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Prediabetes & Diabetic Reversal
Prediabetes is when your glucose levels are higher than normal but below the levels that indicate diabetes. Nearly 40% of adults in America are living with prediabetes. although 80% are unaware that they are currently pre-diabetic.
This is important for 3 reasons:
- Having prediabetes puts you at high risk for developing diabetes.
- Having prediabetes dramatically increases your risk for stroke, heart attack, stroke, and dementia.
- Prediabetes is treatable and often curable.
Prediabetes may sound like a minor problem, but it indicates your metabolism is not working properly.
Keep reading to learn why, and if you're ready to take the first step toward fixing the problem, request your first consultation with HealthspanMD today.
WHAT IS INSULIN RESISTANCE?
Prediabetes and Insulin Resistance
People with prediabetes have too much sugar and energy available for the body to handle efficiently. This leads to high insulin levels, but the cells are already full of energy and have turned down their ability to respond to insulin. This is called insulin resistance.
Having increased insulin levels leads to fat accumulation – which leads to more insulin resistance – creating a negative feedback loop that eventually leads to diabetes in 70% of people with prediabetes.
Prediabetes can be present for years without producing any noticeable symptoms. As a result, it can go undetected until type 2 diabetes sets in. Getting your blood sugar tested regularly is essential if you think you’re at risk of prediabetes. Some common risk indicators for prediabetes are:
- Excessive body weight – overweight or obesity
- Being more than 45 years of age
- A family history of type 2 diabetes
- Low activity levels or sedentary lifestyle
- Previous history of gestational diabetes
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- Individuals from some ethnicities are at greater risk of developing this condition than others. Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and African Americans have greater risk for prediabetes.
If you have prediabetes, you should know that reversing prediabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes is entirely achievable. The primary goal for reversing prediabetes is to lower insulin levels and reverse insulin resistance. This requires reducing energy intake and fixing your metabolism. There are seven tools for fixing your metabolism, and they don’t just hinge on medicine for prediabetes:
- Healthy nutrition
- Regular physical activity
- Avoid toxins such as tobacco and excess alcohol
- Restorative sleep
- Manage stress
- Stay connected – socially and to your purpose
- Medications when needed
Can You Reverse Prediabetes? Reverse Diabetes?
Our Diabetes Reversal Program: What Really Works
Diabetes is a serious health problem because it markedly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, kidney failure, blindness, amputation, and early death. However, with proper treatment that includes normalizing blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body composition, and following a healthy lifestyle, diabetes can be potentially reversed, and the risks of diabetes can be dramatically reduced.
Although type 2 diabetes can have a devastating effect on your health, what many people with diabetes don’t know is that the best “medicine” for diabetes is not just blood sugar medications – and that reversing diabetes is possible.
Normalizing blood sugar levels is just one part of a treatment plan designed to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia, and other complications of diabetes. Those who can also optimize their blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and body composition or weight can dramatically lower their risk of complications and give themselves the best chance to reverse their diabetes.
The most effective ways to lower the risk of the complications of diabetes and potentially reverse it include:
- Eating a healthy diet that minimizes highly processed, high sugar, and highly refined grain foods.
- Regular physical activity that includes aerobic and strength training.
- Getting restorative sleep
- Effectively managing stress
- Avoiding toxins like tobacco and excess alcohol
- Staying socially connected.
- Optimizing diabetes medications
At HealthspanMD™, we can help you get the best diabetic treatment plan to lower the risk of the complications of diabetes and give you the best opportunity to reverse diabetes often requires an expert team of professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the two types of diabetes?
Diabetes is an increasingly common chronic condition in which the body cannot manage blood sugar properly. There are two types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes is a lack of insulin, and type 1 diabetes medications are generally focused on increasing your production of insulin.
- The most common form (> 90%) of diabetes is type 2 diabetes which has skyrocketed, increasing 750% in the last 50 years, and more than one in ten people are now taking medicine for type 2 diabetes.
In type 2 diabetes, the body’s cells and organs become resistant to insulin leading to high blood sugar levels, inflammation and damage to blood vessels and organs. Diabetes commonly occurs with obesity, but it can also occur in those of normal weight.
What is insulin resistance? Do you offer insulin treatment?
Insulin is a hormone that we need to live – it gets energy into our muscles and critical organs so they can do their job, but it also is our fat storage hormone.
Insulin resistance is a negative feedback loop that occurs when your body’s cells become less responsive to insulin, which leads to higher levels of insulin, which leads to more insulin resistance. Insulin resistance may be the most common medical problem, even though most people with insulin resistance don’t know it. Depending on the definition, from 50% to 90% of adults have insulin resistance
It’s critically important to understand three things about insulin resistance if you are struggling with weight loss.
- If your insulin levels are high, it’s impossible to lose fat.
- Insulin resistance means your insulin levels are too high.
- You can’t lose fat until you lower your insulin levels and fix your insulin resistance.
Understanding you’re insulin resistant is critically important because it tells you exactly what you need to do to lose weight (fat), transform your health, improve your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar numbers, and lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, and dementia.
You need to:
- Lower insulin
- Make your body more sensitive to insulin
You can get help reversing your insulin resistance with HealthspanMD™ in Phoenix, Arizona. Call us to arrange your initial examination today!
Do you accept insurance for diabetes care near me?
Yes! HealthspanMD™ is proud to accept insurance from most major providers, including Medicare. View our Insurance page to see our full list of accepted providers, and if you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly, knowledgeable staff.
How can I get started with diabetes treatment at HealthspanMD™?
At HealthspanMD™, we make it easy to take the first step toward achieving your health, weight, and longevity goals. Just press the Request an Appointment button to schedule your first consultation. You’ll meet with Dr. Hurst to create your Healthspan Action Plan and get clear on your best opportunities to achieve your goals.