A Recipe For How To Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
It really is that simple.
How to reverse Type 2 diabetes?
Work with your doctor + eat healthy food + exercise a little every day + lose weight if you need to.
Just because its simple doesnt mean its easy, though. It really helps if you join a community of people who are all working on the same things. Diabetic South Africans is a Facebook community where we connect, share ideas, tips and advice on how to live well with diabetes. Please join us!
Which Comes First: Diabetes Or Weight
An additional explanation to support the idea that type 2 diabetes is not simply the result of weight-gain is that a significant number of overweight and obese people do not ever develop type 2 diabetes. This indicates an additional factor is at play.
Much like the chicken or the egg debate, the weight-gain some patients experience leading up to their type 2 diabetes diagnosis may actually be the result of inadequate insulin production rather than lifestyle-induced insulin resistance.
And further: thin people can develop type 2 diabetes, too.
Unfortunately, many people think that weight is the only risk factor for type 2 diabetes, explains the American Diabetes Association, but many people with type 2 diabetes are at a normal weight or only moderately overweight.
In 2015, 9.4 percent of the United States adult population had type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention .
Meanwhile, approximately 40 percent of the US adult population is overweight or obese.
If being overweight alone was the cause of type 2 diabetes, the rates would presumably be startling higher.
Reductions In Average Blood Sugar
Diabetes is diagnosed by a fasting blood sugar over 126 mg/dL, or an HbA1c greater than or equal to 6.5%. Maintaining nutritional ketosis leads to lower average blood sugars, since eating fewer carbs means less overall sugar entering your bloodstream. Fasting and meal-time blood sugars can rapidly decrease in just the first few days or weeks of carbohydrate restriction. After 2â3 months, you are also likely to see reductions in your HbA1c, which is a measure of your blood sugar control over a 3-month period.
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Jayne Lehmann Bn Dipappsc Frcna Rn Cde
Once you have diabetes, it is there for life. I help people to get their blood glucose levels back to or as near as possible the normal range. Firstly this will help you to feel better in the short term but it also helps to protect your blood vessels which can become very irritated and damaged by high glucose levels. Focussing on healthy eating, limiting unprocessed foods and getting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in the diet helps.
Try to keep carbohydrate amounts stable across the day , stand more and sit less and include activities that increase the heart rate and also strength based activities most days across the week. Think about the amount of stress you experience to see how it is increasing your blood glucose levels. If you smoke stop because it is speeding up the damage to your blood vessels. If you drink alcohol, limit how much you drink.
Even if you aim to lose 5% of your body weight, if overweight, you are likely to see a fall in your blood glucose levels back into the normal range but even then we cant say diabetes has been reversed or gone away. These actions build-up the bodys ability to respond to rising levels but if you get sick, eat more carbohydrate or gain some weight, more than likely your blood glucose levels will be on the rise again into the diabetes range.
Further reading:
Heather Comartin Bscn Rn Cde
No, type 2 diabetes is not reversible, but it can be controlled and that is what everyone should aim for. An A1C of 6.4 or even a 5.5 shows control and is something to be very proud of. It may mean you can come off your medication, or stop checking 4 times a day, but you still have diabetes.
Your diabetes is in control and you still need to monitor it daily or once a week. A perfect example is a patient who thru weight loss, and following his meal plan was able to get his A1C down below 6.5. His doctor was very happy and took him off his medications and told him he didnt need to check his sugar.
About a year later, he came to our classes after losing part of his foot and was severely depressed. He was depressed because he put his meter and his diabetes up on the shelf in the closet and forgot about it, he thought he had reversed it.
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Michele Bedwell Ms Rd Cde
Type 2 DM can be reversed in some patients who choose to have bariatric surgery. Lifestyle changes certainly can control blood sugars with little to no medications but usually do not reverse diabetes due to ongoing decline in beta cell function.
If patients are motivated to make lifestyle changes, I usually encourage them to consume a lower carb meal plan, adequate protein at each meal, large volumes of low carbohydrate vegetables, and at least 150 minutes per week of exercise for maximal benefit.
These changes can decrease insulin needs, allow for weight loss, and improve insulin sensitivity. Hopefully, there will be more breakthroughs in diabetes as we learn more about the microbiome, GLP1, and other gut factors.
Understanding Insulin Deficiency Vs Insulin Resistance
Insulin deficiency or beta-cell dysfunction indicates that the pancreas isnt producing normal amounts of insulin.
Insulin resistance indicates that the patients body isnt responding normally to the insulin thats being produced, and it takes more insulin to keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range.
