Comment by mnw21cam
10 hours ago
I wouldn't ignore the effect that having surgery and then two weeks of a strictly controlled food intake has. That might account for a large proportion of the success rate. I heard about a study that found that the fasting required for bariatric surgery actually provides a large proportion of the benefit of the procedure.
If you catch type 2 diabetes before it gets so bad that it has killed off the beta cells, then your best treatment is to fast for a while. After a couple of days, you should notice a massive improvement in glucose control. A week of fasting a couple of times a year might be all it takes to give you a complete cure. YMMV, but in my opinion (and that of a whole load of people who know what they're talking about) it's better than filling yourself with drugs.
After the beta cells have been killed off by overwork, yeah, you need insulin. But you can still reduce the amount you need by losing weight.
>the fasting required for bariatric surgery actually provides a large proportion of the benefit of the procedure
Can confirm. My wife had surgery ~3 years ago. I supported her by eating the same things she was for prep and throughout the surgery. We lost about the same amount of weight, through ~1600cal a day and exercise. I wanted to get down about 25lbs lower than my lowest during that time. But, a year ago my wife was diagnosed with cancer, and that process totally screwed with our plans, and we both gained weight, her quite a bit less than me.
The last ~6 weeks I've been restricting calories again, and have started the journey back to where I want to be. I will say that the surgery really impacted her hair badly, which she didn't love. Despite taking all the best vitamins, her hair went from thick to somewhat thin.
If you can get rid of the things that trigger you and stick to low calories and exercise, you'll lose weight. The surgery helps, but committing to low calories is going to get the results. And a friend who got bariatric surgery but wasn't committed to lifestyle changes, within a year was back to her original weight.
Gosh, what a journey.
Hope you wife is doing better.
> A week of fasting a couple of times a year
By “a week of fasting” you mean a week of intermittent fasting or something else? Can you give an example of such a regime (and are there different ways?)?
Don’t have type 2 yet but has family history and it spiked to 6.1 one right after a hospitalisation so I have been spooked since (been 2 years). I get super stressed even at the thought of sugar related tests.
A week of fasting is a 7 days of consuming nothing but water, salts and possibly some vitamins.
You don’t have to try for 7 days on the first attempt, though for most people the first two days are the most difficult so riding it out past the third actually gets easier.
The fasting mimicking diet works too. (https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(15)...).
I'm ending my 5th day of this cycle today, and this morning my fasting blood glucose was 77. Usually it's around 100.
Dr. Fung basically said that beta cell death is likely related to fatty deposits on the pancreas. So there is a fatty liver/pancreas cycle that requires a significant time duration of fasting. Eventually beta cells continue to produce normal amounts of insulin. T2D is not a death sentence, it just requires motivation from the patients and up-to-date knowledge of the treatment physician.
Fasting during Ramadan improves my sugar levels significantly. That’s 30 days of no food/water during daylight hours. And controlled eating at sunset and dawn. And lots of water during the night hours.
For type-2 diabetes, various forms of dietary therapy such as nutritional ketosis have proven extremely effective in reducing or even eliminating many patients' need for exogenous insulin. But we usually refer to that as putting the condition into remission rather than a "cure".
https://doi.org/10.1530/EDM-22-0295
This.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about two and a half years ago. After doing some research, I put myself on a strict keto diet. Within about a month, my A1C went from over 13 to hovering around 6 and has stayed there. Never took any diabetes medication.
I do give myself a "vacation" from the diet about once a month, which I usually reserve for a special occasion.
Do you find that this requires an unusual amount of self-control? I have no reason to manage my food intake, but in the limited times where I have I've found it quite difficult
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> But we usually refer to that as putting the condition into remission rather than a "cure"
Because that’s accurate. Someone following this treatment plan is still at elevated risk of recurrence. Once you’re cured of the flu, your ex ante chances of catching it again are no higher. (We don’t have a cure for diabetes per se. Insulin controls but doesn’t cure it.)
I need someone who control his type 2 diabetes with the ornish diet which is fat vegetarian no sugar or simple carbs...
And maybe the secret is the no sugar nor simple carbs
The secret is lots of veggies, fruits, and whole grains. The calorie density is low so it's easy to stay in a normal calorie range or even a deficit which is key for reducing risk of type 2 diabetes. Fat, especially Saturated fat causes insulin resistance. Many studied show this. Please show me any long term studies or a culture that are metabolically healthy on long term keto diets. Take a look at Virta health. Tons of money spent on low carb diets that achieved very little.
Try a book like "fiber fueled". That's a diet that is actually sustainable.
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Similar with kidney disease ... caught mine at 55% kidney function in 2018. The neuphrologist told me prepare to go on dialysis i said ha whatever doctor not listening to you! Changed my diet .. no steak/beef or pork, no preservative laden foods (anything bought in store has only a few natural ingredients), more fruits, a gallon of water a day (some unsweet tea and splash of lemonade but never sugar or soda drinks.. why drink calories.. not for me), avoid all medications (only if dire ill take them) and maintain same weight of 170 (5'11) through daily exercise. My function within 6 months or so of doing such rose to 70% and years later i maintain it at 75 to 85% percent. It goes down when if and when I get sick due to taking meds but goes back up.
What we put in our bodies means everything!
Congratulations!! That's amazing! Keep going!