Changes in your feeding behavior are the most prominent signs of pre-diabetes – for example, increased thirst and hunger, combined with a frequent need to go to the bathroom. You may also experience frequent fatigue, and small vision artifacts as well. These symptoms should be considered even more carefully if you’re over 45 years old, as this is the age when the condition develops most commonly.

If you’re worried about pre-diabetes, go to your doctor as soon as you’ve spotted at least 2-3 of the symptoms we mentioned above. It may turn out to be nothing – for example, just a case of improper diet – but if it does turn out to be pre-diabetes, the sooner you find out the better.

Some common things to be on the lookout for include an increased sense of thirst and hunger, combined with a drastic change in your weight. Most people tend to put on extra weight, though it’s not rare to lose a few pounds out of the blue as well – either way, those symptoms should already be raising a few flags.

Pains in the abdominal area and vomiting can also be pre-diabetes signs – though if you spot those symptoms and they do turn out to be related to a diabetes condition, it’ll likely be in a bit more advanced state already. You may also notice some external symptoms, such as rashes and spots around the skin, though these are rarer and not a good way to spot the condition in general.

This is why sampling your glucose levels will be the first thing most doctors will do when testing you for pre-diabetes – pre-diabetes glucose levels are very different from those for normal people. For example, while a normal, healthy human may have glucose levels lower than 100 mg/dL, someone with pre-diabetes will likely have glucose of up to 125 mg for the same quantity, and if it goes above that then it’s a sign of full-blown diabetes.

The above indicators are only valid in the context of a sample taken at least 8 hours after a meal though – there are different procedures which may involve requiring you to drink a glucose-rich drink after some tests have been performed; in this case, your glucose level should read between 140 and 199 mg/dL to indicate you as having pre-diabetes – lower than 140 means you’re fine and more than 200 makes you a diabetic.

Pre-diabetes is always an indicator for the disease in the future. Pre-diabetics are at an increased risk of heart disease and strokes. This risk is double for those who are both pre-diabetic and smokers. Both these conditions narrow blood vessels and can cause many more complications.

Higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, experienced with pre-diabetes, causes damage to blood vessels, and in addition the carbon monoxide from smoking also damages blood vessels, causing dangerous plaque build-up and increasing the risks of a heart attack.

As per the American Heart Institutes research, smoking can prove to be a killer for people who smoke as they have three times more chances of developing pre-diabetes and diabetes. The combination of cigarette smoking and pre-diabetes is deadly and nicotine induces pre-diabetes. Cardio-vascular diseases can lead to heart attacks, strokes and even death.

However, pre-diabetes can be reversed and people suffering from the same can become normal again, but lifestyle changes need to be made. People must become active—walk, hit the gym and exercise. If “stop smoking today” is made a motto and a reality, a pre-diabetic individual can make their insulin levels return to normal and become healthy again.

Smoking is also a top cause of serious diseases like heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and strokes. In addition smoking also causes lung cancer and other lung diseases. All these complications can make matters worse for a pre-diabetic so it is better to stop smoking.

Doctors and specialists help chain-smokers and those addicted to smoking to mentally and physically deal with it. Through counselling, sharing-sessions and using safe substitutes patients are treated for the addiction adding value and days to life.

Any serious sources of fats and sugars must go – if you can’t immediately switch to non-fat varieties for your foods, at least try to go with a low-fat option whenever possible, and keep toning down on the fat until you’re comfortable with foods completely free from it.

Lean meats should be preferred above all other kinds, and if they’ve got skin on them, get rid of it – it doesn’t contain anything useful and can only serve to harm you in your pre-diabetes condition. Beans make good pre-diabetes foods and you can use them as a base for quite a lot of dishes too, so try to include them in your diet as much as possible (though of course, try to vary things a bit too).

Your fat consumption should be kept under close scrutiny – the smallest deviations from your norm can make huge changes. For example, if your weight is between 120-170 pounds, the best fat intake for you is around 33 grams per day, which should be spread over roughly 1,200 calories. Picking the right pre-diabetes food to include in that diet can be easy once you’ve got the basic nutritional facts down – just grab a table with the data for the most popular foods and pick the ones that fit the profile you’ve developed. When estimating, always overestimate and don’t go under when it comes to fat – miscalculations can have quite the serious adverse effects!

Some common misconceptions about the right types of pre-diabetes food involve thinking that you just need to eat healthy and you’ll be fine – while that’s true and you should avoid things that are outright unhealthy, not all regular foods will be good for you. For example, fruits like apples, cherries, melons and strawberries won’t be of much danger to an ordinary person, but they make terrible pre-diabetes food and you should avoid them at all cost.

Rice can also be a tricky subject, and while some people will tell you that there’s really no risk involved in eating it while you’re in a stage of pre-diabetes, some research points otherwise and indicates that rice can be very harmful in this condition, and should be avoided.

It’s important to stay active in general – living a sedentary lifestyle can be a very harmful circumstance for the development of pre-diabetes, so if you’re a couch potato try to get out more often. Even adding a walk in your daily routine can make a lot of difference in the beginning.

Of course, this is only good enough to get you started – you’ll have to throw some serious cardio into your routine in order to succeed in keeping your organism in a good condition to combat the development of pre-diabetes. Doing things like running, riding a bike and even swimming at least several times a week will keep your organism healthy and in a good enough shape. It will also help you lose weight, which in itself can be a crucial factor to combat the development of pre-diabetes, and should be attempted by you all the time.

Cardio is the most important thing with regards to pre-diabetes exercise – you need to get yourself in shape, and do it as well as possible. This will involve 20-30 minutes of running or riding a bike each day, and this may be a bit difficult to get used to initially – but if you’re persistent enough, you should be able to incorporate it into your daily routine soon enough.

It’s crucial that you keep training all the time – pre-diabetes exercise is most efficient when performed regularly, and if you think that you’re going to do yourself any good by just hitting the track every few days, you’re just lying to yourself. The best time to start getting in shape is right now – when it comes to conditions like diabetes, you have no time to waste.

Of course if you are susceptible to a particular illness then eating the right balance of foods becomes even more important. There are many illnesses that follow genetics and can be more likely depending on your family history. If this is the case for you and an illness then you should do your research and see if there are any diets and food trends that can help you.

For example following a pre diabetes diet can help when it comes to preventing diabetes. I am sure we are all aware that diabetes is to do with blood sugar, being too high or too low. Whilst diabetes is controllable it can lead onto other illness so really it is something that you want to avoid if at all possible.

A pre diabetes diet is important because it helps to maintain your blood sugar at a healthy level. By doing this you can promote healthy living and help to make sure that you don’t develop diabetes. There are many different pre diabetes diet steps that you can take.

Lucky for you there is plenty of information online regarding this and so doing your research and getting advice on the best foods to eat and the foods that you should avoid is easy. It should take just a few minutes to do and you’ll be up to date with everything you need to know regarding a pre diabetes diet.