The lasting power of lowering blood sugar
This post is adapted from an AARP Magazine story.
By Cynthia Myers-Morrison
Board Secretary
Imagine giving yourself a gift that keeps on giving for decades — one that touches every corner of your life, from your heart health to your relationships. That gift is lowering your blood sugar, especially if you’re living with prediabetes. The choice to act now, before diabetes develops, isn’t just a short-term fix. It’s a decision that creates ripples of positive change throughout your lifetime — a true legacy effect.
About 537 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with diabetes, and an additional 541 million people have been diagnosed with prediabetes. Moving your blood sugar score from prediabetes into the normal range can change your life’s trajectory.
The benefits will continue to protect you over time. Research shows that reducing blood sugar early can significantly limit cardiovascular risks for the rest of your life.
The myth of ‘wait and see’
There’s a dangerous misconception that prediabetes is something you should just watch and wait. Studies prove that waiting only increases your risk of developing diabetes and all the consequences that come with it. The real opportunity is in taking immediate action — changing those numbers now, which opens new possibilities for your health, lifestyle, and even your relationships.
(Reviewing the New Food Guidelines and the FAI Starter booklet are two good places to start.)
Prediabetes is “linked to heart attacks, heart disease, and a higher risk of death.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 115.2 million American adults, over 1 in 3, are prediabetic. Unless you use a continuous glucose monitor, you may be prediabetic without knowing it. Nearly a third of young Americans have prediabetes. More than half of Americans 65 and older have it.
People with Food Addiction are 6–7 times more likely to have Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) than non-Food Addicts, even after adjusting for BMI.2 About 30 percent of all individuals with T2DM meet criteria for FA, based on a 2025 meta-analysis of 12 studies.3 These findings suggest that addictive eating behaviors, independent of obesity, can significantly contribute to impaired glucose control.
This distinction matters because standard weight-focused methods may not fully address the underlying neurological drivers.
Clinicians use two tests to assess blood glucose. One is the fasting plasma glucose test, which measures levels at the moment of testing. The other, the HbA1c, measures the 60- to 90-day average
How diabetes is measured
| Test name | What it measures | Normal range | Prediabetes | Diabetes |
| Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) | Blood sugar level at instant of test | 70-99 mg/dL* | 100-125 mg/dL | Above 126 mg/dL |
| Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) (US) | Average glucose level of the past 60-90 days | Under 5.7 percent | 5.7-6.4 percent | Above 6.5 percent |
| Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) (metric) | Average glucose level of the past 60-90 days | Under 42 mmol/mol+ | 42–47 mmol/mol | 48 mmol/mol |
how much glucose has attached to hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen.
The legacy effect
Twenty to thirty years after intervention programs in the U.S. and China, researchers found that people who brought their glucose back to normal had about a “50 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or being hospitalized for heart failure” — regardless of your age, weight, or ethnicity.
The path to better health is within reach. You can track blood sugar with a continuous glucose monitor or simple finger pricks after meals. Not only can you transform your health, but you may also inspire and safeguard the well-being of those you love.
Lowering your blood sugar now is more important than just numbers on a chart. It can create a healthier, happier future for yourself and your family. Don’t wait — embrace this positive change and become the catalyst for lifelong vitality and a model for your family members, friends, and colleagues.
Notes
1. Global data based on the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Diabetes Atlas 10th edition estimates.
2. Horsager et al., Clinical Nutrition (2023)
3. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, British Journal of Nutrition (2025)