Prediabetes, precisely

A laboratory finding with no symptoms, defined slightly differently by the two bodies that define it. Both definitions are below.

Reference range — the prediabetes band

100–125mg/dL fasting

On the American Diabetes Association criteria the band runs 100–125 mg/dL fasting (5.6–6.9 mmol/L), or 140–199 mg/dL two hours into a glucose tolerance test, or an HbA1c of 5.7–6.4%. WHO calls the fasting version impaired fasting glucose and starts it at 110 mg/dL, not 100.

A band on a scale, not a condition assigned to a person. The same result can be flagged on one report and not on another.

SOURCE·ADA Standards of Care 2025 · WHO/IDF 2006·the one figure the two bodies do not share·REVIEWED JUL 2026

This page is reference information, not medical advice.

Nothing here can diagnose you, and nothing here is a treatment plan. Blood glucose results are interpreted by a doctor alongside your history, your symptoms and a repeat test — a single number on a screen is not a diagnosis. If any reading concerns you, or if you feel unwell, see a doctor rather than a website.

How a published range becomes the line on your report

A specimen is drawn under a stated condition — fasting means at least eight hours with nothing but water; the two-hour value means two hours into a standardised 75 g glucose drink, not two hours after dinner.
The laboratory reports a concentration: mg/dL in India, mmol/L in the UK, Australia and most of Europe. The measurement is identical; only the unit differs.
That concentration is read against a published cut-point — a figure a named body wrote down in a dated document, not a figure derived from the population being tested.
Two bodies publish, and they agree everywhere except one number. This site prints both rather than picking the one that makes a tidier table.
Confirmation, then interpretation, both belong to a clinician. A value on either side of a cut-point is a reason to see a doctor, never a conclusion.

mmol/L = mg/dL ÷ 18.016
ADA fasting cut-points   99 · 100-125 · 126
WHO fasting cut-points  109 · 110-125 · 126

Full methodology →

Panel one

The published ranges

Test results used to identify normal glucose, prediabetes and diabetes in non-pregnant adults, as published by the American Diabetes Association and restated by the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The mmol/L column is converted from the published mg/dL figures at 18.016 mg/dL per mmol/L.
Result	Published value	Same value in mmol/L
Fasting plasma glucose — at least 8 hours with no food
Normal	99 mg/dL or below	5.5 mmol/L or below
Prediabetes	100 to 125 mg/dL	5.6 – 6.9 mmol/L
In the diabetes range	126 mg/dL or above	7.0 mmol/L or above
2 hours into a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test
Normal	139 mg/dL or below	7.7 mmol/L or below
Prediabetes	140 to 199 mg/dL	7.8 – 11.0 mmol/L
In the diabetes range	200 mg/dL or above	11.1 mmol/L or above
HbA1c
Normal	below 5.7%	—
Prediabetes	5.7% to 6.4%	—
In the diabetes range	6.5% or above	—
Random (any time of day)
In the diabetes range	200 mg/dL or above with the classic symptoms of high blood glucose	11.1 mmol/L or above

A result in the diabetes range is not a diagnosis. Published criteria require confirmation — normally a repeat of the same test on a separate day, unless someone has unmistakable symptoms with a clearly raised glucose. Your doctor makes that call, not a chart.

SOURCE·ADA, Standards of Care in Diabetes 2025·restated by NIDDK, NIH·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Source: American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes — Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2025;48(Suppl. 1):S27–S49. Link
Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health — Diabetes Tests & Diagnosis. Link

Discrepancy

The one number the two bodies disagree on

ADA

Prediabetes starts at a fasting glucose of 100 mg/dL

5.6 mmol/L · American Diabetes Association

The ADA sets the lower edge of impaired fasting glucose at 100 mg/dL, which classifies a much larger group of people as having prediabetes.

WHO

Impaired fasting glucose starts at 110 mg/dL

6.1 mmol/L · World Health Organization / IDF

WHO kept the higher cut-off. A fasting result of 105 mg/dL is prediabetes by American criteria and normal by WHO criteria — same blood, different rulebook.

Both figures are real and both are current. Which one your report uses depends on which guideline your laboratory or doctor follows. Every threshold above 126 mg/dL — the diabetes threshold itself — is identical in both.

This matters more in practice than it looks on paper: a very large number of people sit between 100 and 110 mg/dL fasting, and whether their report is flagged depends on which guideline their laboratory follows.