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I Want To Get Off My Diabetes Meds
Can diet, exercise, and weight-loss help a person with type 2 diabetes get off their medications?
The short answer is yessort of but not necessarily for everyone. According to a 2016 study published in Diabetes Care, approximately 40 percent of people with type 2 diabetes can reverse their condition through drastic changes in diet, exercise, and body weight.
Regardless, this leaves 60 percent of the type 2 population that cannot reverse diabetes through diet, exercise, and weight-loss alone because their body is struggling more so with beta-cell dysfunction rather than the more commonly known issue of insulin resistance which is usually associated with being overweight.
Clients with type 2 diabetes always ask: can I get off my diabetes meds? explains diabetes coach and owner of Diabetes Strong, Christel Oerum. The truth is that some people will be able to, and others wont.
Trying to determine who can and who cant is determined largely by trying.
You wont know until you try because theres no way to test each patient and pinpoint the exact cause of their diabetes, adds Oerum, who also lives with type 1 diabetes. Is it a genetically inherited insulin deficiency or is it insulin resistance from weight-gain, inactivity, and an unhealthy diet?
The answer isnt as simple as mainstream media has led us to believe.
Lets take a closer look at the difference between the two these causes of type 2 diabetes.
Fat Is A Source Of Energy That Does Not Raise Your Blood Sugar
Unlike carbs or protein, fat cannot be broken down or converted into glucose efficiently. Furthermore, fat does not require insulin to get into cells to be used for energy, thereby bypassing the problem of insulin resistance. In fact, high insulin levels impair the bodyâs ability to use fat for fuel, driving it instead into fat cells for storage.
To adapt your metabolism to using fat as your main source of energy, dietary carbohydrates must be reduced to below your unique tolerance level. When you do this, your blood insulin level will come down, giving your body increased ability to burn both the fats you eat and those which you have in storage. For most people, this means switching from the standard recommended high carb, moderate protein, and low fat diet to a high fat, moderate protein, and low carb diet. Fat adaptation does not happen overnightâit can take anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks for most of its benefits to occur, and possibly longer for the full benefits to occur.
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Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Reversed
Type 2 diabetes can be a life-long, chronic disease in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or the cells in out body doesnt respond to insulin correctly. Because of these two problems, there isnt enough insulin to move the glucose from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, the bodys cells cant function properly.
Type 2 diabetes is more likely to occur in people who are over the age of 40, overweight, or have a family history in diabetes. Certain ethnic and racial groups also have higher risk for type 2 diabetes, including black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian American and Pacific Islander. However, over the past decade the incidence of type2 diabetes has been increasing in adolescents and the young adult population.
According to recent research, type 2 diabetes cannot be cured, but individuals can have glucose levels that return to non-diabetes range, or pre-diabetes glucose level The primary means by which people with type 2 diabetes achieve remission is by losing significant amounts of weight.
We talk of remission and not a cure because it isnt permanent. The beta cells have been damaged and the underlying genetic factors contributing to the persons susceptibility to diabetes remain intact. Over time the disease process reasserts itself and continued destruction of the beta cells ensues. An environmental insult such as weight gain can bring back the symptomatic glucose intolerance.
Carry On Your Healthcare Providers
It is not enough to set out to want to reverse this disease. All the implementation processes must get the approval of your doctor. He may involve a registered dietitian/nutritionist to offer their specialized services as well.
You will need to show them your results as you move on in the journey of your health improvement.
You cannot do it all alone.
How do we monitor?
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Mayo Clinic Q And A: How To Reverse Prediabetes
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m a 36-year-old man recently diagnosed with prediabetes. Is there a way to reverse this, or am I destined to eventually get diabetes? My health care provider says I’ve likely been in the prediabetes stage for a year or more.
ANSWER: There are steps you can take to slow the progression of prediabetes to Type 2 diabetes. You may even be able to stop or reverse it. That’s important because once Type 2 diabetes develops, the disease can lead to complications that can cause serious, long-term health problems.
Diabetes occurs when the level of sugar in the blood is too high. That happens because of a problem with the hormone insulin, which is made in the pancreas. When you eat, the pancreas releases insulin into the bloodstream. This allows sugar to enter your cells, lowering the amount of sugar in your blood.
In Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough insulin, and the body can’t use insulin as well as it should. That means sugar cannot move into the cells, and it builds up in the blood. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar is higher than normal, but it’s not high enough to be considered Type 2 diabetes. People who have prediabetes are at high risk to develop Type 2 diabetes.
