Reversing Type 2 diabetes?

23 July 2019, 08:52 AM

Mary Anna

quote:
Originally posted by QuirtEvans:
quote:
Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
I have an unscientific theory about fasting.

When you take a fasting glucose test, they want you to fast overnight. Then they give you a sugary drink and do a blood draw. That lets them know whether your body is processing the glucose drink quickly or enough or whatever.

Well, since I wake up and exercise on an empty stomach, that is probably Revving up my response to glucose and sugar naturally and frequently.

Now, give me my Nobel prize.

I've had fasting blood tests in several cities and by several doctors, but I've never been given a sugary drink before the test.

I was given the sugary drink while I was pregnant with my first as part of a test for gestational diabetes that was then routine. Muffin's Sister came too soon for me to have it during that pregnancy. I don't recall having it when I was pregnant with Muffin several years later, so it may no longer be routine.

I think the glucose challenge test was also a routine test for diabetes a generation ago. (I'm not sure whether it is any more.) My mother's blood sugar, like mine, skated along at a level that we would call just a hair below pre-diabetes, but it never got any worse. They did a glucose challenge test, which was normal, so they decided that those borderline levels were normal for her.

23 July 2019, 01:40 PM

QuirtEvans

Eating a plant-based diet apparently helps.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22...A08&utm_source=twCNN

23 July 2019, 09:05 PM

AdagioM

quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
I don't have any reason to think I'm at risk for diabetes at this point, and type 2 doesn't run in my family. But I am aware that I could probably benefit by reducing my sugar intake, like if I stopped with the biscotti afternoon snack, that would probably be good...

Here's what I had today that's probably bad:
1. always have 1.5 (ish) teaspoons of sugar in coffee, and I have about 3 cups a day.
2. granola+all-bran w/ yogurt for breakfast, the granola has 6 grams per serving, and all-bran has 6g.
3. biscotti - lately I have eaten one or two every day, how did that happen!
4. granola bar snack thingy
5. salad dressing probably has sugar or HFCS, right? (it's too good not to).

(the rest of today was healthy, I think)

So, that's maybe not super bad, and surely it's offset by all the fiber I have every day (big salad at lunch, usually steamed veggies with dinner etc.) but I think there are refined and processed things I eat every day that I would probably benefit if I cut out....

Speaking of type 2 diabetes though it runs in Mr. SK's family and his mother recently went from prediabetes to diabetes
But Mr. SK totally changed his eating habits last year when he was having stomach/gallbladder problems, including going from having a bowl of white rice with dinner almost every night to having white rice maybe once a week, sometimes less (white rice is really bad b/c of it's high glycemic index). He's made some other changes and increased his fiber in take as well. He also works out 3x a week and is generally active. I bet doing all those things is really helpful and hopefully he can avoid developing diabetes like his mother.

SK, does Mr. SK like brown rice? This Asian/notAsian household switched from white to brown rice years ago. I actually like it better, too.

24 July 2019, 12:57 AM

QuirtEvans

I can’t eat brown rice by itself. I can eat a mixture of brown and white jasmine, though.

26 July 2019, 11:24 PM

Steve Miller

The number 1 rule of whatever eating plan you’ve decided to embrace is not to discuss it with anyone else. No one wants to hear it.

Won’t stop me...

At my regular physical in April my doctor didn’t like my numbers. I told him I’m strict with my diet but gain weight on 1000 calories a day. He wrote “The Obesity Code” “Dr. Jason Fung” on a prescription pad. Maybe check it out. Works for him, Ha! Reverses T2D in record time and gets a lot of people off of (fabulously expensive!) meds.

OK, I’m doing it. Don’t want to huckster, but —- Wow! Arthritis in shoulders and knees is gone! Docs were talking about replacement surgery! Not sure why - cutting out wheat? Things processed? Fasting? Don’t care. Feel terrific! Weight loss is OK but not spectacular. Whatever - my joints don’t hurt any more.

There’s a Facebook group if you’re interested. 100K strong.

27 July 2019, 02:27 AM

I'll check I out. I hardly eat wheat, sugar, as a lifestyle, but give me a donut twice a year and I am in heaven!

I have many other eating faults though.

27 July 2019, 12:21 PM

ShiroKuro

Steve, thisbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Obesity...349&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Is the diet hard to follow?

27 July 2019, 12:28 PM

Cindysphinx

quote:
Originally posted by Steve Miller:

OK, I’m doing it. Don’t want to huckster, but —- Wow! Arthritis in shoulders and knees is gone! Docs were talking about replacement surgery! Not sure why - cutting out wheat? Things processed? Fasting? Don’t care. Feel terrific! Weight loss is OK but not spectacular. Whatever - my joints don’t hurt any more.

Re this and Quirt's post above about plant-based diet:

Many of us are at a fork in the road. As Steve says, healthy eating is super important. But it is really hard to balance everything you're supposed to be getting.

For me, the easiest, highest-payoff move was to stop eating meat. At first, it feels a little weird when you have been eating meat your whole life, as I had.

