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Diabetes is widely regarded as an inconvenient (yet manageable) disease. In most cases, though, people may not be aware that they have developed diabetes until the symptoms become evident. However, if you regularly monitor your blood sugar levels, it’s easy to determine if you’re at risk for developing diabetes. This is because, more often than not, diabetes is preceded by pre-diabetes, which is a condition that can be reversed. In this article, you’ll learn about the right kinds of pre-diabetes diet and discover some lifestyle changes that can improve your health.

Pre-diabetes is a condition where the levels of glucose in your blood are higher than normal, but aren’t yet so high that the condition can be classified as diabetes. In a healthy person, the insulin hormone, which is secreted by the pancreas, helps convert the glucose from the food you eat into energy. If your body produces insufficient levels of insulin, or if your body doesn’t respond to insulin as it normally should, this may interfere with the process of converting glucose to energy, thus leading to higher blood glucose levels.

The early stages of this condition is known as pre-diabetes, and at this point it is usually easily reversable with dietary and lifestyle changes. Once the disease progresses to full diabetes, the prognosis is more grim.

Risk Factors for Pre-Diabetes

Some of the risk factors that can lead to this condition include:

While the exact pre-diabetes diet plan is entirely up to your personal food preferences, it can help if you have some pointers to help you create the right diet for you. In this vein, here are twelve of the best pre-diabetes diet ideas to keep in mind.

Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is widely touted as one of the best meal plans to manage several kinds of diseases. It naturally follows that this eating plan is also an effective pre-diabetes diet, as it lays emphasis on consuming higher portions of vegetables and foods cooked in olive oil. Protein consumption is moderate and focuses on chicken, fish, and other lighter proteins.

High-Fruit Diet

A common misconception is that a pre-diabetes diet or a meal plan for diabetics must not include any fruits. On the contrary, it is recommended that you eat fiber-rich fruits that have edible skins, and fruits rich in potassium content, such as apples, pears, oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, and berries. It’s best to avoid fruits juices and eat whole fruits instead. Smoothies should also be avoided, as both smoothies and juices contains all the sugar of fruit but don't require your body to go to much effort to digest them.
 

Diets With Controlled Portions

Controlling your portions is also an effective way to kick-start a workable pre-diabetes diet. Portion-controlled diets that are planned well allow you to consume lower levels of carbohydrates and are widely recognized as low GI meal plans, meaning that the foods are digested, absorbed, and metabolized more slowly, causing a lower and slower rise in blood glucose levels and insulin levels.

Diet Rich In Lean Meats

Lean meats are essentially foods that have had all the animal fats trimmed out of them. If you must include meats in your pre-diabetes diet, this is the best kind to consume. Look for cuts that have the words “round” and “loin” in their names, because these cuts have less fat content. Also, choose white-meat chicken and turkey without the skin. Fish is another safe source of non-vegetarian food that doesn’t contribute to diabetes.

Vegetable-Rich Diet

Vegetables can help you reverse pre-diabetes because they are bulky foods that fill you up without contributing too many fats or carbs to your dient. This healthy balance is essential to regulate your blood sugar levels. Non-starchy vegetables like fresh lettuce, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, onions, snow peas, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, and Brussels sprouts are some great food choices.

Healthy Cooking Oil Diets

The cooking oils that you use to prepare your food can also contribute significantly to the health of your body. Using processed and refined oils is typically more common because these oils are more affordable. However, organically extracted oils such as unrefined coconut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, or peanut oil are healthier options to use for cooking your food.

Fiber-Rich Diets

High-fiber foods are also low on the glycemic index scale. So, it’s advisable to formulate and follow a pre-diabetes diet that includes a significant portion of high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. These foods also help you feel full faster and keep you from consuming high GI foods that can lead to weight gain.

A Diet That Includes Hydrating Beverages

Staying hydrated is an essential factor when it comes to controlling and reversing pre-diabetes. Low-calorie beverages that hydrate the body, such as water, decaffeinated black coffee, unsweetened tea without milk, and water with mint, lime, lemon, or cucumber are some great choices to begin with if you want to switch caffeinated beverages for decaffeinated options.

A Diet with the Right Sources of Protein

There’s no doubt that your pre-diabetes diet needs to be rich in proteins. However, you need to ensure that you choose the right kinds of proteins as well. Some good sources include chicken and turkey without the skin, egg whites without the yolk, fish like cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, tuna, or trout, and low-fat Greek yogurt.

