How to Reverse Prediabetes
Limit processed and prepared foods., Include complex carbohydrates., Reduce your processed sugar intake., Increase your fiber., Increase fruits and vegetables., Eat white meats., Eat healthy fats., Choose lower calorie foods., Cook with herbs...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Limit processed and prepared foods.
Keep your food as close to its original or natural form as possible.
This means that you should try to limit any processed or prepared foods.
Cook from scratch as much as possible.Processed foods sometimes contain huge amounts of sugars.
For example, one teaspoon of sugar is equal to about four grams.
One six ounce serving of low-fat yogurt has 28 grams, which is seven teaspoons of sugar in one serving of yogurt.
One tablespoon of pure honey has only 16 grams. -
Step 2: Include complex carbohydrates.
Whenever you eat carbohydrates, make sure they are complex, and not simple, carbohydrates.
While both simple and complex carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, it takes the body longer to break down the complex carbohydrates.
Complex carbohydrates are found in whole, unprocessed foods such as whole grains, peas, lentils, beans, and vegetables.Go for brown rice, whole grain pasta, and whole grain breads if you want to eat those items.
Avoid simple carbohydrates.
A good rule of thumb is no white foods.
No white bread, white pasta, white potatoes (like french fries), or white rice.
Also avoid candies, cookies, cakes, bagels, donuts, and other confections.
Many breakfast cereals also have simple carbohydrates.Eat most of your complex carbohydrates at breakfast or lunch.
Cut down on the portion sizes of complex carbs for meals later in the day to prevent your blood glucose levels from getting too high at night. , Processed and refined sugars are simple carbs that should be avoided.
Make sure to read the labels of all foods, not just sweets.
Sugars appear in many common items, like pasta sauce, ketchup, salad dressings, and breads.
Be especially careful with beverages.
A significant amount of people’s daily sugar intake is from drinks.
Stay away from fruit juice, Koolaid, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, and sports drinks.
Instead, drink unsweetened tea, water, and coffee — but skip the sugar-loaded coffees from chains.Drink diet soda instead of regular soda.
Regular soda has an enormous amount of sugar in it and is one of the worst things you can drink.
Though, be aware, diet soda has its drawbacks, too.
Although reading labels can be useful to determine the amount of sugars in a food, manufacturers are not required to list added sugars.
You can avoid any added sugars by sticking to unprocessed foods.
Simple carbohydrates are often found in added sugars, like glucose, sucrose (table sugar), and fructose, most often added as high fructose corn syrup., Increasing the fiber in your diet helps make you feel fuller and helps digestion.
It also helps your body remove fats and other metabolites in your stool.
Fiber is found in fruits and vegetables, including leafy green vegetables, along with beans and legumes., You should increase the fruits and vegetables you eat every day.
Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
Go for vegetables that are less starchy, like broccoli, leafy greens, carrots, and green beans.
Eat at least three servings a day.Eat fruit in moderation.
The sugars in fruit are combined with the fiber, which means that the absorption of sugars from the fruit are slowed down.
But you still want to reduce your sugar intake.
Eat one to three servings each day. , Limit the red meats in your diet, like beef, steak, lamb, pork, and deli meats.
Instead, increase the amounts of fish and skinless poultry you eat.
Look for wild-caught fish, such as salmon, cod, haddock, and tuna.Reducing red meats is not directly connected to your blood sugar level; however, type 2 diabetes is often part of a larger set of conditions known as metabolic syndrome.
Reducing cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and losing weight (which may be helped by cutting out red meat) can decrease your risk of metabolic syndrome and, therefore, your risk of diabetes.
These fish are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for your health and are anti-inflammatory. , Good fats include polyunsaturated fat and some saturated fats (dairy fat) and are found in nut oils, nuts, and seeds can actually protect against metabolic T2D.
Bad fats include trans fats, and are found in margarine, prepackaged baked goods, fried food.Eat olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oils.
Avocados, walnuts, macadamia nuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, and most other seeds and nuts are good sources for healthy fats.
Beware of anything containing partially hydrogenated oil. , Instead of eating high-calorie foods, go for lower calorie options.
Snack smarter by putting away high-calorie chips, crackers, and junk food.
Instead, eat wheat crackers, natural peanut butter, or fruits and veggies., There are a large number of herbs that may help control blood sugar levels, though more research is necessary.
Add these herbs to taste whenever you want.
These herbs may help you get over some of those sugar cravings as well.Good herbs are:
Cinnamon Fenugreek Ginger Garlic and onions Basil Bitter melon , Overeating can lead to obesity, which can lead to your body being insulin resistant, and eventually to T2D.
Control how much you eat at meals.
Use a smaller plate, like a salad plate.
Refrain from eating seconds.
Eat slowly and savor each bite.Try not to eat at all-you-can-eat buffets.
Think about what your plate looks like.
Half the plate should be fruits and vegetables.
One fourth should be a complex carb, like brown rice or a sweet potato.
The remaining fourth needs to be a lean meat, like baked chicken or grilled fish. -
Step 3: Reduce your processed sugar intake.
