The Best Diet For Prediabetes

It can be frightening when your doctor diagnoses you with prediabetes. It’s a disease characterized by alarmingly high blood sugar most likely because of insulin resistance. Your body can’t use insulin properly, and it’s likely to lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

But it doesn’t always follow that prediabetes means you’re going to get type 2 diabetes. The most important factor is early intervention so your blood sugar doesn’t classify you as prediabetic. Your diet is crucial, and you have to know the best foods to eat.

Diet and Prediabetes

Many factors can increase your risk of getting prediabetes. Genetics plays a major part in it. Especially if you know of a relative who has diabetes. But there are many other factors like inactivity and being overweight.

When you have prediabetes, the sugar from your start to build in your bloodstream because insulin isn’t able to move easily into your cells.

It’s not just carbs that’s a factor of prediabetes, but also the amount and type of carbs you have been consuming for long periods of time. A diet that is filled with refined and processed carbs causes spikes in your blood sugar.

For most people who have prediabetes, their bodies have a hard time lowering blood sugar after their meals. When you avoid blood sugar spikes by knowing what food affects you, it can help a lot.

When you eat more carbs and calories that your body needs, they become fat, which leads to weight gain. Body fat, especially in the belly area, is connected to insulin resistance. That’s why a lot of people think that overweight people have diabetes or are prediabetic.

You Have To Eat Healthy

A lot of risk factors that lead to prediabetes can be mitigated. When you make lifestyle changes, you can have a balanced blood sugar level, and a healthy weight range.

Study the Glycemic Index

The glycemic index is used to determine how food will affect your blood sugar. Foods high on the GI are going to raise your blood sugar more rapidly. Foods that are low on the GI don’t have much effect on your blood sugar.

High fiber foods are in the low part of the GI.

Processed and refined foods are high on the GI.

Refined carbohydrates are high on the GI, like white bread, certain potatoes, white rice, soda, and juice. Limit your intake of these foods as much as possible.

Foods that are in the middle of the GI are things like whole wheat bread and brown rice.

Foods that are best for you are steel cut oats (instead of instant), stone ground whole wheat bread, non-starchy vegetables like carrots, beans, sweet potatoes, corn and whole wheat pasta.

Normally, food labels don’t show the GI of an item. Just check the fiber content to know where it stands in the index.

Controlling How Much You Eat

In the US, portion sizes are notorious for being larger than a lot of countries. Food labels will assist you in knowing just how much you’re putting in your body. It’s important to know how this will affect your health with the amount of fat, carbs, and calories you’re taking in.

A certain food can have 20 grams of carbs and 150 calories per serving, but if you eat two servings, you consumed 40 grams of carbs and 300 calories.

It’s not that you should eliminate carbs altogether, you only have to limit your consumption of them severely, especially when you’re already diagnosed with diabetes.

Stop eating when you’re already full.

Eating Foods Rich In Fiber

Fiber makes you full fast. Go for foods like beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, quinoa, barley, whole grain cereals, and whole wheat pasta.

Stop drinking sugary drinks like soda. Limit your consumption of alcohol as much as possible. Don’t drink sugary and flavored drinks. Choose water as often as possible.

Eating Lean Meats

Protein is the great saving grace of diabetes diets. It’s neither carb nor sugar. Go for chicken meat, egg whites, beans, legumes, tofu, fish like cod, tuna, trout, steak, tenderloin, and roast with the fat trimmed, crab, lobster, shrimps, and turkey.

Lean meats only have about 0 to 1 gram of fat and 35 calories an ounce.

Drink a Lot of Water

Dehydration is a real consequence of anything from eating too much salty foods, to simply not taking care of your hydration. Choose water over sodas and juices. Your urine color will tell you just how dehydrated you are. If it’s a deep yellow, it means you’re dehydrated. If it’s anywhere from pale yellow to almost translucent, then you should be good.

Diet and Exercise

It would be nice to join groups that exercise and diet together, and lift each other up in their goals. Having no physical activity is going to increase your insulin resistance. Without social support, you’re not going to go very far anywhere.

The exercise doesn’t have to be stressful. You can choose walking, soul cycling, dancing, or stretching.

Around 84 million US adults are said to have diabetes today. The alarming statistic is that 90% of them are not aware they have diabetes. If you want to improve your health state, it’s best to talk with your physician as soon as possible.