Doctor Amir Khan has explained how to reverse pre-diabetes with five lifestyle changes, calling them "incredibly powerful". Pre-diabetes means your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, putting you at high risk of type 2 diabetes. According to Diabetes UK, around 6.3 million people in the UK are living with pre-diabetes, though many are unaware.
What is pre-diabetes?
In a video on Instagram, Dr Amir said: "If you've just been told, you're pre-diabetic, don't panic. This is one of those moments you can genuinely change the future." He explained that in the UK, pre-diabetes usually means your HbA1c – your average blood sugar reading – is between 42 and 47 millimoles per mol. "It means your blood sugar is running higher than we'd like but not yet high enough to diagnose type 2 diabetes. The good news is for many people, this stage is reversible."
He described how the body becomes insulin resistant: "Insulin is the hormone that acts like a key helping glucose move from your bloodstream into your muscles, liver and fat cells to be used or stored for energy. But with insulin resistance, those cells stop responding as well. So your pancreas has to produce more and more insulin just to keep blood sugars under control. Eventually, it can't keep up and blood glucose starts to rise."
Five steps to reverse pre-diabetes
Dr Amir acknowledged that reversing pre-diabetes may not be easy for everyone. "This isn't simply about willpower, genetics play a role, so does age, ethnicity, polycystic ovarian syndrome now known as PMOS, menopause, poor sleep, certain medication, chronic stress and living in environments where healthy food or safe places to exercise aren't easily available. Health inequalities do matter... but if you can make changes, now the evidence shows they're incredibly powerful."
Walk after eating: "Move more, especially after meals, even a 10 to 15 minute walk after eating can significantly reduce the blood sugar rise after that meal."
Build muscle: "Resistance exercise two or three times a week makes your muscles more responsive to insulin. Muscle is one of the biggest places your body stores glucose."
Eat more fibre and protein: "They help you stay fuller for longer and reduce those sharp spikes in blood sugar. Think beans, lentils, vegetables, nuts, yoghurt, eggs or tofu."
Lose weight if you need to: "If you're carrying excess weight, losing even five to 10 per cent of your body weight can dramatically improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce your risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes."
Look after your sleep and stress levels: "Poor sleep and chronic stress make insulin resistance worse so looking after your mental health is part of looking after your metabolic health too."
Dr Amir added: "Remember pre-diabetes isn't a life sentence, think of it as your body's early warning light, listen to it. Make changes where you can ask for support if you need it and in many cases, you can get your HbA1c back to the normal range before type 2 diabetes develops." If you are concerned about your blood sugar levels, you should speak to your GP.