WHO's own terminology

WHO does not use the word "prediabetes" in its diagnostic criteria. It describes two separate states, which can occur together or on their own.

World Health Organization / International Diabetes Federation criteria (2006), with the 2011 WHO position on HbA1c. WHO publishes in mmol/L; the mg/dL column is the equivalent, as printed in the WHO report.
Category	Fasting plasma glucose	2 h after a 75 g glucose load
Diabetes	7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dL) or above	11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL) or above
Impaired fasting glucose (IFG)	6.1 – 6.9 mmol/L (110–125 mg/dL)	below 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL), if measured
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)	below 7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dL)	7.8 – 11.0 mmol/L (140–199 mg/dL)

WHO also accepts a random plasma glucose of 11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL) or above, in the presence of symptoms, and — since the 2011 consultation — an HbA1c of 6.5% or above. WHO is explicit that an HbA1c below 6.5% does not rule diabetes out.

SOURCE·WHO/IDF consultation, Geneva 2006·terminology and cut-points as published·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Source: World Health Organization / International Diabetes Federation. Definition and diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and intermediate hyperglycaemia: report of a WHO/IDF consultation. Geneva: WHO, 2006. Link

Population figures

Why the Indian numbers are so large

The ICMR-INDIAB national survey estimated 136 million adults in India with prediabetes, alongside 101 million with diabetes. Prediabetes produces no symptoms whatsoever, so essentially all of those 136 million were found by measurement rather than because anyone felt something was wrong.

South Asians also tend to develop glucose problems at lower body weights and younger ages than European populations, which means the familiar visual cues are unreliable here. A normal weight is a weaker reassurance in India than international charts imply.

SOURCE·ICMR-INDIAB (Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2023;11(7):474–489)·national cross-sectional survey·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Source: Anjana RM, Unnikrishnan R, Deepa M, et al. Metabolic non-communicable disease health report of India: the ICMR-INDIAB national cross-sectional study (ICMR-INDIAB-17). Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2023;11(7):474–489. Link

What this page will not tell you

It will not tell you how to reverse it. It publishes no diet plan, no herbal remedy, no supplement, no "seven foods that cure it" and no timeline, because prediabetes is a clinical finding about a specific person and none of those things can be prescribed by a web page. The internet is full of confident promises on this exact search term, and confidence is not evidence.

What is genuinely worth doing with a prediabetes result is taking it to a doctor, who can look at the rest of your results, decide whether and when to repeat the test, and talk through what applies to you. That is a duller answer than the ones ranking above this page. It is also the honest one.

General information only — NOT medical advice, and never a diagnosis. Only a doctor can interpret your results and diagnose or treat diabetes. If a reading concerns you, see a doctor rather than a website.

PeakForm is a training and accountability programme. It is not a treatment for diabetes or prediabetes, it is not a substitute for your doctor's advice, and nothing on this site should be acted on before speaking to one.

Questions this report anticipates

What blood sugar level is prediabetes?

On the ADA criteria: a fasting plasma glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dL, or a two-hour glucose tolerance test result of 140 to 199 mg/dL, or an HbA1c of 5.7% to 6.4%. WHO uses the term impaired fasting glucose and puts its lower edge at 110 mg/dL rather than 100.

Is prediabetes the same as diabetes?

No. It is a laboratory finding describing glucose above the normal range but below the diabetes thresholds. It carries an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and that risk is well documented, but it is not the same condition and it is not a certainty.

Does prediabetes have symptoms?

Generally none at all. That is precisely why it is usually found on a routine test rather than because somebody felt unwell — and why the national estimate of 136 million people with prediabetes in India is as large as it is.

Can prediabetes be reversed?

That is a question for your doctor, and this site deliberately does not answer it. Large trials have studied structured lifestyle programmes and medicines in people with prediabetes, and the findings are genuinely encouraging — but what applies to you depends on your results, your history and your circumstances. Be sceptical of any website, product or video that promises a reversal.

Criteria from the ADA Standards of Care, NIDDK and the WHO/IDF 2006 consultation. Prevalence from ICMR-INDIAB (Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2023). General information only — NOT medical advice, and never a diagnosis. Only a doctor can interpret your results and diagnose or treat diabetes. If a reading concerns you, see a doctor rather than a website. Every threshold, equation and glycemic index value used on this site is listed with its publication on the data & method page, and every publication is listed with its issuing body and its date in the source register.

SOURCE·Published reference ranges + GI tables·REVIEWED JUL 2026

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