Have you ever felt sick to your stomach after indulging in some rich dessert? And you almost always feel as though you need to drink gallons of water after eating a sugary food. Yet every time you test for diabetes, you are told you don't have it. Here is the answer to your confusion. You may have Prediabetes. This means your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for you to be diagnosed with diabetes. It is also called Impaired Glucose Tolerance or Impaired Fasting Glucose (IGT/IFG). In Prediabetes, the pancreas is not producing enough insulin to deal with the glucose coming into the body. Or the cells may be starting to resist insulin. This means the cells are not taking in the glucose, which the insulin is trying to move from the bloodstream. Too much glucose in the blood then means you have high blood sugar.
Those who have Prediabetes can develop Type II diabetes as time progresses. However, this is not inevitable, you can use it as a warning and make the necessary lifestyle changes. The long-term damage is already being done to the heart and circulatory system so you need to reverse this and fast. You can speak to your doctor and arrange to get tested for Prediabetes. There is the Fasting Blood Glucose test, which measures the blood glucose in the morning before you eat. If you have Prediabetes your blood sugar level will be 101 to 125 mg/dL. The other test is the Oral Glucose Tolerance test, which measures blood glucose after fasting and once more two hours after drinking a drink high in glucose. If you have Prediabetes, after two hours your blood glucose level will be 140 to 199 mg/dL.
If you are diagnosed with Prediabetes, speak to your doctor about the lifestyle changes you will now have to make. Educate yourself about healthy food choices, exercise and quitting contributing habits such as smoking. If you don't have Prediabetes, making healthy lifestyle changes should still be one your priorities – remember prevention is better than cure.
