pre-diabetic

[DenverDan]

Hi. My Dr. says I'm pre-diabetic. When I asked him what to do he said, "Lose weight".  When I asked about specific diet ideas, he said, "just lose weight." So, I've been exercising. What sort of diet should a pre-diabetic person use?

Thanks, Denver Dan

[Odyssey13]

DenverDan, your doctor should have given you more information. Did he base this on bloodwork up? You will want to know what your A1C is - that tells the glucose in your blood after fasting overnight.

Here is a link to the American Diabetes Association's information on prediabetes. They have information on diet and changes you can make. It's a place to start learning by reading.

As for diet, our doctor suggested that husband and I adopt the DASH diet. It's meant to lower blood pressure, blood sugar and help to lose weight.

Congrats on your coming here to help transition to your new life style. You can do it. The first step you've already taken by coming here.

[DenverDan]

Yes, it's from a glucose reading.

THANK YOU for the info. I'll check into it.
Denver Dan

--
"Sometimes you have to be a little weird to make people understand how
passionate you are about something" John Esposito Warner Music USA

[LCHFmom]

Dan - 

My doctor said I was pre-diabetic as well.   She recommended a restricted carb diet for me ( see my sig).  

Now, there is a lot of information on the web about staving off from being a pre-diabetic, and most if the inforamtion I have read leans toward restriction of carbs.    There are actually several forms of dietary plans that you could follow, but I would research and see what may best fit your lifestyle.  Here are a couple :

• Keto Plans  ( 70 20 10  or 60 30 10 )
• The 5 and 2 
• Calorie Restriction ( while watching carbs)
• Straight Carb Restriction ( keep under xx carbs,  20g or 30g ) 

There are more, but I know these tend to have carb reduction build into the plan... 

Here is merely one article I found .. http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/04/treating-patients-prediabetes-weight-loss-carbohydrate-restricti...

Greetings by the way, from another part of Denver. 

[gerrymcd]

I'm no expert, but from what I've read 'loosing weight' is frequently the way to prevent progression to a diabetes diagnosis.  In which case, the method you choose should be the one that works for you -provided you loose weight at a safe rate, and are eating a well balanced diet.   

I guess its disappointing your Dr. wasn't a bit more forthcoming, or recommend you for an appointment with a dietician.

[DenverDan]

Thank you!

[KJScarp]

Here's the thing - while weight loss does help with avoiding diabetes, if you are continuing to eat foods that are high in carbohydrate, then your insulin levels will still remain high, despite the weight loss.  T2 is not just a disease of overweight/obese people (although many diabetics are); many people of normal weight are also prone to diabetes.

Continued high insulin levels will damage your organs, which is why many T2 diabetics endure blindness, kidney damage and amputations.  Organ damage begins at sustained blood sugar levels of 120.

Look at it this way:  genetics loads the gun, but the foods that you eat will pull the trigger.  Diabetes runs in my family.  Even following a low carb paleo way of eating, and having lost 75 pounds, my fasting glucose levels have only dropped from 101 to 94.  A step in the right direction, but there is room for improvement.  Given my family history, I will forever have to be vigilant about the types of foods I eat (i.e. carbohydrates).

My husband was diagnosed with T2 in 1993.  He followed the recommendations of the American Diabetes Association for years, and his disease has progressed to the point where he became insulin-dependent about 5 years ago.  Just by cutting his carbohydrate intake down to about 50 per day (vs. 45-60 per meal as advised by the ADA), he has managed to reduce his insulin requirements by half. 

I highly suggest reading the book The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Richard Bernstein.  A great website relating to diabetes education is bloodsugar101.com.  Also, Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University runs a diabetes lifestyle management course that is on youtube, that contains some very valuable information and advice.  Here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSLf4bzAyOM

I highly suggest you watch the entire video, but if time is of the essence, he begins the dietary recommendations at approximately 15:50.

Please take this diagnosis of pre-diabetes seriously.  You can prolong your life and avoid organ damage by controlling the types of food that you eat.

[lovemyguyz]

I was diagnosed with type 2 in October. Working with a nutritionist I have been able to bring my blood glucose numbers and A1C down so I can for now control it with diet and exercise. If I do as instructed and meet my goals she said by Oct 2014 I should be able to say "history of diabetes". Having a nutritionist has been a huge help, check into it, your insurance may cover it. The biggest thing you have to control is your carb intake and you need to learn which ones you react the strongest to. Any type of rice blows my numbers sky high. She also says I have to have a protein any time I eat a carb, it slows down the process. Good luck and take it seriously.

[DenverDan]

Much thanks for your concern and advice!

[carl669]

did your doctor recommend you start testing your blood sugar?  if not, i'd recommend going and getting a meter and some strips.  since type 2 diabetes can be a problem of insulin resistance (thus causing elevated blood sugar), there's no way to know if what you've changed is actually working without measuring your blood sugar.  walmart has a meter (relion brand) for $15 and you can get 50 strips for about $10, no prescription required.  

your doctor is either incredibly naive or just bad at explaining things.  losing weight will not necessarily prevent the progression of diabetes.  as someone else mentioned above, continuing to eat a high carb diet may not be the best for you (eg. DASH diet above).  again though, the only way to truly know what works and what doesn't is to start measuring your blood sugar.

when i was diagnosed 8 months ago, my fasting blood sugar was 143. i immediately cut out all bread, pasta, rice, grains, etc.  my main source of carbs is now non-starchy veggies and whatever small amounts of carb that cheese and heavy cream contain (no milk).  my total carb intake is typically less than 30g per day.  to date, i've lost 82 pounds and my fasting sugars range from 70-85. once i started seeing normal sugar levels, the weight just kind of fell off on its own.  i did not increase my activity level one iota.  i've recently added in some weights, but that's more of a toning thing and not a weight loss thing.  i'm not saying this way of eating (called LCHF or HFLC) will work for you or that you have to cut carbs as drastically, but i'm just giving my personal experience.

