Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy and if you’re Hispanic unfortunately you’re at a higher risk for diabetes. This is why even when we’re young we have think about our eating habits and watching our blood sugar. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 1 in 3 people or 86 million Americans are pre-diabetic and they don’t know it.
LIKE DailyVitamina.com on Facebook! Get Your Daily Vitamin…FOR LIFE!
Being pre-diabetic puts you at risk for the disease, this means that your blood sugar levels are higher than they’re supposed to be, but not quite high enough to be diabetic. When you have a routine exam, your doctor can test your sugar level. Normally he asks you to fast prior to getting your blood sample.
Blood Sugar Levels
Normal: less than 100
Pre-diabetes: is 100-125
Diabetes: 126 or higher
Fortunately if you are pre-diabetic, there are signs to watch out for and the condition can be treated and reversed through adapting a healthier lifestyle, but if you choose to ignore it, then you’ll face the consequences of becoming a diabetic.
Pre-diabetic Symptoms
Tired all the time
Pre-diabetes causes insulin resistance, which means that your body isn’t able to convert all of the glucose into energy. This can make you feel very tired and even make you feel like you have a cold or the flu.
Weight
This can go either way. When your body is not able to get the energy it needs from glucose, it starts burning fat for energy, resulting in weight loss. Insulin resistance can also make you feel hungry all the time, which can cause you to gain weight.
Dark Skin
Have you noticed that you have thick dark skin on the back of your neck, underarms or elbows? High insulin can speed the rate at which skin cells reproduce, leading to the darkening and thickening of skin, called acanthosis nigricans.
Thirsty
Getting thirsty is no big deal after a meal or after eating something sweet, but when you’re excessively thirsty, that’s a sign of high blood sugar. Your body is trying to flush that extra sugar into the urine, which also means you’ll have to use the bathroom more.
Blurry Vision
When your sugar levels are off, this can also prevent your eyes ability to focus. Once you get your sugar levels back to normal, the blurriness will go away, but it’s also your body telling you something is off.