The good news is that there are ways to reverse this condition. Certain lifestyle changes can lower your blood sugar level and decrease your risk of developing diabetes.
Prediabetes Flies Under The Radar
You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems show up. Thats why its important to talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested if you have any of the risk factors for prediabetes, which include:
- Being overweight
- Being 45 years or older
- Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes
- Being physically active less than 3 times a week
- Ever having gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
Race and ethnicity are also a factor: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk.
Ready to find out your risk? Take the 1-minute prediabetes risk test and be sure to share the results with your doctor.
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Type 2 Diabetes In Newly Diagnosed ‘can Be Reversed’
An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study.
Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal.
Seven out of 11 people studied were free of diabetes three months later, say findings published in the journal.
More research is needed to see whether the reversal is permanent, say experts.
Type 2 diabetes affects 2.5m people in the UK. It develops when not enough insulin is produced in the body or the insulin that is made by the body doesn’t work properly.
When this happens, glucose – a type of sugar – builds up in the blood instead of being broken down into energy or fuel which the body needs.
The 11 participants in the study were all diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within the previous four years.
They cut their food intake drastically for two months, eating only liquid diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables.
Insulin Resistance: Genetically Inherited Self
The studies of high-risk populations imply that insulin resistance, like type 2 diabetes itself, has a genetic component and that heritable differences in insulin sensitivity may be one element of a susceptibility genotype predisposing members of high-risk populations to type 2 diabetes, explains Gerich in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
This means: certain genes can dramatically increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Does it mean youre doomed? Not necessarily but it does mean a patient with a genetic disposition towards developing type 2 diabetes could strive to deter their inheritance by making healthy lifestyle choices to prevent the further development of insulin resistance.
Gerichs research also concluded that its still unclear whether a genetic predisposition towards developing insulin resistance depended largely on the patient gaining weight or if that insulin resistance would be present without weight-gain.
Which of course leads to the confusing issue of which came first: the insulin resistance or the weight gain?
Gerich later adds, To date, no genetic defect has been found in patients with typical type 2 diabetes that might cause their diabetes to be due solely to insulin resistance.
This means: that patients with a genetic likelihood of becoming insulin resistant have shown to have other genetic markers for developing type 2 diabetes, too.
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Fryn Schafer Rdn Cd Cde Lcde
Well, that depends on the definition of reversed. If it means the disease goes away, then no it is not reversed. If is means the need to use medication to control blood sugar is reduced or eliminated, then yes. The explanation is found in the basic pathophysiology of DMT2, the hallmark of which is insulin resistance.
This creates an internal environment that requires the pancreatic bata cells to work very hard to produce enough insulin to feed those resistant cells. Beta cells can produce enough inulin for a while but once blood sugar levels are rising above normal, a good percentage of those cells have worked themselves to death.
They cannot be revived. If, before that happens, insulin resistance is reduced, remaining beta cells can continue health and viable for sometime, although T2, to date, tends to be progressive.
Lifestyle changes resulting in weight management and increased well being are very effective in the treatment of early DMT2 because the pressure on the beta cells becomes more manageable. If changes are not made before beta cell demise, then medication is likely necessary for life.
Can You Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
It sounds too good to be true: reversing type 2 diabetes through exercise and healthy eating.
While certain lifestyle changes are key to managing diabetes, whether you can actually turn back time so that it’s like you never had diabetes is a different matter. That depends on how long you’ve had the condition, how severe it is, and your genes.
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Diabetes Reversal Vs Remission Vs Cure
The world has long hoped for a cure for diabetes. The idea of diabetes remission or reversal, though, is so new that the scientific community hasnt yet reached full consensus on the finer details of what remission and reversal meanor even whether to call it remission or reversal, which are used interchangeably. The term cure isnt used with type 2 diabetes, because even if you send it into reversal or remission, it can reoccur if you dont continue to manage it.
Most researchers agree that remission or reversal occurs when your A1C test results consistently come back under the diabetes threshold of 6.5 percentor 200 mg/dL, if youre used to the measurement your blood sugar monitor useswithout the use of glycemic control diabetes medications.
As more evidence comes to light pointing to the possibility of reversal, an expert panel of experts has defined more specific terms like partial and complete reversal/remission:
- Partial remission occurs when your A1C remains below 6.5 percent for one year without the use of diabetes medications.
- Complete remission occurs when your A1C remains below 5.7 percent for one year without the use of diabetes medications.
Heres a summary of the evidence the reviewers found for the reversal of type 2 diabetes through bariatric surgery, carbohydrate restriction, or a short-term, low-calorie eating pattern.