Family & Consumer Science News
Pre-Diabetes: The early warning sign
By Terri Black County Extension Agent

Does diabetes run in your family? Do you have a parent, grandparent, brother or sister that has diabetes? If so, you are at high risk for developing the disease. In fact, you may already have pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a condition where the blood sugar or blood glucose is higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. These high readings are your body's way of warning you that you should take action to protect yourself from diabetes. People who have pre-diabetes tend to develop diabetes within 10 years unless they change how they eat and exercise. They are also more likely to have a heart attack or stroke even if they never develop diabetes.

What can you do if your doctor has warned you that you are in the pre-diabetes zone? Lose weight and get active! A re- search study called the Diabetes Prevention Trial showed that people who lost 5-7 percent of their body weight and started walking five or more days a week for 35 minutes a day reduced their risk for diabetes by fifty-eight percent. Five to seven percent is about 10-20 pounds for most people. That means you do not have to get to an ideal body weight in order to benefit.

Luckily, there are a lot of small steps that you can take to lessen your chances of developing diabetes and improve your overall health.

First, eat a healthy breakfast. Eating actually increases your metabolism or your ability to burn fat. Try something light like a bowl of whole grain cereal with 1 percent or non-fat milk or some yogurt with fruit. Never skip a meal, especially not breakfast!

Next, drink more water and fewer sweet drinks. Each can of soda has 9 teaspoons of sugar and about 150 empty calories. Give up one soft drink or glass of sweet tea a day and you could lose 10 pounds in a year. Consume three servings of low fat or non-fat dairy products a day. Leaner people tend to drink more milk and eat more low fat or fat free dairy foods.

Eat at least five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are low in fat and calories and high in fiber. Fiber fills you up without adding calories. Get at least two servings of fruits and vegetables at each meal and two more servings as snacks during the day.

Choose whole grain breads and cereals more often. With the prevalence of low carbohydrate fad diets, many people are skipping breads and other starches. A large study of nurses found that those who ate the most whole grains were the leanest. A serving of whole grain bread, pasta or cereal is the size of the palm of a woman's hand.

Cut the fat. Fat is the most concentrated source of calories in your diet. Look for reduced fat or non-fat substitutes or at least eat less of these high fat foods. If you do try the reduced fat varieties, check the nutrition label for the serving size and the calories. Some reduced fat foods are similar in calories to the original foods so they may not be worth using. Also cut back on the obvious fats like fried foods, regular salad dressing, butter and mayonnaise. Just using 1 tablespoon less of butter or mayonnaise a day will save you 100 calories.

Move! Move! Move! Regular planned exercise for 30 minutes or more a day is important, but so are the incidental moves like walking to a restaurant for lunch, doing your own yard work and going upstairs to see someone instead of sending an email. Even standing while you are on the phone uses more calories than sitting. Research has shown that people who watch more TV and spend more time in front of the computer are more likely to be overweight.

Just taking small steps and making a few changes can have a serious impact on your health! For more information on helping yourself become more healthy, contact the Burke County Extension Office at 706-554-2119.