AMERICUS — Does diabetes run in your family? Do you have a parent, grandparent, brother or sister that has diabetes? Then you are at high risk for getting the disease. In fact, you may already have pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a condition where the blood sugar or blood glucose is higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. These high readings are your body’s way of warning you that you need to take action to protect yourself from diabetes. People who have pre-diabetes tend to develop diabetes within 10 years unless they change how they eat and exercise. They are also more likely to have a heart attack or stroke even if they never get diabetes.

So how high is high? If your fasting blood glucose (sugar) is between 100 and 125 mg/dl, you have pre-diabetes. If your fasting blood glucose is 126 or more on two occasions, you already have diabetes.

So what can you do if you are in that pre-diabetes zone? Connie Crawley, nutrition specialist, has some good information for you!  Lose weight and get active! A research study called the Diabetes Prevention Trial showed that people who lost 5-7 percent of their body weight and started walking five or more days a week for 35 minutes a day, reduced their risk for diabetes by 58 percent. Five to seven percent is about 10-20 pounds for most people. That means you do not have to get to some ideal body weight in order to benefit.

How can you get started? Let’s explore some of the secrets of those lean people you love to hate who rarely get diabetes:

• First, thin people usually eat a healthy breakfast. Eating actually increases your metabolism or your ability to burn fat. If you eat something in the morning, you kick up your metabolism right away. Try something light like a bowl of whole grain cereal with 1 percent  or non-fat milk or some yogurt with fruit or have a more substantial breakfast like toast and oatmeal.

• Next, drink more water and fewer sweet drinks. Each can of soda has 9 teaspoons of sugar and about 150 empty calories. Give up one soft drink or glass of sweet tea a day and you could lose 10 pounds in a year.

• Consume three servings of low-fat or non-fat dairy products a day. Leaner people tend to drink more milk and eat more low fat or fat free dairy foods. Calcium may affect how we store fat.

• Eat at least five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are low in fat and calories and high in fiber. Fiber fills you up without adding calories. Many people think vegetables and fruits are expensive, but most cost less than $.25 per serving. Try to get a snack from a vending machine for that! Get at least two servings of fruits and vegetables at each meal and two more servings as snacks during the day.

• Choose whole grain breads and cereals more often. With the low-carb craze, many people are skipping breads and other starches. Don’t make this mistake. Not all starches are the same. A large study of nurses found that those who ate the most whole grains were the leanest. A serving of whole grain bread, pasta or cereal is the size of the palm of a woman’s hand. Yes, that isn’t much, but remember you are cutting back, not out.

• Cut the fat. Fat is the most concentrated source of calories in your diet. A lot of fat is hidden in cheese, meat, whole milk, salty snacks, ice cream, candy, desserts and other things we love. Look for reduced fat or non-fat substitutes or at least eat less of these high-fat foods. If you do try the reduced fat varieties, check the nutrition label for the serving size and the calories. Some reduced fat foods are similar in calories to the original foods so they may not be worth using. Also cut back on the obvious fats like fried foods, regular salad dressing, butter and mayonnaise. Just using 1 tablespoon less of butter or mayonnaise a day will save you 100 calories.

• Move! Move! Move! Have you noticed that thinner people always are on the go? They are walking fast, fidgeting in meetings and jumping up to do things all the time. Yes, regular planned exercise for 30 minutes or more a day is important, but so are the incidental moves like walking to a restaurant for lunch, doing your own yard work and going upstairs to see someone instead of sending an e-mail. Even standing while you are on the phone uses more calories than sitting. Research has shown that people who watch more TV and spend more time in front of the computer are more likely to be overweight.

Adopt some of these habits and you may join the ranks of those thin, diabetes-free people before you know it. The most important point is to take care of you!



Mitzi Bacon is Sumter County Extension agent/Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. Contact her at 924-4476.