An article in The Washington Post today caught my eye. It started off with the following: “U.S. residents on the cusp of developing Type 2 diabetes include about 28 percent of youths ages 12 to 19, according to research published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.” Read on for more details.

As I revealed in a recent piece, I’m doing Atkins to stave off diabetes and heart disease. And having read numerous books on the topic, I now know that the typical American diet, which is riddled with an excessive amount of carbohydrates, is the key culprit in this troubling prediabetes trend.

What is prediabetes? According to the aforementioned news article, it’s when “the level of sugar (glucose) in their blood is higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having full-fledged diabetes.” This piece went on to say, “The researchers found that the percentage of youths with prediabetes has more than doubled in recent years, going from just under 12 percent in 1999 to 28 percent by 2018.” Clearly, this is a diet-related problem.

According to The Washington Post article, prediabetes “was found to be more prevalent among boys than girls and among youths who are overweight or obese.” How are adults doing? Well, as this piece states, “Among adults, about 96 million (or more than 1 in 3) have prediabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Regardless of age, those with prediabetes are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease. Moreover, those with prediabetes may not have a clue that they have it. The reason why is because most people who are afflicted with prediabetes don’t exhibit any symptoms.

So, what can you do? Get your bloodwork done, discuss the results with your doctor, and, pending your physician’s approval, switch to a low-carb lifestyle. I have, and you can too!