Join Now

Diabetes testing

Anyone who has symptoms of insulin resistance or diabetes should be tested for the disease. Some people will not have any symptoms but may have risk factors for diabetes and need to be tested. Testing allows you to change your diet and take out processed sugar laden food. You are more likely to have pre-diabetes or develop type 2 diabetes if you

  • Are overweight or obese (particularly if you have a beer belly or visceral fat).
  • Are "skinny fat" (skinny with no muscle definition or a bigger gut)
  • Are aged 40 or older.
  • Feel tired all the time.
  • Feel hungry after eating.
  • Have blurry vision
  • Have a family history of diabetes.
  • Have high blood pressure.
  • Have a low level of HDL (good) cholesterol, or a high level of triglycerides
  • Have a history of gestational diabetes or gave birth to a baby weighing 9 pounds or more.
  • Are not physically active.
  • Have a history of heart disease or stroke.
  • Have depression or high levels of cortisol.
Tester

A1C Test

The A1C test measures your average blood glucose for the past 2 to 3 months. The advantages of being diagnosed this way are that you don't have to fast or drink anything. The A1C test is based on the attachment of glucose to hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. In the body, red blood cells are constantly forming and dying, but typically they live for about 3 months. Thus, the A1C test reflects the average of a person’s blood glucose levels over the past 3 months. The A1C test result is reported as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the higher a person’s blood glucose levels have been. A normal A1C level is below 5.7 percent.

  • Diabetes is diagnosed at an A1C of greater than or equal to 6.5%
  • Normal is less than 5.7%.
  • Prediabetes is 5.7% to 6.4%

Fasting Blood Glucose Test

Fasting blood sugar tests involve drawing blood after you have not eaten overnight, usually for 8-12 hours. Results less than 100 mg/dL are normal. Results between 100 to 125 mg/dL are considered prediabetes. Results equal to or greater than 126 mg/dL after two tests are considered diagnostic for diabetes.

What if the test results are bad?

If the tests shows pre-diabetes exists then don't panic. Diabetes is a dietary disease that should be treated by a good diet rather than drugs. The bad news is that your body has adapted to burn sugars, the good news is that this is easily reversed. When you eat sugars all day you quickly become hungry again and want to eat more carbs. Your body has loads of fat that it does not want to burn (in fact it cannot burn fat due to insulin). Here's what you need to do......

  • Immediately ditch processed foods with hidden sugars and switch to real foods that promote hormonal health and have lots of micro-nutrients. You need to take a QUALITY based approach rather than a QUANTITY approach.
  • Men should get a testosterone & estradiol test and switch to a testosterone boosting diet.
  • Look at our heart disease page and assess your risk of heart problems.
  • Don't start counting calories. Low calorie diets are bad and don't work.
  • Do a HIIT exercise routine every day. It is easy to do and doesn't mean you restrict food intake.
  • Buy some quality scales and start monitoring your weight and BMI. If you don't lose weight you may be adding muscle and losing fat (Muscle weighs 1.1KG/litre and fat weights 0.9KG/litre) through exercise.
  • Take some body measurements (waist, gut, neck, thighs, calves etc).
  • Start intermittent fasting.
  • Look at your alcohol intake (switch drinks and reduce consumption).
  • Reduce stress by doing breathing exercises and avoiding (or confronting!) stressful things from your life.

Do this for 1 month and re-test for diabetes, you will be shocked at the great results. It is very important to not fall back into your bad old ways. Keep getting educated about food, exercise and lifestyle. 

If the results show diabetes then you should talk to your doctor about your options and take a full screening health check. But you should also do all the above points (with greater intensity). Type 2 diabetes can be reversed.