Understanding A1c for prediabetes gives you important data about how your condition is travelling. For instance, if your A1c is going down, your health is getting better.
On the other hand, if your A1c is going up, you’re moving toward a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Obviously that’s not what you want, so read the following info to understand all you can about A1c.
What is A1c?
Hemoglobin A1c, often referred to as HbA1c, or even just A1c, is the average measure of your blood sugar over the past 3 months. This blood test can be used as a diagnostic criteria for prediabetes, or as part of routine blood work for diabetes management.
A1c measures the percent of red blood cells that have been glycated (covered) in glucose. A higher percent A1c means a higher number of your red blood cells have been floating around in a high sugar environment, and as you can probably imagine, this is not an ideal situation.
Regardless, if you’re prediabetic, already type 2 diabetic, or just reading this because you’re looking for more information about A1c, your goal is to maintain your A1c as close to normal as possible.
What’s Normal A1c?
Depending on where you are located in the world, the information you receive regarding A1c may vary slightly. Being that these differences in recommendations are so small, the generally recognized “normal” A1c range is between 4-6%.
Remember, your A1c is the average blood glucose reading over approximately the past 3 months.
A1c as a Diagnosis for Prediabetes
A1c is a measure of average blood glucose and is one of the preferred criteria for diagnosing prediabetes.
In addition, when diagnosed with prediabetes, you may be required to have additional tests such as:
- Glucose tolerance: a measure of your blood sugar 2 hours after carbohydrate intake
- Fasting blood glucose: a measure of your blood sugar after a 8 hour fast
The following chart indicates the diagnostic criteria for prediabetes and diabetes.
Daily Blood Glucose Monitoring in Prediabetes
Although it’s not often recommended people with prediabetes use a blood glucose monitor, we encourage you to do so because it can help you work out what foods influence your blood sugar the most.
One of our members, Cheryl, who reversed her prediabetes, said:
“If there is one bit of advice I would give to someone who needs to stay motivated to eat correctly, it would be to get a blood sugar monitor and use it. You will know that you are in control. What you eat makes all the difference and it will be reflected in the number you see each day on your monitor.”
If you’re not using regular home testing now, consider making it part of your prediabetes management routine!
A1c and Cardiovascular Risk
By this point you hopefully have a better understanding of what HbA1c is, how to interpret the number, and what is considered a healthy range. Now it’s time to talk about why all this matters.
Having an elevated A1c demonstrates poor glucose control, which puts you at an increased risk for diabetic complications such as cardiovascular disease.
Chronically high levels of sugar in your blood will cause damage to the tiny blood vessels throughout your body. Over time, this can lead to stroke, heart attack, or other adverse events from altered blood flow.
The good news is that one of the best things you can do as a prediabetic (or type 2 diabetic) to prevent heart disease is to maintain good control of your sugar.
A 1% reduction in A1c is associated with a 21% reduction in diabetes related death, 14% reduction in heart attacks and 37% reduction in microvascular complications!
This means reducing your A1c from 8 to 7 is a great accomplish. While 7 may not be your ultimate A1c goal, it’s still an admirable reduction that means great things for your overall health!
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A1c and Diet
One of the biggest determinants of your A1c is the food you eat on a regular basis. The food you eat has a direct impact on your A1c levels.
If you’re constantly eating high carb foods and highly processed junk and your blood sugar is totally out of control, that will be directly reflected in your A1c check up.
Science has proven time and time again that carbohydrates are the nutrient that impact your blood sugar the most. That’s why we encourage people to follow a low carb diet, keeping carb intake under 130 grams per day, and even better, aiming for a lower range such as 50-80 grams daily.
Here at DMP, we’ve been helping people for years, to control and reverse their prediabetes, naturally by implementing a lower carb nutrition plan.
“My partner is prediabetic and after following the guidelines for 4 months he’s lost over 24 lbs (10.8kg) in weight and his levels are back to normal. Thanks for providing such an informative website.” ~Carol
Dr Jedha (DMP’s Founder) created the T2Diet ‘Prediabetes’ Program, which was clinically proven in a randomized controlled trial to lower A1c, weight, BMI and medication. In as little as 16 weeks, you can achieve a normal A1c!
To get started with your nutrition plan, refer to our recommended food list; or you might consider joining Dr Jedha’s program if you want to discover how to turn your prediabetes around for good.
A1c and Exercise
It’s common knowledge that regular exercise is important for everyone, including those with prediabetes.
Exercise aides in weight loss, reduces stress, improves mood, and probably most important to our discussion today – it improves insulin sensitivity.
Improving insulin sensitivity, means better glucose control, and that means reduction in your A1c!
