Prediabetes is a critical health condition characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that are not yet high enough to be classified as diabetes. This often means your body is becoming resistant to insulin, a hormone essential for processing sugar. Left untreated, insulin resistance often continues to increase. That can have serious implications, notably diabetes and its many related  harmful effects.

Lifestyle factors play a significant role in the development of prediabetes. That’s good news, since we can change our habits if we work at it. Lack of exercise and poor diet choices contribute  to weight gain and blood sugar swings, which are major risk factors for insulin resistance hence prediabetes. Eating sugary snacks and desserts and too many refined carbohydrates can overwhelm the body's insulin response system, leading to a breakdown in blood sugar control, which is also a major risk factor for insulin resistance hence prediabetes.

Hormonal imbalances, particularly related to the stress hormone cortisol, can contribute to insulin resistance. Chronic stress and insufficient sleep are therefore risk factors for developing prediabetes.

Genetics and ethnicity can also play a role. People with a family history of diabetes are more susceptible to prediabetes. African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, have a higher predisposition.

But lifestyle choices are the biggest culprit, and we can control these. It boils down to:

• Exercise every day. Walk, run, exercise routine … whatever. Get some exercise every day.
• Cut out the sugary snacks and deserts…the extra helping of pasta too. Replace these with snacks and foods that won’t spike and crash your blood sugar;. i.e. low glycemics, and that give you a balance of carbs and protein.
• Sleep on a regular schedule, or close to one. For most people, get six to eight hours.

Extend Bars and Shakes are designed as part of your protection against pre-diabetes. They're clinically proven to provide steady, long lasting blood sugar control, avoiding spikes or crashes for up to nine hours, and they provide balanced nutrition too, with 0-1 gm sugar (none added), one net carb, and 10-12 gm of quality protein. Make your snacks Healthy. Try the Extend variety pack today at amazon.com or extendnutrition.com.