Prediabetes

Having prediabetes or blood sugars that are slightly higher than normal can increase your chance of developing diabetes. Diabetes increases your risk of developing heart attack, stroke, amputation, erectile dysfunction, kidney disease (possible dialysis), and retinopathy (possible vision loss).

Here are some changes you can make to reduce your chance of developing diabetes:

• Weight loss in patients with overweight or obesity
• Aerobic exercise (150 min of moderate intensity exercise spread over 4-7 days per week; start small and build up)
• Cut out sweetened beverages, including juices, soft drinks, sweetened coffee and tea drinks
• Reduce carbohydrate, in particular, simple carbohydrate intake (e.g. pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, muffins, bagels)
• Increase consumption of vegetables and lean proteins

To educate yourself about diabetes, please visit this website: https://guidelines.diabetes.ca/patient-resources