Frequently Asked Questions
My doctor just told me my A1C is high. What is an A1C value?
Hemoglobin A1C is a blood test that reflects your average blood sugar over the past 2–3 months, making it the gold standard for diagnosing and monitoring prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
What is a normal range for A1C?
A normal A1C is below 5.7%. The prediabetes range is 5.7–6.4%, and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is made at 6.5% or higher on two separate tests.
How do you define prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a reversible metabolic state defined by A1C between 5.7–6.4%, where blood sugar is chronically elevated but has not yet reached the threshold for type 2 diabetes — making it the ideal time to act.
Once my A1C is high, can I really lower it without medicine?
Yes — robust clinical evidence shows that structured lifestyle interventions combining dietary change, regular exercise, and weight loss can meaningfully lower A1C by 0.5–1.5 percentage points, often without medication.
The short answer is yes — and the evidence is compelling. Multiple high-quality clinical trials demonstrate that targeted lifestyle changes can produce clinically significant reductions in A1C.
What kind of diet is best to help with prediabetes?
A low-glycemic, carbohydrate-modified diet — whether Mediterranean, low-carb, or whole-food plant-based — is the best-evidenced nutritional approach for lowering A1C and improving insulin sensitivity in prediabetes.
There is no single, universally mandated diet for prediabetes, but research consistently supports two key principles: reducing refined carbohydrate and sugar intake and emphasizing whole, minimally processed foods.
What type of exercise should I do now that I have a high A1C?
A combination of aerobic exercise and resistance (strength) training is the most effective exercise strategy for lowering A1C — with resistance training being especially important for men over 45 who are losing muscle mass.
Exercise is arguably the single most powerful non-pharmacologic tool for improving insulin sensitivity and lowering A1C. Both aerobic exercise and resistance training independently improve glucose regulation, and their combination is more effective than either alone.