Eating For Health

Have you been diagnosed with prediabetes?   Cleveland Clinic notes this “is essentially a health warning stage”.   Your blood sugar level is higher than normal but not too high as to be classified as Type 2 diabetes.   There are a lot of Americans with prediabetes , about 38% of all adults in America, or 96 million adults have prediabetes.   Most are unaware they even have prediabetes. Can you reverse prediabetes? There is good news, that with lifestyle changes, prediabetes can be reversed.   These lifestyle changes include weight loss if overweight, a healthier diet, and regular physical activity.   (See:   Walk Your Way to Better Blood Sugar Control .)   CDC notes that “if you have prediabetes, losing weight by eating healthy and being more active can cut your risk of getting type 2 diabetes in half.”   What is prediabetes? Your blood carries glucose around your body to be used by your cells for energy.   Blood sugar is measu...

Everyone with diabetes or prediabetes knows that control of blood sugar levels is important.   But did you know that just walking for 2 minutes after meals is helpful in lowering blood sugar?   Yes, just 2 minutes.   And walking has so many other health benefits.   A relative with prediabetes was at the doctor’s this week for a checkup.   The doctor was impressed with how well the relative was controlling her blood sugar.   The relative said she tries to stay active.   The doctor said too many of his patients with prediabetes aren’t active which raises their blood glucose levels.   How does walking help lower blood sugar levels?   After you eat a meal, your body digests the meal and turns the carbs you eat like starches, fruit, and desserts into sugar.   This sugar enters your blood raising blood sugar levels.   Exercising after one eats a meal or snack helps your body get that sugar into cells to be used for energy.  ...

So many Americans have diabetes.   The National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2022 , which is published by the Centers for Disease Control, provides information on the prevalence and incidence of diabetes and prediabetes, and the risk factors for this disease and complications and costs.   Here are some facts from this report. Diabetes Facts: 37.3 million Americans have diabetes. This equates to 11.3% of the U.S. population Diagnosed – 28.7 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes Undiagnosed – 8.5 million have diabetes but are not yet diagnosed.   Prediabetes 96 million Americans aged 18 and older have prediabetes.   This is 38.0% of the U.S. population. Of those who are 65 and older:   26.4 million have prediabetes.   What are the best diets for those with diabetes? As noted in the past few weeks’ blog posts, the U.S. News & World Report ranks diets best for overall health, best weight-loss diets but also the Best Diabetes Diets ...

Everyone with diabetes or prediabetes knows that control of blood sugar levels is important.   But did you know that just walking for 2 minutes after meals is helpful in lowering blood sugar?   Yes, just 2 minutes.   After you eat a meal, your body digests the meal and turns the carbs you eat like starches, fruit, and desserts into sugar.   This sugar enters your blood raising blood sugar levels.   Exercising after one eats a meal or snack helps your body get that sugar into cells to be used for energy.    Walking is good exercise as everyone knows.   But for those with high blood sugar, when is it best to walk?   Is it better to go for a 45 minute walk every morning, to walk before you eat a meal or walk soon after you eat a meal?   What does the research show? Going for a 15-minute or a 20-minue walk after meals – A study in 2009 found that going for a 20-minute walk about 15 minutes after a meal lowered one’s blood sugar leve...