Oprah struggled with a diagnosis of prediabetes. She lost and gained weight, off and on, until she revamped her eating habits (fewer, healthier carbs) and established more realistic goals.
"Gone for me are the days of wanting to be thin to fit into anything other than my best body and best life," she said.
Now, a study reveals how the 96 million adults in the U.S. with prediabetes can stop their race to full-blown diabetes in six months without much stress or strain. That includes 70 million who are not aware that they have the condition, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke.
According to research published in JAMA Network Open, sticking to a low-carb diet — fewer than 40 grams of carbohydrates daily — does the trick.
The study compared 75 people ages 40 to 70 who had an A1c readying of 6.0% to 6.9% and went on the restricted diet to 75 folks with the same age and A1c levels who stuck to their normal eating routine. It showed that "the low-carbohydrate diet intervention group had significantly greater six-month reductions in HbA1c."
If you're overweight; do not exercise regularly; have a parent, brother, or sister with Type 2 diabetes; or have polycystic ovary syndrome, ask your doctor for a blood test to check for prediabetes.
If you're diagnosed, you can hit the mark for 40 grams of carbs a day with one-half cup of cooked beans (15 grams), half a large apple (15 grams), one-half cup of blueberries (9 grams), and seven to nine servings of nonstarchy vegetables and fatty fish such as salmon.