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What is pre-diabetes and how serious is it?

I sometimes wonder how many people diagnosed with prediabetes actually end up accelerating their progression into diabetes. I would think a great many cut back on fat and make a concerted effort to increase their intake of “healthy” grains and starches.
 

I'm not sure how you can avoid becoming diabetic following conventional diet advice 55%- 60% carb, low fat and all meals should be built on a solid foundation of starch.

I'm sure it plays a role in the rising tide of pre and t2dm.
 
Tophat1900 said:
I'm not sure how you can avoid becoming diabetic following conventional diet advice 55%- 60% carb, low fat and all meals should be built on a solid foundation of starch.

I'm sure it plays a role in the rising tide of pre and t2dm.
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Oh for sure. Absolutely. I just wonder how many patients could delay the onset of a lot of diabetes if they weren’t diagnosed with a little bit of diabetes and increased intake of the “healthy” foods that allegedly they should have eaten more of all along.
 

You just have to hang in there and show them that you are serious.
 

Well, we know that will never get looked into...

Still, the number would be huge.

A lot of politcis in the guidelines and that's always a major problem.
 
Who's to say it's pre diabetes in the first place as opposed to lada, a honeymoon period or full blown type 2? Nobody gets tested specifically for anything at that 'pre diabetes' diagnosis do they?, it's all done on what you look like, a blood test and guess work. I was diagnosed as pre diabetic 4 years ago, did not fit the so called profile other than by virtue of age, was sent off with 'Well, just carry on and don't eat anything processed'. 3 years after that and suddenly it was type 1.
 
Well for our O/P benefit @cured

i applaud the effort re the FIGHT FAT club in Newcastle, and trying to encourage a member to take more care.

Trouble is you come across as lecturing people you do not know..because YOU are right.
and sadly many on here will vehemently disagree with you, due to SEEING the proof for themselves.

Pre-diabetes is caused by lifestyle factors, primarily obesity (being overweight due to eating the wrong types of food in excess) and indolence (being inactive), but also and probably more especially due to ignorance and indifference.
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So the advice of bread, grains, fruit, rice (brown) higher carbs, lower fats...is that your recommendation to us.
as that is still the prescribed 'antidote' for type 2

I suggest the WRONG type of foods
* IS the type we get told to eat,
* it IS the type type EVERY shop is stuffed to the gills with because it sells
and
* IS the type WE know causes diabetics issues...as it's stuffed with sugars

because we SEE the results when they wash up here after diagnosis, like i did and the diet plan is just NOT working for them.

( but you make a good point...If only the wrong type of food only carried a warning like cigarettes do
something like:
"HIGH CARBS MAY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH,"

might work,
i'm sure more WOULD listen.and we would be avoiding the obesity epidemic that's fuelling the massive
rise in diabetes across the western world )

Within months new members have better control, the HBA1c usually has dropped QUITE significantly
and almost all have lost large sums of weight..while eating better foods, more fats..impossible says the advice, we are used to hearing , yet case after case, freely available for you to peruse on here...go figure.

i rarely go hungry..yet those early weeks i was starving all the time
And eating as prescribed.

i got the warning i MIGHT be T2D
HBA1c said yes..doc gave me some time to use diet before rechecking and making the diagnosis.

So off i went ..ripped into the NEW diet..i got worse.

So desperate for some help, i came on here...and learned to breathe again.

helpful advice from those who KNOW what it's like
And i now KNOW through seeing the evidence, on here..what helps US T2D's

they didn't just spout the nonsense i'd been hearing everywhere for the last few weeks,
that had failed me so miserably. prior to my arrival on THIS wonderful forum.

Cue 3 months of listening, engaging and putting into practice some of the ideas on here,
in the hope to improve and manage my diabetes better.
As have many others...( do Go check the testimonials page )

My reading from 57..to 42 in 3 months..very happy.

Post away my friend.
I very much doubt your solution would bring my HBA1c down by 15 points OR reduce my weight by 3 STONE, in 3 months.
all while being satiated each day, and never being so hungry as those first few weeks
when i tried your/nhs way

i know where MY best interests lay when i'm listening to people post on here.
 
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Funny you should say that Jim but that encapsulates my progression since diagnosis, owing to advice.
 
"HIGH CARBS MAY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH”

Might not be far from the truth of it.
 
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Listlad said:
"HIGH CARBS MAY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH”

Might not be far form the truth of it.
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and strangely enough it's NOT just diabetics it seems to harm..

we would not have know (well i wouldn't ) if it wasn't for so many on here saying their secondary illnesses had also improved.

one does wonder just have far into damaging our health, has the mistake of SUGAR is good, really caused.
 
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Yes, well I am half expecting my dietary changes to bring down my blood pressure too.
 
One of my little pleasures was seeing the disbelief on the faces of the nurses or doctors at my blood pressure - some even went to find another device, or they yanked the cuff really tight in order to try to get a 'correct' reading.
 
Resurgam said:
One of my little pleasures was seeing the disbelief on the faces of the nurses or doctors at my blood pressure - some even went to find another device, or they yanked the cuff really tight in order to try to get a 'correct' reading.
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I am looking forward to that myself.
 
In a effort to be fair @cured is just listening and regurgitating the rubbish we have all been told by the “professionals” who should know better. At some point in the past most of us believed it too. And then we, and increasingly thank god professionals too, see the light of carbs being the problem not the cure. Perhaps he posted this before exploring the forum and genuinely believed he was being helpful. I’m sure by now he’s got a handle on what we all think of the “official” advice. I’d hate for him to be scared away from here and the help we can offer if in fact he or someone close to him is a diabetic of any degree or type. So @cured please come back and take this thread’s replies on the chin and investigate our claims for youself. Please don’t be scared off but again please take a moment or two to consider the tone of your comments. We don’t have to all agree or even be PC (I agree with the damage too much of this can do) but respect is important.
 
That is a good, respectful, and carefully considered post, @HSSS . Thank you.

I know it took me rather too long to realise that when I was following dietary advice from the medical experts, and not improving blood glucose or losing weight that it was a fault in the advice, not a fault with me.
 
The term prediabetes seems to me to be a bit like being a little bit pregnant
Agreed, seems that the term prediabetes is a bit like being "a little bit pregnant".
 
I visited the local pharmacy a week or two ago and the sheet they gave me said this for dealing with Type 2 diabetes:


“An important energy source and source of fibre. Carbohydrates are broken down by your body into glucose, which is used as fuel by your cells.

  • Include some in your diet each day.
  • Choose wholegrain alternatives where possible to increase the fibre content of foods - this slows down energy release which can help to keep you feeling fuller for longer - for example, multigrain/seeded bread.
  • Control your portion size of these foods, as the more you eat, the greater the rise in your blood glucose levels.
Practical suggestions:

  • Choose wholegrain cereals or wholegrain/seeded bread for breakfast.
  • Try a baked potato or sweet potato with the skin left on for added fibre for lunch.
  • Use wholemeal flour in baking and for breads such as chapattis or naans.
  • Choose brown rice or brown pasta instead of white.”

Extracted from:

https://patient.info/health/type-2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-diet
 
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“Dealing with” being “making worse”?
 
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