Diabetes is on the rise in India, and one of the most prominent lifestyle diseases worldwide. It deals with the body’s inability to manage or produce insulin efficiently. This leads to high blood glucose or blood sugar levels.

With Type 1 diabetes, the body doesn’t produce enough or too little insulin. Type 2 diabetes affects the way the body processes blood sugar. Prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are high, but not enough to be classified as Type 1 or Type 1. 

So, is prediabetes reversible? How long does it take to reverse prediabetes? Here is how to reverse prediabetes naturally. 

How To Reverse Prediabetes

Reversing prediabetes has much to do with diet. But before we discuss diet and exercise, you need to understand the basis of diabetes. 

Pre-diabetes, also known as intermediate hyperglycemia is a condition where the patient has higher than normal blood glucose levels but not high enough to be diagnosed as a full-blown diabetic.

If you are pre-diabetic then you are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular diseases.

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IFG Impaired Fasting Glucose: Glucose is usually carried across your body, absorbed and made into energy. The concentration of glucose in the blood is regulated by Insulin. Having impaired fasting glucose means that the body is unable to regulate glucose as efficiently as it should be able to.

IGT Impaired Glucose Tolerance: It means haemoglobin A1c levels are between 5.7-6.4 per cent; IGT should be diagnosed if both criteria are met.

‍Fasting plasma glucose <126 mg/dl; Two-hour plasma glucose is between 140-200 mg/dl following a 75g of glucose oral load; IFG should be diagnosed if both the criteria are met; Fasting plasma glucose <110-125 mg/dl; Two-hour plasma glucose is between 140 mg/dl following a 75g of glucose oral load‍. 

Risk factors: Obesity, poor nutrition, history of gestational diabetes, abnormal lipid levels, family genetics, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol. 

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Why You Should Learn How To Reverse Prediabetes Naturally 

Untreated diabetes can result in a bunch of scary things: stroke, kidney disease, loss of vision, skin ailments. Diabetics are also at risk of neuropathy, a kind of nerve damage.

One of the major risk factors for prediabetes is a diet high in processed foods, which have added fats, calories, and sugar without nutritional value - something which is becoming increasingly common in India today, with ready-to-eat Indian foods available in heat-and-eat packets and pre-made mixes and sauces. 

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#1. Cut Out Sugar

Cut out sugars as much as possible. Not only should you cut out all refined sugar from your daily routine(and this includes all-white sugars, syrups, maida based sweetmeats, bread cakes, pastries).

You must also for some time, get on a low glycemic index diet. This simply means that you also cut out gluten, pulses that have a high glycemic index, root veggies, potatoes, high sugar fruits. You can have citrus fruits.

This, however, has to be supplemented with regular exercise and weight loss. The faster you lose weight, the better it is for your pre-diabetic condition.

You can resume all of these above mentioned restricted foods after your weight is under control and your sugar levels are reduced.

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#2. Eat A Balanced Diet 

Cutting out your usual favourite dishes from your life for some time doesn't mean that you can’t eat anything! You can continue having all your favourite dishes with slight modifications in the ingredients and the recipe.

We at Nutrition By Lovneet plan a holistic, no deprivation diet around your preferences while keeping in mind the palatability and balanced nutrition.

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#3. Get Meal Times Right

Another very important thing to focus upon is timing. Eating the right foods at the right time, fixing your sleep and getting up at the same time every day help your inflammation calm down and your hormones activated in the right manner.

#4. Limit Animal Food Sources

Animal foods include dairy, lean meat and red meat. Reduce your intake of these foods, as well as intake of refined carbs and sugars. Limit animal protein as much as possible when you are trying to reverse your pre-diabetic condition.

Cut down on red meat, fatty pieces of white meat, deli meats and processed meats. Deli and processed meats are high in preservatives that have sugars and sodium hidden in them in high quantities. Consuming them on a daily basis is very harmful for your condition.

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#5. Have More Veggies And Not Fruits

Vegetables are free foods, fruits are not free foods. Load your plate with more veggies than fruits. You can have sugar with veggies (in limited portions of course) and that combination will not harm your blood sugar levels.

However, if you have fruit on an empty stomach or if you have candied fruits or sugar-laden fruit juices, ( it doesn't matter if it is freshly squeezed), your blood sugar will experience a spike and you will feel sick.

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#6. Regular Exercise And Strength Training Is A Must

Your pre-diabetes reversal diet is ineffectual unless you supplement it with a good, regular exercise and strength training routine.

Regular exercise and strength training help you lose weight faster, keep the hormones in check-especially the stress ones that lead to a lot of inflammation that your body has to fight. When the toxins are excreted due to the sweat.

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#7. Stress Less! 

Stress is a silent killer and it affects each part of your body in a different way. It activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal gland and the nervous system which causes a spike in cortisol and ultimately affects insulin levels.

Cortisol stimulates glucose production in the body, leading to a rise in blood sugar.

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This information should hopefully provide answers to the common question of “can pre-diabetes be reversed?” But if you still need guidance, get in touch with us.

At Nutrition By Lovneet, we work with prediabetic and diabetic patients with their nutrition needs, helping them overcome the disease and manage type 2 diabetes with the right foods. Learn more about our Diabetes Management Program. 

We support you in figuring out which foods are best for keeping your blood sugar in a healthy range because not all foods — or even carbs — are created equal. We give you customised, no deprivation, nutritious weekly meal plans aimed at aiding your prescribed medicinal routine at every step.

Our meals are designed to enhance and speed up your body’s healing process naturally. Living with diabetes has its own challenges. It can be overwhelming to think about carb counts, insulin doses, A1C, glucose, glycemic index, blood pressure, weight… the list goes on!

But learning to control and manage your glucose level can happen with time, patience and a healthy diet - and now that you know how to reverse prediabetes naturally, you can get started! 

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Also Read:

The 15 Best Foods To Control Diabetes

FAQs

Can prediabetes be reversed permanently?

Yes, prediabetes is reversible. 

What are the warning signs of prediabetes?

There are several warning signs of prediabetes. These include feeling thirsty all the time, frequent urination, feeling hungry often, blurred vision, feeling tired or fatigued, etc. 

What is a good lunch for a prediabetic?

If you search for how to reverse prediabetes naturally, all information will point you towards a wholesome diet that has zero refined sugars, low GI foods, minimal processed products and animal products, and lots of whole grains and vegetables. Fruit intake should also be modest. 

What is a good breakfast for prediabetes?

If you are wondering how to reverse prediabetes naturally, start with what you eat! And since your day begins with breakfast, eat a healthy and hearty one. A healthy prediabetes breakfast can stabilise blood sugar and improve insulin action for hours, and it need not take hours to prepare.

Oats idli, oatmeal with unsweetened all-natural peanut butter, a superfood breakfast bowl, steamed vegetables, jowar roti, bajra roti, spinach idli, moong dal cheela, dosa, quinoa dosa, quinoa porridge, kutti roti, kuttu porridge, oats upma, dalia upma, vegetable tikki, rajma tikki, doodhi thepla, karela juice, nachni roti, eggs and whole wheat bread, green smoothies, black chana tikkis with moringa chutney, and even paneer can be consumed for breakfast if you are a prediabetic looking to have a filling breakfast. 

How do I convert from prediabetes to normal?

You can learn how to reverse prediabetes naturally by following the steps outlined above: cut out sugar, eat a balanced diet, eat at regular times or fix your meal timings, eat fewer animal products, have plenty of vegetables and a modest amount of fruit, make sure you exercise and do some form of strength training and avoid stress.