A blood glucose meter used for monitoring diabetes. It helps measure blood sugar levels, aiding in the management of type 2 diabetes.

5 Early Signs of Type 2 Diabetes and How to Reverse them

April 18, 2022

Type 2 diabetes is a common condition that often presents mild symptoms and tends to gradually develop within the next 5 years if remained undiagnosed and untreated. These are some common early signs of type 2 diabetes and how to overcome them

Type 2 diabetes is a very common degenerative condition that occurs when our body reaches its maximum blood sugar levels as a result of not having enough insulin to regulate it.

Approximately, 90 to 95% of all the patients suffering from diabetes have type 2 diabetes. The other 10% remain divided into type 1 diabetes and gestational diabetes – the one that affects pregnant women (1).

According to the CDC, at least 96 million adults within the United Stated suffer from prediabetes, and 37.3 million other adults already have type 2 diabetes – 1 person out of 10 -. Additionally, 8.5 million individuals - 23% of adults - remain undiagnosed (2).

They also say that if people suffering from high levels of blood sugar – also known as prediabetes – remained undiagnosed and untreated, they might be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the next 5 years of the first signs (3).

Nonetheless, it is safe to say that you can avoid suffering from type 2 diabetes by identifying early high blood sugar symptoms, as well as improving your eating and physical activity habits (4).

Here are 5 common early signs of diabetes and how to reverse them:

5 Common Early Signs of Diabetes

Typically, type 2 diabetes tends to develop slowly, and its first signs tend to be mild. Also, type 2 diabetes shares some symptoms with other health-related conditions; which is why is so important to go to your doctor immediately right after you start noticing a pattern.

Here are the 5 most common early signs of diabetes:

#1 You are thirsty most of the time

With high blood sugar levels, your kidneys will try to get rid of the extra glucose in the absence of insulin. The result is that they will try to make more urine, thus taking fluids from all your tissues to do the work.

As a consequence, you will become thirsty most of the time.

This early high blood sugar symptom is scientifically known as polydipsia and is commonly accompanied by provisional or extended dryness in your mouth, that doesn’t go away in despite how much water you take (5).

#2 You feel hungry all the time

Polyphagia or hyperphagia is the scientific name for extreme hunger (6).

This early high blood sugar symptom is also very common since your body starts to have issues processing the glucose you obtain from your meals. All of the glucose goes to your blood and then to your kidneys since your insulin deposits are depleted or decreased.

Then, even if you eat properly, your body still won't be able to process the sugar coming from your foods, thus it will require more food intake.

#3 You are peeing more frequently

Frequent bathroom visits are very common in people suffering from early high blood sugar symptoms.

This happens because your kidneys are trying to get rid of the excess sugar by filtering your blood, thus causing you to pee more frequently. This sign of high blood sugar levels also receives the name polyuria (7).

#4 You were previously diagnosed with Prediabetes

Prediabetes is a condition where you suffer from high blood sugar levels, but they are not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes.

With this symptom, you might experience some early signs of diabetes, or that might not happen at all.

Anyways, the fastest method to determine if you have prediabetes is through a series of blood tests such as fasting blood sugar – with levels between 100 and 125 mg/dl -, an OGTT 2-hour blood test between 140 and 199 mg/dl, or an A1C between 5.7% to 6.4%.

#5 You suffer from a dry mouth

Also known as xerostomia is the lack of saliva in your mouth for several reasons.

High blood sugar levels can make you more prone to suffer from yeast infections and dehydration which also causes dry mouth apparition (8).

How To Reverse Early signs of Diabetes?

Right after you have identified a pattern of early signs of diabetes via this article or by taking this CDC test, we advise you to go to the doctor as soon as you can.

After making a blood sugar test follow-up, and being diagnosed with prediabetes, you can start reversing it naturally by following several lifestyle changes such as start exercising and losing weight, changing to a more balanced diet, keeping yourself properly hydrated, treating sleep apnea and giving up vices like smoking and drinking.

As stated by the CDC, these lifestyle changes can decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes up to 58% - or 71% in people 60 years of age and older – (9).

Here are some tips to start:

Light exercising sessions of 15 to 20 minutes of walking, biking, jogging, or swimming are great to get used to exercising. Increase the time until 30 to 60 minutes to start enjoying the health-related benefits

By losing between 5% and 10% of your current weight you will prevent type 2 diabetes. Start by healthy eating 6 portions of food throughout the day that include veggies, fruits, and legumes
Smoking has been linked to the risk of developing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Quitting it will improve your health greatly
Add more whole grains, beans, and nuts to your diet while replacing or decreasing your carbohydrate intake to keep energy levels up and aim for weight loss
By keeping yourself properly hydrated through drinking – 3.7 liters for men and 2.7 liters for women – you will keep type 2 diabetes away. Try to replace artificial beverages and sodas with water when eating (10)

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