As of: March 5, 2024, 9:54 a.m
By: Natalie Hull-Deichsel
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If blood sugar is elevated, pre-diabetes may be present and the risk of actually becoming ill is greatly increased.
An expert explains which values speak for this.
Most people are familiar with diabetes, but pre-diabetes?
Pre-diabetes is the precursor to diabetes and should be classified as a warning sign.
It is already understood as a metabolic disorder because the blood sugar levels are also elevated here, but not yet so high that diabetes is present and insulin needs to be injected.
The precursor to type 2 diabetes develops over many years, usually without causing any complaints or symptoms.
One in five adults in Germany has pre-diabetes, according to the diabetes information portal “diabinfo” from the
German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD)
.
Since pre-diabetes does not cause any symptoms, it is particularly recommended for risk groups - people with high blood pressure or overweight - to have their blood sugar checked regularly by a doctor.
Because long-term elevated blood sugar levels not only increase the risk of actual diabetes, but also of damage to organs.
How can diabetes be prevented?
Since pre-diabetes does not cause any symptoms, it is recommended, especially for risk groups, to measure blood sugar regularly.
© AllaRudenko/Imago
In Germany, around 560,000 people are diagnosed with diabetes every year, according to
the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD)
.
It is estimated that seven to eight million people in Germany suffer from this chronic metabolic disease, in which the hormone insulin plays a crucial role.
If the sugar in the blood is too high, there is a risk of pre-diabetes and actual diabetes.
If fasting blood sugar levels are between 100 and 125, there is a disorder - and this can be pre-diabetes.
It can also be diagnosed using a sugar load test in which you drink 75 grams of sugar dissolved in liquid.
If the value is between 140 and 199 after two hours, it is an indication of pre-diabetes.
But you can also measure the HBA1C value, which is the long-term memory of blood sugar.
If the values are between 5.7 and 6.4, we call it pre-diabetes.
From a value of 6.5 onwards, one speaks of real diabetes.
Prof. Dr.
Hans Hauner, nutritional doctor and diabetologist, at the Technical University of Munich
If you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes, you can take targeted action to combat it.
The two main influencing factors at this point are diet and exercise.
Even small lifestyle adjustments can improve insulin sensitivity in the body, bring blood sugar levels back to normal - to between 80 and 110 mg/dl - and delay or even prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.
It certainly makes sense to go to a diabetes specialist early on.
And it's important to get checked not just once, but again and again, to see whether I'm progressing towards permanent diabetes more quickly or whether it can be stopped for me - or perhaps even reversed completely.
We have seen in recent years that diabetes can be reversed essentially through lifestyle measures; we call this remission, i.e. brought back to a stage in which it is completely harmless and values are completely normal.
Prof. Dr.
Hans Hauner, nutritional doctor and diabetologist at the Technical University of Munich, in conversation with the “diabinfo” portal
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Reversing Pre-Diabetes: How Can Diet Help?
Doctors know that the right diet - fewer carbohydrates and more fiber - can lower blood sugar levels and thus significantly lower the risk of actual diabetes.
What people with elevated blood sugar levels should eat:
whole grain products
legumes
nuts
Vegetables
Fruit
Carbohydrates should best be consumed together with foods high in protein or fat so that blood sugar rises less after eating.
It is better to only consume sugar and sugary foods in moderation.
Basically, it makes sense to focus on home-prepared dishes rather than heavily processed foods.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.