A Diet Low In Sugary Drinks

Sugary drinks can spike the levels of glucose in your blood and push you further into the risky area of developing diabetes. A 12-ounce can of soda has over 40 grams of carbohydrates. Including too many sugary drinks can be detrimental to your health if you suffer from pre-diabetes. If you’re interested in following a pre-diabetes diet, cutting out sugary drinks like soda is a good place to start.
 

A Vegan Diet

Going vegan can be incredibly beneficial if you’ve been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Since it eliminates all sources of animal food and focuses on consuming organically grown fruits and vegetables, your body will find it easier to reestablish the right levels of blood glucose. You can handle and even reverse pre-diabetes swiftly and effectively with a vegan diet.
 

A Diet With Limited (or No) Processed Foods

Another effective pre-diabetes diet to follow is a simple meal plan that focuses on eliminating processed foods as much as possible. For each meal, try and consume foods that are prepared at home. If possible, include organically grown fruits and vegetables. Source your food locally, and ensure that it’s as natural as it can get.

There are few lifestyle changes that can also help your body recover and restore blood sugar levels to the normal range. Some such tips are explained below.

Follow A Pre-Diabetes Diet

There are several pre-diabetes diets that you can follow. Pick one that you believe will work for you or combine several of them, and focus on remaining loyal to the diet until you see noticeable positive changes in your health and your body. Don't view these diets as temporary. View them as a life-long change towards better health.

Exercise Regularly

Exercise is a necessary element if you want to fight off pre-diabetes. Incorporate different activities into your everyday life, such as going for a walk after meals, scheduling an hour to work out at a gym on at least three days a week, or enrolling in a Zumba class. You could even try biking or dancing, if that’s what appeals to you. The key is to get the body moving.
 

Get Your Share Of Vitamin D

A study in 2013 revealed that pre-diabetics who were deficient in vitamin D saw an improvement in blood glucose levels after they supplemented their diet with the vitamin. So try and spend some time in the sun each day, either early in the morning, or in the late afternoon, once the intensity of the sun has reduced a bit.
 

Reduce Your Stress Levels

Stress may not be among the direct causes of diabetes, but it could play a significant role in your body’s overall health. Anxiety and stress have often been linked to weight gain, and an increase in weight can put you on the path to diabetes. The body also functions better when it is less stressed out. So, practice calming techniques like meditation and ensure that you get adequate sleep.

The important thing to remember is that being diagnosed with pre-diabetes does not mean that you’ll inevitably become a diabetic. Fortunately, pre-diabetes, despite its ominous sounding name, is merely a condition indicative of the blood glucose levels in your body. In most cases, it is temporary and can be reversed with a disciplined lifestyle that adheres to a few core principles. Visit your doctor to understand what factors in your lifestyle may have contributed to pre-diabetes and focus on eliminating those unhealthy habits.

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For the many Americans diagnosed with diabetes each year, their condition brings a mountain of tests, instruments, and treatments. Although managing this condition straightforward, the sheer quantity of information can cause stress. For example, what is a glucometer and how is it used? Fortunately, there is a simple, straightforward answer to this question, and this device provides important information quickly and easily.

A glucometer is a device that detects the amount of glucose in a patient’s blood. The name is 'glucose meter' shortened into a single word. Glucose is the main sugar in the bloodstream and is the energy source that powers the many functions of the human body. Although it is important to have glucose in the body, you must keep the level of glucose in the blood at a low amount due to the reactivity of the glucose molecules. Diabetes is a disorder where a persons's body cannot adequately control his or her glucose levels on its own.

Diabetes is a disease characterized by excess blood sugar levels due to two main causes. To understand diabetes, one must first understand insulin. This is a hormone produced in the pancreas that causes the human body to take glucose out of the blood and place it into storage. When patients have diabetes, either they have too little insulin, or the insulin does not appear to function well.

With Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce sufficient amounts, and the diabetes often begins in childhood. With Type 2 diabetes, the body appears to show resistance to insulin's actions, so blood sugar level stay high. This usually starts in adulthood.

Either way, blood sugar levels increase and create many serious symptoms. Diabetic neuropathy, where a person loses nerve sensations in extremities like fingers, hands, toes, and feet, is common with uncontrolled diabetes. Other symptoms can create visual impairment, slow wound healing, and frequent urination. Diabetes patients treat the disorder with insulin, usually through an injection or pump, and also supported by other medications. They must administer these treatments multiple times a day and they must closely monitor their effects to ensure health.

