StemCell Therapy

Q: My doctor suggested I join a pre-diabetes program, but my schedule just doesnt allow it. Is there something I can do on my own? J.R., Winterville

A: If you have pre-diabetes, it is really important to make lifestyle changes that will help you remain in the pre-diabetic state rather than progressing to diabetes. If I were you, I would take a hard look at the schedule and see if you cant try to attend. But if you cant, Taylor White, a third-year Brody medical student, has suggestions for you to try on your own.

Up to 35 percent of American adults have pre-diabetes and dont even know it. Pre-diabetes means that your blood sugar is higher than it should be, but not high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes. You can walk around for months without any symptoms while your blood sugar is starting to rise and cause damage to your body, especially to your blood vessels.

Pre-diabetes increases your risk of stroke and heart disease. If you or someone you love has recently been told you have the beginning stages of diabetes, it is especially important to watch what you eat. You can take action to slow or prevent developing diabetes. Here are a few suggestions.

Limit your intake of carbohydrates, the starchy and sugary foods we eat. These foods raise our blood sugar to unhealthy levels, which leads to diabetes over time. Some people are successful in following a lower glycemic index diet. You would want to have an appointment with a registered dietitian nutritionist to plan an approach to eating that is right for you.

There are several types of meal plans that will help you keep your blood sugar in check. And you will then make some substitutions like having a sweet potato instead of white potato to reduce inflammation and fight against diabetes due to its lower glycemic index. This means that it takes longer for the same amount of sweet potato to raise your blood sugar and doesn't cause as high of a spike as a white potato might.

You can use zucchini or squash noodles instead of pasta to reduce the calories and carbs. Read the label on your yogurt. Some unsweetened Greek yogurts, a great source of protein, have as much as 10 grams less sugar than some traditional low-fat yogurt. Look for cauliflower rice in the frozen vegetable section, or make your own by grating raw cauliflower in a food processor. Eat this in place of white rice to reduce the carbohydrates by 40 grams in a one-cup serving.

Regardless of the dietary approach you select, eat more fiber. Fiber is the part of plants that is not readily digested by humans. It helps keep blood sugar in check, reduces constipation and helps us maintain a healthy weight. Foods like beans, whole-grain breads and quinoa will keep you feeling full for longer. Try to make half your plate full of vegetables and fruits.

Other ways to increase your fiber intake are replacing meats that have almost no fiber with one-half cup of beans with 10 grams of fiber, two nights a week. Choose cereals with whole grain as the first ingredient, and eat whole fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.

Limit sugary beverages. These include drinks like soda, fruit juice, sweet tea and many sweetened coffees, vinegar drinks and smoothies. Try replacing those drinks with more water. Water improves your metabolism, helps your bodys cells work more efficiently, and has zero calories or sugar, which is great for your waistline too. Even limiting the number of sweetened beverages to one 8-ounce glass per day is a big improvement for many folks.

Increase your physical activity to 30 minutes on most days of the week. Regular, moderate exercise where your heart rate stays elevated throughout the session improves the way your body handles the sugar in your bloodstream. It burns calories, improves your mood and prevents heart disease. This is an easy way to prevent progression to diabetes. Try walking, jogging, biking, dancing, swimming, climbing the stairs or any other activity that keeps you moving for 30 minutes at a time.

And if you are overweight, it is important to work toward a healthy weight.

For more information about pre-diabetes and to take a quiz to see if you have it, check out this website: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/prediabetes.html.

Professor emeritus Kathy Kolasa, a registered dietitian nutritionist and Ph.D., is an Affiliate Professor in the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Contact her at kolasaka@ecu.edu.

Read the original post:
Don't let pre-diabetes become diabetes - Greenville Daily Reflector

This entry was posted on May 3, 2017 at 9:43 am and is filed under Diabetes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |