South Beach Diet & Pre-Diabetes

Paying Attention to Pre-Diabetes

From South Beach Diet

November is American Diabetes Month, so it's a fitting time to learn about this disease and pre-diabetes, the condition that precedes type 2 diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 18.2 million people in this country have diabetes. (About 5.2 million of them don't even know they have it.) The ADA estimates that the amount of adults with pre-diabetes is a staggering 41 million.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition defined by high blood sugar levels and abnormal insulin action. (Insulin helps the body use a substance called glucose as a source of energy for movement, growth, repair, and other functions.) Poor control of type 2 diabetes impacts the heart, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. Pre-diabetes, as the name implies, is a blood sugar level rising above what is considered normal but not as high as what occurs with diabetes. People with pre-diabetes also tend to have high blood pressure, high triglycerides (fats that circulate in the blood), low HDL ("good") cholesterol levels, and significant belly fat -- a cluster of symptoms that raises their risk for heart disease. Unfortunately, most people with pre-diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years unless they make lifestyle changes -- changes that have been found to be more effective for reversing pre-diabetes than medications, according to the National Institutes of Health.

"The most frustrating part about pre-diabetes and diabetes is that they are largely preventable and in circumstances where diabetes can't be prevented, the onset can usually be postponed," says Dr. Arthur Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet. "These conditions are brought on by a Western lifestyle -- eating refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats like trans fats and saturated fats, and inactivity," he explains. But a straightforward South Beach Diet. approach to eating (an emphasis on lean proteins, whole grains, and good fats and carbs) and exercise can reverse pre-diabetes and diabetes.

"Many of my patients actually started the South Beach Diet. because they were diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes, and I've witnessed their blood glucose levels revert back to the normal range," adds Dr. Agatston.

The ADA recommends diabetes screenings every three years beginning at age 45. If you have symptoms of diabetes, which include excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss or fatigue, or irritability; see your doctor for a proper diagnosis and treatment