Have you checked your A1c level lately? If you haven’t, you could be heading into the danger zone of pre-diabetes . . . and eventually diabetes without knowing it. Although there aren’t any major symptoms that predicts pre-diabetes it’s important to know whether you have this disease or not. One way to find out is to have an A1c blood test.
What is your A1c ?
A1c test measures the amount of glucose or sugar in your blood over the past two and a half to three months. The proper name is HbA1c or hemoglobin A1c.
Average blood sugar levels over the course of several months can be estimated by measuring changes to the hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells.
The hemoglobin A1c test measures the percentage of hemoglobin – the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen – that is coated with sugar. Readings of 6.5 percent or above indicates diabetes. But A1c levels between 5.7 percent and 6.4 percent are considered elevated, though not yet diabetic. However, if you are in this range you are considered to be pre-diabetic. People without diabetes have a normal HbA1c reading of 5.7 percent or less.
It is estimated by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), that approximately 86 million people in the US or one-third of the population of adults, have elevated blood sugar levels. The unfortunate fact is that many of these will progress to full-blown diabetes within five years due to a lack of knowledge and taking active steps to reverse the condition.
As stated above, there aren’t any obvious symptoms of pre-diabetes beyond having blood glucose levels that are higher than average.
There are risk factors however, that point to someone developing this disease. Issues such as being overweight, having a family history of diabetes, belonging to certain ethnic groups and of a certain age are leading factors that can cause pre-diabetes.
If your blood sugars are in the pre-diabetes range then you are in a good position to reverse the trend towards full-blown diabetes. Before we discuss this let’s determine what causes your blood sugar level to increase.
High blood sugar causes
Insulin is the hormone that facilitates sugars to move from our blood to our body’s cells where it can be used for energy. When there is excess sugars circulating in our blood from the foods we eat we have what is called hyperglycemia. This happens when our bodies can’t make insulin or it’s not using this hormone properly. The result in a build-up of sugars.
The build-up of sugars is directly caused by eating a poor diet that’s void of proper nutrients and consuming them at inappropriate times.
In addition to poor quality foods, living a sedentary lifestyle – watching TV all day or working a desk job for hours at a time – will cause a slow down in our body’s metabolism.
Being overweight or obese is another leading cause of high blood sugar and is an indirect result of a lack of activity.
Also, taking certain medications such as statins will cause blood sugar level to rise.
Other causes are a lack of proper rest and recovery (sleep), injuries, poor mental state due to stress, familial relationships (divorce, family tragedy) or unhealthy job conditions.
How to lower your A1c test results
We must learn how to lower blood sugar naturally by following certain rules. Here are the main ones:
- It’s time to stop eating like a child and learn to put the right fuel in our bodies . . . starting today. Do an assessment of your current diet. Are you eating too much process foods or drinking sugary drinks on a daily basis. If so, replace them with proper choices.
- You are not ten years old with bounding energy however you must move your body to keep it healthy. Our bodies were not meant to sit all day but to be actively doing something. If you have a job that calls for sitting for long stints then make time before or after work to start . . . and follow a consistent activity program.
- Learn to give your body the rest it needs to properly metabolize foods and allow for recovery from the day’s activity. An average of seven to eight hours should do it.
- We all get into stressful situation through the day which can negatively impact the way our bodies work . . . if we don’t deal with them correctly. What are some of your stressors? Come up with a strategy to manage them. Seek counsel, change jobs, etc.
Use these rules to kick-start an improvement in your A1c results.