Diabetes is a complicated disease. In fact, there’s more than one way to become diabetic. For example, my spouse has diabetes due to an injury to his pancreas that destroyed much of the organ. How you manage diabetes caused by injury vs. caused by excessive weight vs. caused by genetic factors are all slightly different, even if they might all be technically “type II”. That’s probably why there’s no one solution to the problem of managing the disease.
The good news is, of course, that you are not diabetic at this time. You may never be diabetic, even if your fasting blood sugar is slight elevated. Being “pre-diabetic” is not a sentence of doom.
I also want to mention that one blood sugar test is not conclusive. Even non-diabetic people may occasionally have higher than typical glucose readings (illness can cause this, for example). You need to look at several such tests taken over time.
You said your doctor seemed unconcerned. Maybe you need to tell him that even if he’s not particularly concerned it’s important to YOU to do everything you can to lower your risk of diabetes. Is he aware that this is a family medical issue? If not, you should tell him.
You can try out several types of “diabetic diets” and see what works for you. Maybe you’d do better with low carbs, or maybe with complex carbs, or higher protein, or whatever. If the diet is presented as “weight loss” and you don’t want to lose weight then increase the portion size, which will increase the calories. If you find a particular diet improves your blood sugar then, so long as it is healthy and balanced, stick with it. As you are not diabetic at this time experimenting with your diet is far less likely to have adverse effects than if you were diabetic.
Above all, do what you can to stay as healthy as possible and eat a diet that works for you. If, Og forbid, you do become diabetic down the line the self-discipline will do you good in maintaining a treatment regimen and thus minimizing side effects. I’ve known people who became insulin-dependent diabetics during childhood yet lived into their late 70’s with working kidneys and good eyesight, it’s possible to do this. Becoming blind and losing limbs and winding up on dialysis are NOT inevitable when you are diabetic. It’s an awful disease, it feels very unfair, but it can be managed.
That’s a great point I completely overlooked. I went in for my test about a week after my parents had their first-ever physicals as well (coincidental, not coordinated), and at the time I didn’t know what their levels were so I told the doctor they had no health problems.
There is a fair amount of genetics that go with diabetes. I know there are people who did nothing to deserve it, like any other disease, but genetics being what they are, they got a given disease, regardless of how healthy or unhealthy they are or were.
Out of the blue, with no indicators, my brother got epilepsy and he has been an athlete and in good condition and well exercised all of his life AND epilepsy doesn’t even figure in our family history. He hates taking epilepsy medications, but he does, rather than get another seizure.
I had a major freak out when I was diagnosed - went through all the various stages of denial and anger and finally acceptance. The first 6 months were the worst. Now, 2+ years in, it ain’t no big deal. I don’t worry about all the Big Scary Complications, because I keep my blood sugar in control. And that’s not really all that difficult with today’s fancy insulins and pumps and meters.
Sure, diabetes is a hassle, and I’d rather not have it. But I’ll take it over about a gazillion other diseases. It’s controllable and you can live a normal life with it. I can’t even really imagine not having it now, I’m so used to checking blood sugar and dosing and all that.
Well, if you didn’t know at the time you didn’t know - just explain they were recently diagnosed and your concern that this puts you at higher risk. If there is a known family history your doctor might find it sensible to treat any symptom or sign more aggressively than would otherwise be the case. Or he might also want to watch you more carefully over time.
As fascinating as that all is, it really doesn’t address what I said or what I meant. When you shop on the perimeter of the store (in some cases I see now) what you’re buying is fresh meat, fresh vegetables (CARBS!), fresh fruits (CARBS!), dairy, and even the bakery. When I’m trying to cut carbs out, I can’t help but notice that the vast majority of the grocery store is dedicated to, well, junk. Huge, grotesque amounts of it. Nobody needs pasta or white bread or cereal or chips or crackers or cookies or frozen dinners or rice or ice cream or jarred sauces. Preservatives might not cause any uptake of sugar levels themselves, but they go hand-in-hand with foods that are not as healthy as eating fresh food.
Re #2:
It’s almost impossible to have high triglycerides on a lower carb, higher fat diet. Blood tryglyceride levels directly correlate with the amount of dietary carbohydrate you consume, and often fall to very low levels indeed when you’re eating ‘low carb’. I had blood tests pre and post my current lower carb/high saturated fat diet, and my trigs went from the high 50s to the low 30s. My HDL also increased by quite a bit, which everyone agrees is a good thing. My total and LDL went up a little as well, but the ratios between your trigs, HDL and LDL, and size of your LDL particles are much more important than your total cholesterol, after all. My ratios were already good and got even better. I’m a special case anyway, my cholesterol has always been too low (under 160 is linked with many health conditions) and I’d be happy for it to get even higher.
Keep in mind that there is no need to eat astronomically high in protein when you’re reducing your carbohydrate intake and trying to maintain weight. There is only so much protein your body can utilize after all. I’ve never seen evidence that a diet a bit higher in protein than the average will strain/harm the kidneys of anyone who doesn’t have existing kidney problems. Eat enough protein that your hunger is satisfied - it doesn’t take a ton for most people.
I’ve found that the best way to figure these things out is to try eating different ways and see what makes you feel best; under a doctor’s supervision of course. If you get regular testing you’ll be able to see what results you are getting. This is how I figured out that being a vegetarian makes me really sick, and eating a whole foods, high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet not only makes me feel and look fantastic, but also has a positive effect on my measurable health markers. I’ve got my doctor’s approval.
Unless, of course, you have a genetic-based form of high triglycerides or lipid problem… but a blood test will spot high levels of those and the OP stated everything was within normal levels so… no problem there, I guess. It’s just that different people react different to the environment, including diet. So it’s important to know what works for you individually.
I don’t believe anyone has yet mentioned the concept of glucotoxicity (pdf). This refers to the phenomenon whereby high glucose from whatever cause “poisons” the pancreas so that it secretes even less insulin. Of course, this causes even worse hyperglycemia to develop. Although the linked article doesn’t mention it, glucotoxicity also includes the fact that high glucose (from any cause) also makes a person more insulin resistant. The good news is that the reverse holds true for both phenomena.
Lowering of blood glucose (however it’s achieved) will lead to some degree of restoration of the pancreas’s ability to make insulin and it will also lessen any insulin resistance that may be present. In clinical practice, this means that whether one uses weight loss, exercise, oral medications, or insulin to lower elevated glucose levels, there will be an improvement in both insulin secretion by the pancreas and in insulin sensitivity (i.e. reduced insulin resistance).
One sees this whole process in action in the so-called honeymoon phase of recently diagnosed type I diabetes. Specifically, shortly after starting insulin therapy, a type I diabetic often finds they need less and less insulin to keep their glucose levels under control. The concept of glucotoxicity reminds us that the improved glucose levels following the introduction of insulin injections leads to improved insulin sensitivity (i.e. decreased insulin resistance) and permits any surviving islet cells to begin to make insulin again. Indeed, it is often possible for the patient to come off insulin, at least for a while. As time goes on, though, those surviving islet cells usually are knocked off by the ongoing autoimmune attack which caused the type I diabetes in the first place. Sometimes, though, it can last for years.