5 Simple Ways to Reverse Prediabetes & Take Control of Your Health

Your body is remarkably good at sending signals before a bigger health issue takes hold—and a prediabetes diagnosis is one of the clearest warnings it can give you. The good news? Unlike many health conditions, type 2 diabetes is often preventable—and with the right steps, a prediabetes diagnosis can be very much reversible if you take action. New research shows that acting now doesn’t just protect you from diabetes—it could dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease too. But how do you actually do it? We asked experts to share everything you need to know about reversing prediabetes, and why it’s absolutely worth addressing sooner rather than later.

What is prediabetes?

“Prediabetes means your blood sugar (glucose) levels are higher than normal, but not quite high enough yet to be called type 2 diabetes,” says Kardie Tobb, DO, MS, FASPC, FACC, a board‑certified preventive cardiologist and the medical director for the Cone Health HeartCare Women’s Heart Health and Cardio-Obstetrics Clinic, for insight.

Dr. Tobb explains that medical professionals diagnose prediabetes based on blood work that falls into one or more of the following categories:

• An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 percent
• A fasting blood sugar level of 100 to 125 mg/dL (normal is below 100 mg/dL)
• A blood sugar level of 140 to 199 mg/dL two hours after consuming a glucose drink as part of a glucose tolerance test

What causes prediabetes?

“The underlying mechanism of prediabetes is insulin resistance,” explains Jody-Ann McLean, MBBCh, BSc, a registered medical doctor and medical writer with expertise in metabolic and women’s hormonal health. “Insulin is the hormone that helps your body’s cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream to be used as energy. When your cells stop responding as well to insulin, this is called insulin resistance. It can result in more glucose remaining in the bloodstream, meaning higher blood sugar levels.”

New research on the importance of reversing prediabetes

Health conditions that feel like a precursor to the “real” condition are not always treated with as much urgency, but new research shows reversing prediabetes specifically has a real impact on your health and longevity.

A study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology analyzed data from more than 2,900 people with prediabetes and found that those who reversed their prediabetes and returned their blood sugar levels to the normal range had about a 50 percent lower risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure over the following decades.

How to reverse prediabetes: 5 expert tips you can start today

So now you understand the importance of treating prediabetes with urgency, but you’re not sure where to start. Here are five tips Dr. Tobb says she has seen work in real time with her patients.

Move your body (especially after meals)

Why it helps: Our muscles are the largest consumers of blood sugar in our body and getting movement after eating, even if it’s just a walk, helps ensure our muscles soak up the sugar from that meal before it has a chance to cause a blood sugar spike, explains Dr. Tobb. She says that even just one exercise session makes our cells more sensitive to insulin. “This is the closest thing to a magic pill we have,” she adds.

What to do: Dr. Tobb recommends ideally getting 30 minutes of daily exercise five days a week. Whether you choose gardening or yard work, dancing, swimming or brisk walking, any movement counts, she says. Dr. Tobb adds that a good place to start for incorporating movement into your lifestyle is walking for 10 to 15 minutes after a meal without focusing on walking for a long time or at a certain speed, but just walking.

Choose foods that help stabilize blood sugar

Why it helps: Foods rich in fiber and protein digest more slowly, which helps create a gradual rise in blood sugar rather than a sharp spike, explains Dr. Tobb. When blood sugar remains at a steady level throughout the day, the pancreas doesn’t have to release large amounts of insulin, giving it a chance to recover, which can help reduce insulin resistance, she adds.

What to do: Dr. Tobb recommends filling half your plate with non-starchy veggies such as spinach, broccoli, zucchini or peppers. A quarter of your plate should be protein sources like eggs, fish, chicken, tofu or beans, while the last quarter should be whole grains or starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa or oats, adds Dr. Tobb. She also recommends cutting out sugary drinks and choosing water, plain tea or unsweetened coffee instead.

Aim for gradual, sustainable weight loss

Why it helps: Carrying excess weight and fat, especially inside the liver around the belly, interferes with insulin’s ability to regulate blood sugar, says Dr. Tobb. She explains that losing even a small amount of weight can shrink this visceral fat and help insulin work more efficiently. “Some patients see their A1C drop back to normal after losing just 10 pounds,” she adds.

What to do: Dr. Tobb emphasizes that you don’t need to reach your ideal weight to see benefits for insulin resistance. Citing research from the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program, she says that losing just five to seven percent of your body weight can make a beneficial difference. “For a 200-pound person, that’s only 10 to 14 pounds,” Dr. Tobb adds.

Treat quality sleep like medicine

Why it helps: Dr. Tobb says poor sleep can drive cortisol, the stress hormone that increases blood sugar, and ghrelin, the hormone that makes you crave sweets and carbs. She notes that even a few nights of poor sleep can raise fasting blood sugar levels. “Treating sleep apnea alone has helped many of my patients lower their A1C significantly,” she adds.

What to do: Dr. Tobb recommends aiming for seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule when possible. “Keep your bedroom cool, dark and screen-free,” she adds.

Actively manage stress

Why it helps: Chronic stress can keep your body in fight-or-flight mode, which causes the small hormone-producing glands above the kidneys to release cortisol, explains Dr. Tobb. This stress hormone signals the liver to release extra sugar into the bloodstream, which can raise blood sugar levels even when you haven’t eaten, she adds.

What to do: Dr. Tobb recommends picking even just one stress-management practice and making it part of your daily routine, even if it’s only for 10 minutes. She recommends one or all of the following options:

• Deep breathing (breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts and breathe out for 6 counts)
• Guided meditation using a free app like Insight Timer, Open or Calm
• Gentle yoga or stretching
• Journaling or prayer
• Spending time in nature or connecting with people who help fulfill your emotional needs.

What if lifestyle changes aren’t working?

If you’ve tried some of the lifestyle changes above and haven’t quite seen the needle move with your prediabetes, it could be that you haven’t given things enough time.

“The shortest turnaround I’ve witnessed was about six weeks,” says Dr. Tobb. “ A patient in his early 40s cut out all sugary beverages, started walking 30 minutes after dinner every night and lost about eight pounds. At his six-week recheck, his fasting blood sugar had dropped from 118 to 94, back in the normal range.”

Dr. Tobb adds that a full reversal to healthy blood sugar levels varies widely, but often takes anywhere between three and 12 months.

And if you’re still not seeing changes after a year, it could be genetics. “There are also people who inherit a tendency toward lower insulin secretion, meaning their pancreas simply doesn’t produce as much insulin as needed, even with a healthy lifestyle,” says Dr. Tobb. “There are individuals who do everything right and still have mildly elevated blood sugar.”

Still, even with a genetic predisposition for prediabetes, Dr. Tobb says maintaining a healthy lifestyle still helps protect you from far worse health outcomes if you did happen to experience kidney failure or a heart attack, even with a high A1C.

The bottom line: prediabetes is reversable—starting now

Although it may be tempting to think of prediabetes as a problem for the future if it eventually becomes diabetes, one of the most effective ways to prevent that progression and support your overall health and longevity is to treat prediabetes as a worthy challenge to address the moment it appears.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 4:00 PM.