Diabetes is on the rise, with more than one in three people in the United States diagnosed with prediabetes.
What you eat and drink plays a big role in your risk of getting the disease — or keeping it at bay.
If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, you have a 30 percent chance of reversing it by exercising, cutting out sugary drinks, and eating right.
Diabetes is a condition that causes higher than normal blood sugar levels. It occurs when the body cannot make or effectively use its own insulin.
Insulin is a hormone — made in the pancreas- that opens the cells to allow sugar, or glucose, to enter. The body uses that glucose for energy.
Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are the most common forms of the disease, but there are also other kinds, such as gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy.
Type 1 diabetes, which was previously known as juvenile diabetes, is the most severe form of the disease. About 5 percent of people who have diabetes have Type 1, which means they are insulin-dependent.
The most common form of diabetes is called Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent. About 90 percent of people with diabetes have Type 2 and are able to produce some of their own insulin — but not enough.
Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar is elevated, but not high enough to be Type 2 diabetes.
According to the Mayo Clinic, prediabetes is likely to become full-blown diabetes within 10 years without intervention.
What you drink can have a big impact on whether or not you develop prediabetes.
Research shows that if you have more than three sugar-sweetened beverages per week, your chance for developing prediabetes increases by 46 percent.
Researchers are finding certain drinks can actually decrease your risk of developing prediabetes, though.
For instance, a study in China found drinking at least four cups of black, green or oolong teas a day was linked to a 17 percent lower risk of developing diabetes.
Another study in Japan found people who had three cups of coffee per day were 33 percent less likely to develop type two diabetes than people who consumed less than one cup per week.
There are other drinks that can help too: plant-based milk, whole-fruit smoothies, and flavored carbonated water.
According to Registered Dietician Alison Massey, lifestyle change can be a powerful tool for reducing your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes — by about 50%.
A healthy diet for most people with diabetes consists of 40 to 60 percent of calories from carbohydrates; 20 percent calories from protein; and 30 percent or fewer calories from fat.
A diabetes diet should also be low in cholesterol, low in salt, and low in added sugar.
Poor diabetes management over time can lead to kidney and heart diseases; damage eyes and nerves; or even require amputations.
According to a new study, prediabetes appears to be a large risk factor for heart attacks.
Researchers from Saint Peter’s University Hospital/Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick analyzed data from 1.79 million hospitalizations of patients who had heart attacks.
Of these patients, one percent had prediabetes.
After adjusting for risk factors for heart disease including: age, sex, race, family history of heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and obesity, prediabetes was associated with 25 percent increased odds of a heart attack, compared with patients without prediabetes.
“Our study serves as a wake-up to everyone to shift the focus to managing prediabetes, not just diabetes,” lead author Geethika Thota, M.D., said.
“Our findings reinforce the importance of early recognition by screening and early intervention of prediabetes by lifestyle changes and/or medications to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events.”
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