High levels of blood sugar can lead to some serious health problems. The human body naturally has sugar, or glucose, in the blood. The right amount of blood sugar gives the body’s cells and organs energy. But too much of it can be dangerous and, in extreme cases cause diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, and more. A recent study has confirmed a possible, very accessible solution for those struggling to manage their blood sugar levels. The research, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, found that cinnamon, in large doses over time, could help improve measures of blood sugar control.

The study was conducted in both Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and the Korean Medicine Clinical Trial Center in Seoul and involved 51 participants from both countries. Half of them received a supplement containing 500 milligrams of cinnamon three times a day for 12 weeks, while the other half received a placebo. After 6 weeks, all subjects reported for a check-in, and there were no significant differences between the groups. At the 12 week check-in, however, the patients that took the cinnamon supplement showed significant improvements in measures of blood sugar control.

What cinnamon does, essentially, is either imitate the effects of insulin and increase glucose transport into cells, or increase insulin sensitivity, and thus making it more effective at transporting the glucose. 

 

The findings of the current study support similar evidence from a previous study, that found that the intake of large doses of cinnamon over several months is linked to stable blood sugar levels, with no apparent side effects, in people with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic illnesses, affecting as many as 460 million adults around the world. Moreover, according to the CDC, about 1 in 3 adults in the US has a condition called prediabetes where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. If left unchecked and untreated, prediabetes is likely to progress and become diabetes.

The purpose of investigating cinnamon’s potential, according to the researches, was to find a safe, long-term, affordable treatment to prevent prediabetes from turning into a more serious disease. More evidence is still needed, but if cinnamon continues to prove useful it could be an accessible and simple alternative to expensive or side-effect prone diabetes treatments. 

 

If you are interested in taking cinnamon as a supplement, regardless of suffering from diabetes, it’s best to consult your doctor first. Unless you have liver damage, it should be perfectly OK to enjoy cinnamon in your food while benefiting from its health properties.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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5 symptoms of pre-diabetes that must not be ignored

Pre-diabetes refers to a condition in which the normal blood sugar level neither falls in the ‘diabetic category’ nor in the ‘normal category’. A normal person’s fasting blood sugar reading is less than 100 mg/dl; and greater than 126 if you are diabetic. If your fasting blood sugar falls somewhere in between these numbers, then you are considered pre-diabetic.

Here are a few general symptoms which will help you detect your pre-diabetes early-
 
Unexplained weight gain
If you are not eating in excess, exercising regularly and still experiencing unexplained weight gain, then you might be on the brink of pre-diabetes. The chances of having diabetes increases with age and is widely seen in people who are overweight. Thus, it is best to have a workout routine from the very beginning in order to prevent those fat flabs.
 
Skin problems
Dark skin patches, skin tags and discoloration of skin are some common symptoms of pre-diabetes. If your skin has started to turn dark from your neck, armpits or other areas which have thin skin, then you must get yourself tested for diabetes and not rule the symptoms out, considering it as a sun tan.
 
Not getting a good night’s sleep
Tossing and turning at night and not getting enough sleep at a stretch is a symptom that you might be pre-diabetic. Bad sleep can also make you gain weight and further increases your chances of developing diabetes. Thus, you must keep an eye on such symptoms and get yourself tested if you notice something unusual.
 
Blurred vision
Though there are other health problems too which are attached to blurred eyesight, but it is a major symptom of pre-diabetes as well. Diabetes can cause trouble to your eyesight and lead you to blurred on tunnel vision, which is a big reason to get your checked for the disease.
 
Fatigue
One major misconception people have is that fatigue and tiredness are same. Well, there is a thin line between fatigue and tiredness, which separates the two. While tiredness will get better after you rest for a while, fatigue will persist even after getting a good rest. If you feel you are experiencing fatigue from the past few days which refuses to go away, even after you rest, then there is a high possibility of you being on the verge of pre-diabetes.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Can timing of meals help with weight loss?