Once meat is not the featured player at every meal, your palate changes. Vegetables start to taste good -- a red bell pepper now tastes sweet to me. You learn to satisfy meat cravings with other things -- I am partial to Kalamata olives and feta cheese. You save money, 'cause meat is expensive. It's harder to overeat -- who binges on veggies?

I think it is hard to eat healthy when meat is in the way.

Cindy -- who doesn't miss meat at all

27 July 2019, 12:39 PM

Nina

We've really minimized meat over the years, though we're not 100% vegetarian. Initially I found it hard to know what to cook, and we tended to gravitate toward eggs, cheese and pasta, which isn't the healthiest of diets. Eventually I figured out what was good and discovered other things (like farro) that I'd never cooked before. Our go-to's now are things like rice bowls with brown rice, sauteed veggies, nuts.

The bonus - when we do eat meat, I feel we can splurge and get the organic, local stuff. Even then, we eat chicken and fish, emphasis on salmon because around here it's just so freaking good. I've pretty much lost my taste for red meat.

Not sure I could cut out wheat, though. Hmmmm....

27 July 2019, 12:48 PM

ShiroKuro

quote:
cut out wheat

Is that part of the book Steve mentioned?

We don't eat a lot of red meat, but we do eat a lot of chicken, some pork, not enough fish...

T start with, I think my breakfast (which I wrote about above, with granola) and my snacks (a granola bar) are probably too processed...

What do you all eat for breakfast?

27 July 2019, 12:49 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Steve, thisbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Obesity...349&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Is the diet hard to follow?

I just downloaded the e-book from my library and did a quick scan of the recommendations and skipped (for now) the parts where he explains his thinking and why the author thinks it's scientifically valid. He's a nephrologist who treated tons of diabetics with kidney disease. Over time he started to think it was crazy to keep giving people insulin and that the key to managing diabetes is to reduce their insulin resistance instead. It is a very different approach from what's currently done, but it's compelling. I've posted other stuff here about studies from the NHS where they've had patients do extreme fasting and have seen the reversal of early stages of diabetes. Like I said, I haven't read the parts of the book that outline the research that backs up his premise.

The author provides guidelines rather than detailed recipes and menus to follow. He also talks about the multiple things that affect weight and insulin resistance, including sleep deprivation/bad sleep habits, and the effects of stress.

He stresses that each person is affected by the various factors in different ways; sounds like a lot of this is discovering your particular profile and adjusting your eating and the timing of your eating accordingly.

This is from the summary:

1. Reduce intake of refined grains and sugars, moderate protein intake, increase natural fats (olive oil and full fat dairy are OK). Choose only natural, unprocessed foods.

2. Intermittent fasting.

I'd love to hear more about Steve's experiences with the protocol, especially the initial stages.

27 July 2019, 12:59 PM

QuirtEvans

quote:
Originally posted by wtg:
quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Steve, thisbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Obesity...349&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Is the diet hard to follow?

I just downloaded the e-book from my library and did a quick scan of the recommendations and skipped (for now) the parts where he explains his thinking and why the author thinks it's scientifically valid. He's a nephrologist who treated tons of diabetics with kidney disease. Over time he started to think it was crazy to keep giving people insulin and that the key to managing diabetes is to reduce their insulin resistance instead. It is a very different approach from what's currently done, but it's compelling. I've posted other stuff here about studies from the NHS where they've had patients do extreme fasting and have seen the reversal of early stages of diabetes. Like I said, I haven't read the parts of the book that outline the research that backs up his premise.

The author provides guidelines rather than detailed recipes and menus to follow. He also talks about the multiple things that affect weight and insulin resistance, including sleep deprivation/bad sleep habits, and the effects of stress.

He stresses that each person is affected by the various factors in different ways; sounds like a lot of this is discovering your particular profile and adjusting your eating and the timing of your eating accordingly.

This is from the summary:

1. Reduce intake of refined grains and sugars, moderate protein intake, increase natural fats (olive oil and full fat dairy are OK). Choose only natural, unprocessed foods.

2. Intermittent fasting.

I'd love to hear more about Steve's experiences with the protocol, especially the initial stages.

Thank you for doing that!

27 July 2019, 01:23 PM

Doug

I have been doing my version of intermittent fasting for a little over two years. Pro tip: never tell anyone you are intermittent fasting. They hear the word fasting and assume you are a nut case.

As a practical matter, what I’m doing is reducing the of hours of day that I do my eating in. Some of the science that Dr. Fung bases his conclusions on seem at least to have some reasonable support. Some seems a bit more like BroScience, or at best, conjecture.

For me, the alleged benefits on insulin resistance would be great if true, because I am at pretty high risk. If not, I have found the calories I can reasonably have a day without swelling up like a balloon to be much more enjoyable if I do it at two meals rather than three or more. Plus, not eating at all after dinner helps avoid a lot of the more empty calories I used to eat. I have found it to be a way to keep off the weight I lost two years ago.

(I lost about 40 pounds without intermittent fasting, just by counting calories and exercising. I’ve done the two years of intermittent fasting since then, as a way to stay at a reasonable calorie level without feeling deprived and to keep the weight off).