Why are overweight people at higher risk?

[Rincer]

I am not understanding why would the fact that a person is overweight put them at higher risk for diabetes.

Lets say we have 2 people A and B.

A:  150lbs muscle + 20lbs fat = 170lbs total
B:  150lbs muscle + 50lbs fat = 200lbs total

Lets say they both eat a meal with the same amount of carbs, the insulin response of the muscle cells is higher than that of the fat cells so they both absorb the same amout of glucose with their 150lbs of muscle each.

Now fat cells still help absorbing the glucose even though not as much as muscle.

So 'A' absorbs some more glucose with his 20lbs of fat, but 'B' should absorb even more with his 50lbs of fat?

So seems like the heavier person would actually absorb more glucose out of their bloodstream? Then why are they at higher risk?

[Super_sally888]

I have to disagree slightly with Jemma. There is a big use to testing and understand how your blood sugar works, even in prediabetes.

A blood meter is absolutely your best tool for seeing the impact of food on your blood sugar.  Using this you will absolutely learn control.  Yes of course the reading will depend on what you ate.  That is why you are testing.

Test as follows (you may test a different meal on a different day).  Fasting.  This will show impact of the previous day's calories, food choices, exercise.  1 1/2 - 2 hours after eating (this should give your maximum blood sugar after any particular meal), before the next meal (this will tell you if your blood sugar has come down, ideally back to fasting level.

To avoid so many pricks, you may want to test just 1 meal a day.  Vary that between breakfast, lunch, dinner.  YOu will soon learn what does and doesn't work.

Not all meters are very accurate, but they are the best tool you have.  And it puts the control and immediate feedback in your own hands.

The latest research and state of the art approach on diabetes recommends a low carb diet, NOT a low fat diet.  Unfortunately I am not allowed to give you links here.    But you can easily research this.

[jemma116]

It is still reliable for you to monitor and chart your blood glucose.

Just remember that the reading will vary depending on what you have eaten, when you took the test, before or 2 hours after your food, and so on.

I don't monitor myself, as my doctor feels I don't need a monitor.  My husband has one because he had a problem to stabilise his diabetes and it was very high.  He is on injections of insulin and tablets now.  

Speak with your doctor or the diabetic nurse when your see her.  Ask your doctor to refer you to a diabetic nurse who will have more time to discuss your issues with her than the doctor.  They will explain to you when to do your self monitoring at home and may even have a chart for you to fill in.

When I feel unwell with foggy vision, I usually ask my husband to test my sugar levels using his monitor.  

Do bear in mind also that if you have an illness or ever have any steroid injections, your sugar levels will go up.  But will come back down again when you are well.

Best wishes.

[Rincer]

Hi,

Thats excellent diet advice, but I am wondering how can I monitor my progress at home to see if the changes I am making are actually having an impact?

So is the meter test basically not reliable enough?

[jemma116]

Don't forget when the laboratory analyses the blood sample for the HbA1C test, this gives the AVERAGE reading over a period of 9-12 weeks.

When you are doing a home monitoring check this gives you the blood glucose reading what it is at the time you have taken the blood test.  

The monitor testing will always be different depending on when and at what time you take the blood prick test, what you have eaten and any exercises that you have done.

When your next HbA1C blood test is done and it shows that you are still at the pre diabetic stage or have crept to the diabetic stage, you doctor may consider prescribing a low dose of Metformin slow release tablets.

The other further changes that you would need to consider is cutting down on the amount of food that you eat.  You should find on the web the right portion sizes that we should eat.  A calorie for a man would be 2000 if you want to count calories.  But you don't need to count calories.

Remember portion sizes, cut down on your fat intake; use healthy oils; bake, poach, grill or boil and don't add butter to your food.  Don't eat too much of the starch carbohydrates.  East wholemeal seeded bread instead of white.  If you buy ready made meals and have restaurant meals, watch for hidden fats and sugars.  Read food labels to see how much fat and sugar there is.  Cut down on your intake of the unhealthy fats.  Low fat foods are not necessarily healthy - they may contain more sugar.

Ask our doctor to refer you to a dietician who will be able to help you more with regard eating portion sizes.

[Rincer]

That last sentence should've read:

"Assuming I take a reading every morning, and see no drop in the fasting glucose level,  any idea how long would it take for me to establish that perhaps further changes are required?"

[Rincer]

Hi,

I got a glucose monitor already its one of the Aviva brand ones. I haven't done many readings, but it seems to pretty much agree with the lab results. Fasting levels are between 98-109, seems like the later in the morning I take the reading the lower it is, but I am not sure there is an actual correlation.

My eyesight has been checked over very thoroughly in the last month since this is actually what lead me to doing the glucose test. So far it seems to be unrelated to blood glucose.

I did cut all the simple sugars, but haven't done anything else about my diet. I also added more high intensity to my training, since I read it improves insulin sensitivity. So far the only change is that I actually got a bit leaner.

Assuming I take a reading every morning, any idea how long would it take for me to establish that perhaps further changes are required?