At minimum, adults need 30 minutes of exercise daily. This is only a minimum recommendation, but to notice the greatest impact on health, many people benefit from increased time spent exercising. However, if you currently live a very sedentary life, start with just 5-10 minutes of activity and work your way up.
The type of activity you do doesn’t make a great deal of difference in regards to health benefits. For instance, researchers instructed sixty patients with type 2 diabetes to follow either an aerobic exercise program (treadmill or bike), a resistance training program (weight machines), or a combination of both programs.
All three groups saw reduction in A1c after 1 year, by 1.33%, 0.55%, and 1.74% in the aerobic, resistance, and combined exercise training groups respectively. Since the largest reduction was observed in the combined exercise group, this may suggest that varying your exercise produces the most appreciable results.
If you’re newly diagnosed prediabetic and unsure where to begin with your exercise routine, check out the following for more information on exercise:
A1c and Metformin
Metformin is one of the most common diabetes medications available today. Metformin lowers blood glucose by decreasing the amount of sugar put out by the liver and helps to improve A1c levels.
If you are taking medications, that doesn’t mean you will always have to. Many people reduce or eliminate their medications by achieving a normal A1c.
Here’s what Cheryl said:
“Last week I went in for my yearly physical and my A1c was 5.5! The doctor had told me that if I could keep my A1c under 5.7 for a year he would take me off metformin. So… I’m off metformin and you could say that I’m not pre diabetic anymore! I no longer experience tingling in my hands and feet. My blood pressure, and triglycerides are normal. I no longer have UTI’s and I’ve lost weight, and I feel better. Thank you DMP and your sincere staff. You are doing wonderful work. “
NOTE: you should never stop taking medication without first consulting your doctor.
Conclusion
Knowing A1c for prediabetes, and what it means, is crucial if you want to improve your health and prevent a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
Through a combination of diet (most important part of the puzzle), exercise, medication, and regularly using a glucose meter to know your day-to-day readings, you can, lower your A1c, and prevent long term diabetic complications.
It is also quite possible to reverse your prediabetes, which involves you taking a proactive approach and taking care of YOU the best you can.
This information has been very helpful to me. I have been under a lot of stress due to the death of my son. My A1C has gone slowly up. I think I will keep a food journal to see if this will help. It’s hard to cook low carb when preparing meals for a family. Any suggestions?
Sincere condolences to you and your family Pat. With the cooking, it’s easier than you may think, as the main issues are the high carb ‘bases’ (rice, pasta etc) so you can exclude those for yourself and add more veggies – the good carbs. That method seems to work well for most people. You might want to consider joining as a member for lots of easy meal ideas.
On February 12th my A1c was at 12.5. I stopped eating carbs and drinking soda 6 days a week. Allowing my self 1 cheat meal on fridays , usually a bacon cheeseburger. Started eating a lot of salads with chicken, steak or fish. I also traded my Arnold Palmer ice tea and coka cola, for Coke Zero and a lot of water. I was 306lbs but I’ve lost 50 pounds in 3 months. Just had my A1c checked on May 21st and now it’s 6.4. It’s still high but I cut it in half in 3 months. If I can do it so can you. I hope this helps someone. God knows I needed motivation for myself when I started as well!
Thank you for sharing your story and keep up the great work, Ray!
Hi are you pre diabetes or diabetic . can you message me please . i am pre diabetic 66 and trying hard to do all i can , congrats sharon
Sharon, I’m type 2 diabetic. My youngest son is type 1. We both were diagnosed this year. For myself I have to eat healthy. Veggies and protein have worked wonders for me. I also make sure to walk at least 5 miles a day. It helps with the weight loss. As for my son (type 1 insulin dependent ), we have to watch his carb intake. I try to make sure his meals don’t contain more then 75g of carbs per meal. He’s 14 so he needs to eat carbs. Since you and I are alittle older. You might want to ask a doctor what is the correct amount of carbs you should eat per meal? I try to keep my carbs at 5g or less per meal. I would definitely say you should go see an Endocrinologist. The one I have helps me out a lot.
yes indeed . keep going . we need a support group é
My A1C was 6.1 and 3 months ago it was 5.7. I have lost over 20 lbs since April. I now weight 125 lbs and did lose 2 lbs the past 2 months. I thought I was very careful about eating carbs. I have been drinking Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng — total carbs 1g and total sugar 1gr—I just see on the back that it says contains a small amount of honey not for use by diabetics without advice of a physician. Could this drink cause my number to go up.
Many ingredients could have an impact on your numbers – it may be the honey or the ginseng.
I had a recent weight gain from 150-180 pounds over 3 months and have been stressed related to a move to a new state. my A1c has been fine but it was just taken and is 7, Can that number go down?
Yes Katie, you can get that number down again. Focus on lowering stress levels, eating well and a little exercise. Our recommended food list can help get you started.