This is a story about the importance of good timing.

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. This excess weight contributes to a variety of health problems. Despite enormous effort over decades, the problem has proved extremely difficult to solve. Biologist  thinks we're missing a key variable: Instead of focusing so much on what we eat, he says, we should pay more attention to when we eat.

A researcher argues that eating within a certain time window each day can help people lose weight and may help prevent illnesses including diabetes, heart diseases and cancer. In animal studies, he and others have shown that limiting food intake to a period of eight to 12 hours can boost cognitive and physical performance, and may even lengthen life span. Known as time-restricted feeding, or TRF, the approach is simple: Eat more or less what you want, but don't consume anything before or after the allotted time.

The researcher argues that humans' circadian rhythm is not designed for a world with 24-7 access to food. "If you're eating all the time, it messes up that pattern," he says. For many if not most Americans, that pattern is deeply out of whack, and many of us eat from early morning until late at night.

It is not clear whether TRF works in humans the way it seems to work in lab mice. For one, mice and humans have very different circadian rhythms. Mice are nocturnal and sleep more than once a day. They also live for only two or three years. "It may be that for a mouse, a 16-hour fast is the equivalent of a two- or three-day fast for a human," says a nutrition scientist who is doing research on TRF in humans.

In addition, the researchers say, some of the benefits of TRF may stem from decreased consumption due to the shortened eating window: It's not really surprising that cutting out the after-dinner drink and the late-night sundae is good for weight loss and overall health. And, in fact, studies in humans and animals have found that TRF helps both mice and people eat fewer calories.

The biologist first got interested in TRF 15 years ago, while studying the genetics of circadian rhythm. His research on mice revealed that over the course of a day, hundreds of liver genes turn on and off cyclically. The liver plays a central role in metabolizing calories, and it turned out that most of these cyclic genes were involved in eating and digestion. This led him to ask whether mice - and humans, too - were programmed to eat according to a certain circadian schedule. In 2008, he began examining how mice responded to different feeding schedules; to his surprise, TRF had powerful health benefits.

The researchers compared two groups of mice, both of which consumed the same number of calories. One group was limited to an eight-hour window, while the other could eat at any time. After four months, the eight-hour mice weighed 28 percent less than the anytime eaters. "When we saw the results, they were so unexpected," he says. "Even I didn't believe it."

He had his students independently repeated the experiment three times; all of the results were similar. Using the same model - two groups eating an equal number of calories, but on different feeding schedules - he found that TRF mice had normal blood sugar levels, while the unlimited-schedule animals developed Type 2 diabetes. Since then, he has shown that TRF can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. In addition, mice restricted to an eight- or nine-hour eating window could run for twice as long as those that ate on a normal schedule.

"TRF is an interesting and valuable idea, but it's not proven that it works in humans," says nutrition researcher. "There is some evidence to suggest that it might be useful for some things. But it's extraordinarily complex to actually nail this down."

Overall, he says, the evidence indicates that eating most of your food earlier in the day is probably healthier than eating most of your food later in the day. He also notes that there are many complexities to the issue, including the fact that most people eat healthier food at breakfast (oatmeal or cereal, for instance) than they do at dinner (hamburger, fries and dessert).

Some evidence from research involving humans indicates that TRF has benefits even when people don't eat any less. In a study that is soon to be published, the team examined eight men with pre-diabetes, a condition in which people are close to being diabetic but not quite there. Researchers prepared all food in the study, and the participants ate it under supervision. The men tried two schedules: eating all their meals between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Compared with the 12-hour schedule, the six-hour window significantly lowered blood pressure and improved insulin sensitivity, the ability to process glucose.

"We were really excited about the results," Peterson says. "It was a small study, but it was done extremely carefully." In a similar study, also not yet published, she looked at 11 overweight people who followed the same two regimens. Although those in the six-hour window did not increase the overall number of calories they burned, they did increase the amount of fat they burned and reduced levels of a key hunger hormone called ghrelin; these metabolic changes might make it easier to lose weight and body fat.

