Last updated on August 21, 2024 by Dr. Subashri Thanigaivel
It’s twilight, the sky is decorated with brilliant colors and a gentle breeze caresses you. It takes you back 5-10 years down the lane. The time you spent your life care-free. You start wondering how much everything has changed.
The sudden loss of weight, the feeling of thirst and hunger, and frequent urination took you to the hospital. The doctor said, “It’s Pre-diabetes and is reversible”. And here you are with the uninvited guest.
But you start wondering “Prediabetes?” The term “Diabetes” is familiar but “Prediabetes”? And if there is any natural way to beat this?
We got all the solutions for you!
Prediabetes
To simply say, Prediabetes is a state which is just before diabetes hits you. Your blood sugar levels will be high but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Many people usually don’t take this phase seriously. But if you take the calls at the right time, you can beat this stage with ease.
The main difference between diabetes and prediabetes is that in the former you need to take medication and in the latter, you need to modify eating habits and become physically active.
People At Risk
Do you know who might fall into the brackets of the Prediabetic phase? If the person:
- Is 30+ years old
- Has a family history of diabetes
- Is suffering from Hormonal imbalance – PCOD/ PCOS issues, insulin resistance, suffering/suffered from gestational diabetes
- Lacks Healthy Lifestyle – being inactive, sitting for long periods, gaining weight suddenly, early menopause in women
- Follows Bad Food habits – binge eating, more junk food consumption, skipping breakfast, more sugar intake
Reversing Prediabetes
Now you know the persons at risk for Prediabetes, now let us dive into the ways through which this can be reversed. Physical activities and diet modifications can help in reversing diabetes. But do you know what and when to do it?
There are two great ayurvedic ways to escape the Prediabetes phase:
- Dinacharya
- Ritucharya
Dinacharya means the daily activities one must follow to maintain a balanced lifestyle. On the other hand, Ritucharya means activities to be followed on the basis of the seasons of nature we live in.
Dinacharya
Our day-to-day activities impact how our body functions. If you are a lazy fellow, all the problems will land on your lap. To make it easier, here are a few changes you can do in your daily routine that will have a positive effect on your body.
Wake up before the sun is up
As the old saying goes, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy and wise.” Waking up early makes you active and alert throughout the day. The peace in the morning gives you ample time to schedule your day.
Water to the rescue
At night, the body repairs itself and removes the toxins in the body. When you consume water on an empty stomach after waking up in the morning, it will help flush out the toxins from the body’s metabolism at night. Later the toxins will come out in the urine.
Stretch your body
When you get older and older, body movement slows down. The work-from-home era has made us even more lazier and inactive.
Indulge in some kind of physical activity schedule in your calendar. Try to get into sports activities, walking, jogging, running, doing yoga, aerobics, dance form, or any activities that will make you move your body.
This helps to boost metabolism in your body. You will feel light and activated throughout the day. There is also a benefit to your stomach that it increases your digestive power.
Health requires Healthy food
Food is one of the most important aspects contributing to the energy levels of your body.
Your food platter must be properly organized so that even though the quantity of your consumption is less, the quality you consume should be more. It should also depend upon your appetite and body absorption capacity.
Ensure that you don’t skip breakfast at all. Always have fresh and warm food. Include lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Mainly avoid junks and sweets.
Track your day
The way you spend your day, whether indoors or outdoors, the number of working hours and resting hours, all form a pattern in your life which in turn affects your lifestyle at large.
Having a stressful life has a bad effect on our bodies.
Try to get some peace of mind by meditating, taking up a hobby, stepping away from home, and connecting with nature. The less stressful you are, the more joyful your hormones will gain.
Sleep tight
A good night’s sleep improves the blood pressure, the immune system, basic brain functions, and mood, and gives your body time to repair itself. Limit your screen time to at least one hour before you hit the bed.
Ritucharya
With the rotation of the Earth, seasons change and that’s how the world works. Our body gets adapted to the changes. But did you know we can fine-tune our bodies to the seasonal changes? This helps us to even prevent going towards pre-diabetes level.
Summer Season
Known as Greeshma ritu in Ayurvedic terms. Usually, Sun’s happy days are referred to as the summer season. When the Sun is at its peak, intake of cooling foods like cucumber, amla, lemon, and watermelon, helps you keep hydrated throughout the day.
In the same manner ensure that your meal and dinner contains food that is less spicy, oily, roasted, and processed because the digestive power of the stomach during the summer season tends to be high, and taking these foods might cause irritation and negative feelings in your system.
For example, if you are planning to have meat for dinner, say a large bucket of chicken from KFC, try to limit the quantity to one piece, or a better way is to totally avoid it at night.
Rainy Season
With the start of the rainy season, Varsha ritu as the Ayurvedians call it, our moods tend to crave hot Maggi, sizzling bajjis, samosa, that steam from hot poori and aloo, and so on.
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Amidst all these options, there is one common thing which is that we all have a mind to consume hot and spicy food; especially during the rainy season. So the food we consume should be sour, hot, salty, and dry. Intake of soup, hot water, boiled grains and veggies, and honey, can make our digestive system feel comfortable.
Since your digestive system is a little weak, easy and light food enriched with fiber is the best option to enjoy a great meal. Exposure to the Sun is really important because the warmth from the Sun can really boost your metabolism during rainy days.
Winter Season
Winter aka Hemanta ritu makes you feel numb. It makes your skin feel dry and cold at the same time. During this season warm breeze can make you feel relaxed and soothing.
But do you know what kind of foods should be taken during this season?
Here is a glimpse.
Food prepared from freshly harvested corn, edible oils, products of sugarcane and milk, and meat soup with fats can make you feel at the top of the universe.
Giving your body oil massage can make your skin and health fight the dryness of winter in a better way.
Spring Season
If winter comes, can spring be far behind? Spring Season or Vasantha ritu is ideally termed as ‘Rituraj’ or ‘King of all the Seasons’. During this time, it is neither cold nor hot and the climatic conditions are very pleasant. It’s full of blooming flowers everywhere, making us cheerful, and it’s an ideal time to look after our bodies.
As this is a blooming season, the ideal Vasant Ritu diet includes cereals like Barley, Ragi, and Oats, and gently stimulating spices like Coriander, Cumin, and Turmeric.
Try to avoid dairy products, heavy foods, and oily foods.
Autumn Season
Sharath Ritu or the autumn season as we call it is a welcome relief after the sweaty and sultry Summer heat and the damp Monsoon. It’s the time when the lashing rains end and the chilly winter is yet to set in. You can see all the leaves falling out of trees, the ombre colors all around. Dry kind of feeling.
The dry atmosphere aggravates Pitta Dosha in the body due to the sudden exposure to Sunlight after the rains. This can lead to a Pitta imbalance in the body.
One should take food that is sweet, bitter and has astringent flavors in it. As this season is dry, indulge in foods that are leafy like green leafy vegetables, cool like cucumbers, and colorful like tomatoes.
Final words
All these will make your uninvited guest aka Prediabetes leave. And that too without making a big fuss!
“My life upgraded because of the way I styled it myself”
In short, a lifestyle change inculcating healthy habits and conscious tracking is the best way to be free of Pre-Diabetes.
It isn’t an impossible task, it all starts from the small and daily efforts we take toward a healthy life. Want to make your guest “Prediabetes” leave? But struggling with it? Let’s do it together.
