What Are the Treatments for Glucose Intolerance?

If you are suffering from glucose intolerance, you are at a higher risk for developing diabetes. Your body is unable to fully process glucose to utilize it as body fuel, though you may not yet have many of the notable symptoms associated with full-blown diabetes---fatigue, blurry vision, excessive thirst and frequent urination. Now is the time to make changes to your diet and exercise plan to prevent your condition from worsening into diabetes.

Diet

• According to The South Beach Diet author and cardiologist Arthur Agatston, you can eliminate or reduce high carbohydrate foods from your diet by opting instead for fresh vegetables, healthy proteins---such as white meat chicken, fish and pork---low-fat cheeses, low-fat nuts, brown rice and legumes. Reduce your intake of red meats, high-sugar fruits, fruit juices, caffeinated beverages, breads, pastas, potatoes, carrots and processed foods.

Excercise

• Exercise at least 45 minutes a day. A University of Waterloo study reported in the December 1998 issue of the "Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology" is among the studies that have shown daily exercise will help your body control your blood sugar levels and raise your metabolic rate, which can decrease your insulin resistance. Ideally, you should try to get at least an hour a week of some type of aerobic exercise, which raises your heart rate significantly. You need another two hours a week of moderate exercise, which can include walking on a treadmill or outside, working with weights, stretching or swimming.

Eliminate Harmful Habits

• If you smoke or drink large amounts of alcohol, you should seek smoking or alcohol cessation counseling. According to the American Heart Association, smoking increases the cholesterol levels in your blood, as well as other fats. It also raises your blood sugar levels, which contributes to your glucose intolerance and can eventually lead to diabetes. Drinking too much alcohol can dramatically increase your blood sugar levels and inhibit your body's ability to balance the glucose rate of absorption in your blood. Alcohol can also affect the way your body clears triglycerides from the liver, leading to high triglyceride levels---another symptom of pre-diabetes.

Medication

• If your glucose intolerance is extremely advanced, or if it does not respond to lifestyle changes including diet, exercise and good health practices, you may need to speak to your doctor about managing your condition with medication. There are several types of medications that are commonly prescribed to treat advanced glucose intolerance---secretagogues, which stimulate the release of insulin; insulin sensitizers, which help to reduce insulin resistance; alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, which help to slow the absorption process of glucose; and DPP-4 inhibitors, which inhibit the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4, responsible for decreasing glucose and increasing insulin in the body.