Pre-diabetes is when blood glucose levels are higher than usual, but not high enough to be diabetes.1 If you’ve been told you have prediabetes, or are worried you might, this page might help you get a better understanding of what that means. Read on to find out more.
Pre-diabetes is when blood glucose levels are higher than usual, but not high enough to be defined as diabetes. As the name suggests, if you have pre-diabetes, you are at higher risk of going on to develop type 2 diabetes.1
The cause of pre-diabetes is a problem with insulin in the body. Insulin is released by the body when it detects glucose in the bloodstream, and tells cells to take up and store the glucose. In pre-diabetes this process does not work as well as it should, either because not enough insulin is being released, or because the body has become less sensitive to insulin (this is known as insulin resistance). This means that blood glucose becomes higher than usual, but not as high as in diabetes.2 Pre-diabetes is therefore sometimes known as impaired glucose tolerance.
While some risk factors for developing diabetes are not preventable, such as family history, there are others that you have some control over. These include:1
Having an unhealthy weight
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Low levels of physical activity
High-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, or low-fibre diets
Smoking
This means that making the following changes can help prevent pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes:1
Losing weight
Engaging in regular physical activity
Eating a healthy diet, including fruit, vegetables, wholegrain foods, and healthy fats from food such as nuts, oily fish, avocado and olive oil
Managing blood pressure and cholesterol – your doctor can support you with this
Stopping smoking
Glucerna is a health shake that is specially formulated to support people living with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, as part of a diabetes management plan including diet and exercise.3
Clinically shown to provide a steady release of glucose, helping minimise blood glucose spikes.*3-6
Inositol has been shown to support insulin sensitivity.3,7–9
Eating right when you have diabetes doesn’t have to be complex – it is about knowing what is best for you and your diabetes management plan. Knowing which foods are low-GI can be a helpful way of keeping track of your diet. Read on for a breakdown of what ‘low-GI carbohydrate’ means and how this might be helpful.
While there is no cure for diabetes, many treatments are available to help manage blood glucose levels. A healthy lifestyle plays a big role in managing blood glucose levels and reducing the risk of complications.10 This article will explain briefly how type 2 diabetes is managed.
When you have diabetes, you may wonder what ‘eating right’ means for you.
Here we’re busting some of the myths around food and diabetes. Keep reading to learn more.
Glucerna is Food for Special Medical Purposes. Use under medical supervision.
*Glucerna should be used as part of a diabetes management plan, including a healthy diet and physical activity.
References: 1. Better Health Channel. Pre-diabetes. Available at: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes-pre-diabetes. Accessed May 2023. 2. Mayo Clinic. Prediabetes. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prediabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20355278. Accessed May 2023. 3. Glucerna® Powder Product Label. 4. Devitt A, et al. Journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Metabolism. 2012;1(1):20, 5. Mottalib A, et al. Nutrients. 2016;8(7):443, 6. Dávila LA, et al. Nutrients. 2019;11(7):1477. 7. Bevilacqua A, et al. Int J Endocrinol. 2018;2018:1968450. 8. Dang NT, et al. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2010;74(5):1062–7. 9. Yamashita Y, et al. J Agric Food Chem. 2013;61(20):4850–4. 10. Better Health Channel. Diabetes. Available at: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes. Accessed May 2023.
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