[DenverDan]

thank you VERY MUCH for your advice and concern,
Dan

--
"Sometimes you have to be a little weird to make people understand how
passionate you are about something" John Esposito Warner Music USA

[londog]

Denver Dan,

I was wondering if you also have Sleep Apnea? The only reason why I ask is because I never had the opportunity to battle pre-diabetes...my doctor told me I quickly jumped into being full Type 2 Diabetic in a very short period of time due to the fact that I had Sleep Apnea.  So, I just thought I would give you the warning just in case you were had sleep apnea.

Take your pre-diabetic diagnosis very seriously...you don't want to cross that line...once you cross the line and become full type-2 diabetic your whole world will never be the same.

Good luck to you.

Lonnie

[DenverDan]

THANKS Lonnie,

Yes I do have sleep apnea. I sleep with a CPAP machine. This little
bracelet thing I wear on my wrist tells me how I'm sleeping.

I've gone from just a few workouts a month to 5or6 workouts a week. That
should help, right?

Thanks again,
Dan

[londog]

Denver Dan,

I am glad you are using your machine...mine broke...I need to get it fixed.

5-6 workouts a week is awesome...just don't burn yourself out...always think long term and about what is sustainable.  I see people that jump into all these fad diets and I asks them if they can see themselves conforming to these diets 5 years from now.  It is one thing to jump into a diet to lose some weight in the short term...its another thing to turn it into a lifestyle. The same goes for working out...just make sure you are not killing yourself and there is a better chance you will keep it up.

On a side note...eating is a way bigger factor in losing weight and managing your blood sugar...so I really hope you are putting as much effort into your eating habits as you are into working out 

Lonnie

[sbgrimes]

Tell your Dr, you need structure.  Push for a session w a nutritionist.  They have pages and pages of info so you don't have to figure it all out on your own.  Wish someone would have told me about pre diabetes, long before I became one.

[Lightsinger]

---

@Odyssey13 wrote:

DenverDan, your doctor should have given you more information. Did he base this on bloodwork up? You will want to know what your A1C is - that tells the glucose in your blood after fasting overnight.

Here is a link to the American Diabetes Association's information on prediabetes. They have information on diet and changes you can make. It's a place to start learning by reading.

As for diet, our doctor suggested that husband and I adopt the DASH diet. It's meant to lower blood pressure, blood sugar and help to lose weight.

Congrats on your coming here to help transition to your new life style. You can do it. The first step you've already taken by coming here.

---

In addition to visiting the American Diabetes Association website -- and I highly recommend their forum community -- you might also ask your doctor to send you to a diabetes education class.

Why, if you are only pre-diabetic?  Because the diet and exercise suggestions are identical to those for a person with diabetes.  You are already demonstrating an impaired glucose response, and being pre-diabetic can lead to a diagnosis of diabetes.  If you change your lifestyle to match that of a diabetic, you can forstall, even avoid diabetes. 

[patmckee]

DenverDan,

I was told I was pre-diabetic too. The nurse practitioner told me to follow the diabetic diet. She believes everyone should follow the diabetic diet.  I went to the library and looked at Diabetic Living magazine to check out the recipes. I went to Diabetic Living online, it's free with mutiple recipes and information.

I'm also in Denver.

[Stephie78]

I lost 50 pounds while being pregnant (yes while I was pregnant) just by spreading out the carbs and counting.  More small snacks between meals.  Keep breakfast and snacks below 30 carbs and lunch under 60.  Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner.  I have slacked off a bit but need to get back on that diet as my A1C is creeping back up and so is my weight.  Lots of protein too.  Protein breaks down the carbs better.  I lived on peanut butter for a long time (it let me get away with adding a few more carbs).  Also, Wonder bread has a Smart White and Smart Wheat line of bread.  Bread is my weakness and these have low carbs.  That helped a whole bunch.

[Like1info]

I am a diabetic, Type 11, but early on, when first diagnosed, my doctor told me to go on the Weight Watchers program and then sent me for Diabetes training at a local hospital.  My insurance actually paid for that and it was a great program.  I don't know if it would pay for pre-diabetes, but there are also support groups for free at local hospitals, at least in my area.  Mine gave me two free meters to see which one I liked better and they also have info to give out.  The "just loose weight" statement was pretty glib and if I were you, unless you really like your Dr., I would look into changing for a more caring individual!!!! You will need a lot of support in order to travel this road, which is rough, but it is worth it! 

[DKK]

I was pre-diabetic for about 6 years and no one really said anything about it (had a physical each and every year).  Moved and switched doctors and with a fasting number of 110, A1C of 6.1, she told me I was diabetic.  She says there is no sugar coating this, especially since my mom died from diabetic complications.  But she told me to do research online, diet and add exercise for 4 months to see if that number goes down.  

I went to a registered dietician with the Weight Watcher Simply Filling plan in hand and we really looked it over.  She likes the plan but tweeked to add in some nuts each week, maybe an avocado, limit my fruit servings to 1/2 c twice per day and add protein, protein, protein.  I've lost 16# now although with summer gatherings I've slipped a little.  My summer work schedule also makes me so tired I haven't done as well in the exercise department either.

My summer crazy hours end in 3 weeks and I hope to hire some more help that will allow me to go back to working part time, eating regular meals and get in more exercise.

Good luck