Originally published on 10/8/25

Living with prediabetes means your blood sugar is elevated but not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes (T2D).  We have some good news for you. A new study of more than 11,000 people in the journal Nature Medicine revealed that prediabetics who normalized their blood sugar cut their type 2 diabetes risk by 71 percent—without losing weight. 

“Restoring a normal fasting blood sugar level is the most important goal in preventing type 2 diabetes and not necessarily the number on the scale,” explained study lead Andreas Birkenfeld, director of the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM) of Helmholtz Munich in Germany. “Exercise and a balanced diet have a positive effect on blood sugar levels, regardless of whether weight is reduced. Losing weight remains helpful, but our data suggests that it is not essential for protection against diabetes.” 

Weight loss isn’t as crucial as experts once thought

The CDC reports that one in three Americans is prediabetic, meaning they have a much higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives. For those with T2D and chronically high blood sugar, the body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it properly (or in some cases, both). 

“Diabetes type 2 is an acquired disease of rising blood sugars that tends to progress with time unless lifestyle changes are made. It is usually without symptoms, especially in the early stages, and is easily diagnosed with routine bloodwork,” explains Laura Sychta, DNP, FNP-BC, DipACLM. 

Normally, people with prediabetes are advised to eat a healthy diet, avoid foods and drinks with lots of added sugar, get regular exercise and lose weight to lower their average blood glucose levels and avoid T2D and its related health problems (such as heart disease and stroke). And while those are still important steps in any treatment plan, weight loss has notoriously been one of the trickiest parts for many people. This new study suggests that focusing on balancing your blood sugar through long-term healthy habits—even if you’re not able to shed excess pounds—can make a dramatic difference in reducing your diabetes risk.

“This study supports what we see in our practices: When you heal the body from the inside by eating plenty of highly nutritious foods, diseases, including prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, can not only be avoided, but once present, can be improved or even reversed,” Sychta notes.

Reducing belly fat is key to preventing diabetes

While balancing blood sugar is crucial, the key component that researchers say helped reduce participants’ type 2 diabetes risk even without weight loss: lowering levels of harmful visceral fat in the abdomen.

“What many people don’t realize is that visceral fat—the deep abdominal fat around your organs—is a major driver of this insulin resistance,” explains Roshni Patel, MD. “This type of fat actively secretes inflammatory substances that interfere with your metabolism, which is why waist circumference is actually a better predictor of diabetes risk than overall weight. Many skinny people have visceral fat, so the scale doesn’t tell the whole story. On the flip side, many people who would be considered overweight by the number on the scale may actually be healthy if that weight is from muscle mass. Muscle weighs more than fat, and more muscle burns more fat.”

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes 

“Type 2 diabetes develops when your cells stop responding properly to insulin. This causes sugar to build up in your blood instead of providing energy to your body the way it was intended,” Dr. Patel said. The most common warning signs are:

• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Unexplained fatigue
• Blurry vision

“However, many people have no symptoms at all,” Dr. Patel notes. “This is why having a yearly physical exam with labs is so important. Simple blood testing can give us answers.”

Lifestyle habits to prevent type 2 diabetes 

To reduce your type 2 diabetes risk, Dr. Patel says that “Maintaining a healthy weight, particularly around the midsection, is the single most important factor, as this is where we store visceral fat.”

“Physical activity, even 30 minutes of walking five days a week, makes a significant difference,” Dr. Patel continued. “Focusing on a balanced diet with vegetables and lean proteins while limiting processed foods and sugary drinks helps reduce the amount of fat the body stores and also lowers the risk of diabetes.”

The bottom line: It is possible to prevent and even reverse diabetes by adjusting your daily habits, even without significant weight loss. “As a primary care provider certified in lifestyle medicine, I regularly help people reverse prediabetes and diabetes through healthy lifestyle changes, including regular exercise, adequate restful sleep and most importantly, adopting a whole food, plant-based diet,” Sychta notes.

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/wellness/diabetes/you-can-reverse-prediabetes-without-weight-loss-study-shows