-
Step 4: Increase your fiber.
-
Step 5: Increase fruits and vegetables.
-
Step 6: Eat white meats.
-
Step 7: Eat healthy fats.
-
Step 8: Choose lower calorie foods.
-
Step 9: Cook with herbs.
-
Step 10: Control your portion sizes.
Detailed Guide
Keep your food as close to its original or natural form as possible.
This means that you should try to limit any processed or prepared foods.
Cook from scratch as much as possible.Processed foods sometimes contain huge amounts of sugars.
For example, one teaspoon of sugar is equal to about four grams.
One six ounce serving of low-fat yogurt has 28 grams, which is seven teaspoons of sugar in one serving of yogurt.
One tablespoon of pure honey has only 16 grams.
Whenever you eat carbohydrates, make sure they are complex, and not simple, carbohydrates.
While both simple and complex carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, it takes the body longer to break down the complex carbohydrates.
Complex carbohydrates are found in whole, unprocessed foods such as whole grains, peas, lentils, beans, and vegetables.Go for brown rice, whole grain pasta, and whole grain breads if you want to eat those items.
Avoid simple carbohydrates.
A good rule of thumb is no white foods.
No white bread, white pasta, white potatoes (like french fries), or white rice.
Also avoid candies, cookies, cakes, bagels, donuts, and other confections.
Many breakfast cereals also have simple carbohydrates.Eat most of your complex carbohydrates at breakfast or lunch.
Cut down on the portion sizes of complex carbs for meals later in the day to prevent your blood glucose levels from getting too high at night. , Processed and refined sugars are simple carbs that should be avoided.
Make sure to read the labels of all foods, not just sweets.
Sugars appear in many common items, like pasta sauce, ketchup, salad dressings, and breads.
Be especially careful with beverages.
A significant amount of people’s daily sugar intake is from drinks.
Stay away from fruit juice, Koolaid, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, and sports drinks.
Instead, drink unsweetened tea, water, and coffee — but skip the sugar-loaded coffees from chains.Drink diet soda instead of regular soda.
Regular soda has an enormous amount of sugar in it and is one of the worst things you can drink.
Though, be aware, diet soda has its drawbacks, too.
Although reading labels can be useful to determine the amount of sugars in a food, manufacturers are not required to list added sugars.
You can avoid any added sugars by sticking to unprocessed foods.
Simple carbohydrates are often found in added sugars, like glucose, sucrose (table sugar), and fructose, most often added as high fructose corn syrup., Increasing the fiber in your diet helps make you feel fuller and helps digestion.
It also helps your body remove fats and other metabolites in your stool.
Fiber is found in fruits and vegetables, including leafy green vegetables, along with beans and legumes., You should increase the fruits and vegetables you eat every day.
Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
Go for vegetables that are less starchy, like broccoli, leafy greens, carrots, and green beans.
Eat at least three servings a day.Eat fruit in moderation.
The sugars in fruit are combined with the fiber, which means that the absorption of sugars from the fruit are slowed down.
But you still want to reduce your sugar intake.
Eat one to three servings each day. , Limit the red meats in your diet, like beef, steak, lamb, pork, and deli meats.
Instead, increase the amounts of fish and skinless poultry you eat.
Look for wild-caught fish, such as salmon, cod, haddock, and tuna.Reducing red meats is not directly connected to your blood sugar level; however, type 2 diabetes is often part of a larger set of conditions known as metabolic syndrome.
Reducing cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and losing weight (which may be helped by cutting out red meat) can decrease your risk of metabolic syndrome and, therefore, your risk of diabetes.
These fish are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for your health and are anti-inflammatory. , Good fats include polyunsaturated fat and some saturated fats (dairy fat) and are found in nut oils, nuts, and seeds can actually protect against metabolic T2D.
Bad fats include trans fats, and are found in margarine, prepackaged baked goods, fried food.Eat olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oils.
Avocados, walnuts, macadamia nuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, and most other seeds and nuts are good sources for healthy fats.
Beware of anything containing partially hydrogenated oil. , Instead of eating high-calorie foods, go for lower calorie options.
Snack smarter by putting away high-calorie chips, crackers, and junk food.
Instead, eat wheat crackers, natural peanut butter, or fruits and veggies., There are a large number of herbs that may help control blood sugar levels, though more research is necessary.
Add these herbs to taste whenever you want.
These herbs may help you get over some of those sugar cravings as well.Good herbs are:
Cinnamon Fenugreek Ginger Garlic and onions Basil Bitter melon , Overeating can lead to obesity, which can lead to your body being insulin resistant, and eventually to T2D.
Control how much you eat at meals.
Use a smaller plate, like a salad plate.
Refrain from eating seconds.
Eat slowly and savor each bite.Try not to eat at all-you-can-eat buffets.
Think about what your plate looks like.
Half the plate should be fruits and vegetables.
One fourth should be a complex carb, like brown rice or a sweet potato.
The remaining fourth needs to be a lean meat, like baked chicken or grilled fish.
About the Author
Virginia Murray
A passionate writer with expertise in crafts topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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