Do you often feel tired or sluggish, even after a full night's sleep? Fatigue is one way your body may signal that something is out of balance, with persistent exhaustion potentially pointing to a more serious metabolic issue, such as prediabetes—the early warning sign of type 2 diabetes. Shockingly, nearly 1 in 3 Americans have prediabetes, yet over 80% are unaware of it. This is because symptoms often go unnoticed for years, and regular testing isn’t something most people think to prioritize. If you frequently feel drained or rely on naps just to power through the day, it might be time to consider whether a metabolic imbalance like prediabetes is at play.

How Fatigue And Glucose Metabolism Are Related

Blood sugar fluctuations, inflammation, and insulin resistance are all key indicators of prediabetes and diabetes - and can also impact your energy levels in the following ways:

• High blood sugar levels. If there’s too much glucose in the blood, your body can struggle to utilize it effectively, which overtaxes organs like the liver and pancreas, and causes metabolic stress that leads to fatigue. 
  
• Chronic low-grade inflammation. Metabolic imbalances can trigger the production of pro-inflammatory and acute-phase proteins, similar to an immune response to illness or injury. This chronic inflammation can lead to depressive symptoms like fatigue, cognitive impairment, and sleep trouble. 
  
• Insulin resistance. The insulin hormone regulates your energy supply by triggering your body’s cells to take in and/or store the glucose they need from your bloodstream. If cells become resistant to insulin, they’re unable to respond to these signals effectively, and glucose builds up in the blood instead. This can lead to cellular dysfunction, and low energy levels.

Since all of these prediabetes-related imbalances can also cause feelings of chronic fatigue and low energy, it’s important to investigate your symptoms early, and take action to address any potential underlying issues.

Other Common Pre-Diabetes Symptoms To Watch For

Many people with prediabetes report few or no symptoms at all, but that may also be due to the fact that some signs can be slower to progress, easily ignored, or misinterpreted without proper medical testing. If you or someone you know regularly experiences any of the following, it may indicate a more serious metabolic imbalance:

• Frequent urination. If your body isn’t producing or using insulin well, it will also have trouble regulating the levels of glucose in your blood. Glucose buildup can cause your kidneys to work harder to filter it out of the body through urine. 
  
• Increased thirst. Hand-in-hand with frequent urination, you may experience feelings of dehydration when your body has higher levels of blood glucose. 
  
• Unexplained weight changes. We tend to store unused glucose as fat which can lead to weight gain around the abdomen in particular. Excess weight in this region may also indicate higher amounts of visceral fat in and around your organs and tissues which can compromise their ability to function well too. 
  
• Blurred vision or brain fog. When blood glucose levels are elevated, they can cause your eye tissue to swell and your vision to blur. Over time, they can also lead to damaged blood vessels in the eye, which can leak and swell to cause pressure buildup and more serious eye conditions.

Take Action Now To Prevent Prediabetes or Diabetes Progression

Chronic fatigue may be trying to warn you about more than just a long work week, or burnout– it could be a sign that something more serious is going on in your body’s metabolic processes. Early detection through blood tests is one way to know for sure whether you currently have insulin resistance, elevated blood glucose levels, or abnormal cholesterol, all markers of metabolic dysfunction. Common tests to include for this kind of monitoring are:

• Fasting Glucose Levels
• Hemoglobin A1C
• Lipid Profile
• Insulin Levels 

Studies also show that healthy habits and lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your risk of prediabetes and diabetes, and in some cases, even reverse their progression. You can start to improve your overall metabolic health and energy levels by eating a balanced, mostly plant-based diet that’s low in saturated fat, increasing your physical activity to include at least 150 minutes of exercise per week, following Longevity Diet principles, and taking steps to manage any chronic stress you may have in your life. In addition, L-Nutra Health programs offer comprehensive, non-invasive lifestyle medicine programs that address the root causes of metabolic imbalances, potentially leading to the regression or reversal of conditions like prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

To learn more about these scientifically-backed programs, book your complimentary call today.

Additional Resources:

• Could You Be Suffering From Metabolic Imbalances? How To Catch Them Early, And What to Do About It 
• Signs You Might Be Dealing with Prediabetes 
  
  

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