"I think that within 10 years we will have some really clear guidelines for meal timing," the biologist says. "But we are in the early stages of this research. There is a lot more work we need to do."

In 2015, he looked at the eating patterns of 156 adults; more than half spread food consumption over 15 hours or longer, while only 10 percent consistently ate within a 12-hour window. He followed up with eight of these people, who were overweight and typically ate for 14 hours or more a day. When the subjects were limited to a 10-hour window for four months, with no other restrictions - they could eat whatever they wanted - they lost weight, slept better and had more energy.

Panda is now starting a study that will eventually include thousands of adults worldwide. Using a custom smartphone app that allows people to take photos of what they eat and immediately send them to researchers, he will be able to more accurately track which foods people eat. Using this data, he will examine whether TRF can improve weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, joint pain, sleep, anxiety and inflammation.

He says that mice and humans - and probably most organisms - are not built to simultaneously ingest food and metabolize it. "Everything cannot happen at once," he says. "The body can't take in calories and break down calories at the same time." He and other circadian scientists say that many if not most animals have evolved to consume food according to the 24-hour solar cycle. For humans, this rhythm involves eating during the day and sleeping after sunset. With the advent of electric lights, refrigerators, microwaves and 7-Elevens, millions if not billions of us have jettisoned this pattern. But the circadian rhythm of our metabolism still expects us to stop eating at sundown. This mismatch between modern society and programmed biology can lead to myriad health problems, the researchers say.

It is not clear exactly how TRF works, but it seems to trigger several molecular changes. It increases the activity of mitochondria, which provide energy to cells throughout the body; it boosts levels of ketone bodies, molecules produced by the liver during fasting, which are a powerful source of energy and are especially useful to muscle and brain cells; it also raises production of brown fat, the "good" fat that helps the body burn more energy. Together, these mechanisms allow the body to generate more energy and metabolize calories more efficiently than unscheduled eating.

TRF is just one of several approaches that involve fasting. Scientists are also looking at intermittent fasting, which typically involves eating every other day, or eating for five days and then fasting for two.

A gerontologist, has focused on an approach in which people eat very little for five days at a time, several times a year. Other researchers are examining calorie restriction, which requires reducing calorie intake below normal levels, for months, years or longer, in hopes of triggering a variety of beneficial physiological responses. Studies of animals and humans have found that these regimens can have benefits, including weight loss, lower rates of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and, in some animal studies, significantly longer life span.

All of these strategies have some similarities to TRF, he says, with one major difference: They are much more difficult to follow. Whereas TRF involves relatively minor adjustments in how most people already eat, intermittent fasting and calorie restriction often require hunger and discipline for long periods.

This, he says, is why TRF has potential as a public health strategy. In a society where Big Gulps and Big Macs are ubiquitous, unhealthy eating and obesity are very hard to avoid. TRF, he contends, offers a simple, relatively manageable alternative. "Just by changing when we eat, we can have an effect on obesity and these related problems," Panda says. "This can really move the needle."

He himself has adopted TRF and says he's seen benefits: lower blood sugar, weight loss, better sleep and more energy. He now uses a modified version, in which he eats breakfast at 7 a.m., skips lunch and has dinner with his family at around 7 p.m. In essence, he has two long fasts a day, between meals and overnight. Others around him have adopted the classic TRF regimen, including his 15-year-old daughter, his mother and several graduate students in his lab. He says his mother had pre-diabetes before starting the diet; since then, her blood sugar has dropped significantly, to a healthy level.

So far, TRF has not caught on widely. the scientist, is one of the early adopters. Five to seven days a week, she limits her consumption to a six- or seven-hour window, usually eating between 8 a.m. and 2 or 3 p.m. She says she has more energy, feels a bit calmer and doesn't feel particularly hungry in the afternoon or evening.

"You have to adapt to it," she says. "When I first started trying this, I found 10 hours was hard. Now, six hours seems easy."

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