Most patients with diabetes will require a glucometer in their treatment because it is what guides patients to adjust their dose of insulin. These devices are used to monitor changes in blood glucose throughout the day and also from day to day. This creates a record of the peaks and valleys of a patient’s blood sugar and used to adjust insulin doses. A doctor will instruct patients as to the proper dosing procedures to use.

This is information for most devices, but there may be distinct features unique to a specific glucometer. Please consult a medical professional and the device documentation before use. A summary of the steps is to choose a site for the blood sample, prepare equipment, get and test a blood sample, and record results follows. This testing will usually be performed several times a day as instructed by a healthcare professional.

The sides of fingertips get pricked to draw blood samples. This is less painful than using finger tips or the pads of the fingers. However, other sites can sometimes be used, such as a forearm or leg. You should discuss this with a healthcare professional. Also, since it requires multiple tests throughout the day, it is important that patients vary the spot tested to avoid infections or callous formation. For these directions, we reference a finger as the selected site.

Before using a glucometer, one has to be sure that all the equipment is available.

In the past, patients would use lancets to prick a finger to get a drop of blood to sample, but today, most patients are prescribed a lancing device in which the blade is protected by a plastic housing. A spring loaded mechanism moves the blade quickly, making a small incision. This can reduce pain and also helps prevent accidental cuts. Some lancing devices have replaceable lancets while others are disposable. Consult documentation for lancing devices for specific instructions.

There are a few steps to prepare both the patient and the equipment for a blood sugar measurement with a glucometer.  

1. Wash hands or clean your finger with an alcohol prep pad.
2. Dry your hands.
3. Prepare lancing device or lancet per directions from a medical professional and documentation.
4. Be sure the test strips are not expired.
5. Open test strip container or specific test strip packaging and remove a single strip.
6. Turn on glucometer. Some devices will turn on automatically when you insert a test strip.
7. Insert a test strip. There should be indicators on the strip for which end to insert.
8. Close container of test strips if applicable.

Some test strips have a code that must be input into the glucometer. Others will have codes automatically programmed. Consult a healthcare professional or documentation for this information.

Using a glucometer to test for blood sugar can be a fast process. However, you can take certain steps to ensure accurate results.

1. Be sure the glucometer is on and one's hands are dry.
2. Using lancing device, make a small incision in the selected finger.
3. Set down lancing device.
4. Squeeze the selected finger, making a drop of blood.
5. Place the drop of blood onto the test strip, filling the marked area if applicable.
6. Wait a few moments for the glucometer to display the result.

If the glucometer reports an error, you must repeat the test with a new test strip. It may also require a new incision. Although it may be troublesome to repeat all the steps, an accurate reading is important to a patient’s health and proper procedures must be followed. When testing, dry fingers are important because water can dilute the blood sample, resulting in an inaccurate reading. Different test strips may require different amounts of blood. Consult with a healthcare professional or documentation for this specific information.

Be sure to record the glucose levels into a notebook if the glucometer does not automatically save results. Sometimes is it good to have a hard copy of the results even if the machine saves results into memory. Clean the finger used for the blood sample. Hold the alcohol prep over the incision to stop bleeding. If the incision does not stop bleeding quickly, you may need to adjust the lancing device. Consult with a healthcare professional for further instruction on this.

Dispose of used test strip and lancet. You can throw test strips away into the normal garbage, but lancets must be discarded into a sharps container. Be careful whenever handling a lancet to avoid injury. Some lancing devices have removable lancets while others are disposable. Patients should follow their specific instructions on how to manage their lancets. When full, bring sharps containers to an appropriate disposal site. A healthcare professional may know of these locations, possibly a hospital or other healthcare office.

Turn off the glucometer if it does not automatically shut off when test strips are removed. Place the glucometer, test strips, and other equipment back into their storage container to be ready for the next test. It is important to keep equipment in a cool, dry place to avoid damage and ensure accurate results. Patients should receive directions on how blood sugar levels affect their treatment and should follow these directions completely. Please consult with a healthcare professional for questions on these directions.

For people with diabetes, a glucometer provides important information about the both the current level and also the progression on their blood sugar. Some units save this information in memory, but all patients can write this in a notebook. With this information, doctors can create treatment plans with modifications implemented based on a patient’s blood sugar.

If using a glucometer was difficult, this would be an arduous task. Fortunately, once patients are familiar with the steps required using this device, you can complete testing in a few minutes or even less, but even with familiarity, patients must be disciplined and complete all steps properly due to the importance of the information provided by a glucometer. However, with proper training and use, this device provides accurate measurements of a patient’s blood sugar, allowing for proper management of one’s diabetes.