Reversing Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is as close to a disease of choice as you're likely to find: provided that you adopt a sensible lifestyle of good diet and exercise then you are never going to suffer the condition, barring extremely bad luck in your genes. Similarly, if you are headed down the path towards diabetes, you can turn back by changing the way you live your life. Here's evidence that the turn can be made quite late if made aggressively enough: "An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease .... 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. ... More research is needed to see whether the reversal is permanent, say experts. ... 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. ... After one week of the diet, researchers found that the pre-breakfast blood sugar levels of all participants had returned to normal. MRI scans of their pancreases also revealed that the fat levels in the organ had decreased from around 8% - an elevated level - to a more normal 6%. Three months after the end of the diet, when participants had returned to eating normally and received advice on healthy eating and portion size, most no longer suffered from the condition. ... This diet was only used to test the hypothesis that if people lose substantial weight they will lose their diabetes. Although this study involved people diagnosed with diabetes within the last four years, there is potential for people with longer-standing diabetes to turn things around too."
Ok thats right about the diet but point number one is this :
The participants were on food sachets which not only cut calories but drastically cut carbohydrate intake. If you eat 2000 calories a day but go very very low carb your blood glucose will drop to normal.
That amounts to dietary control of blood sugar.
the second point is : why is it necessary to go 8 weeks on such a strict and difficult diet ? Surely intermittent fasting will reduce fat in the pancreas ? Obviously it will take longer but it is much more realistic.
When doing the extremely low calorie days visceral ( internal ) fat is-apparently- mobilised before the stuff thats under our skin.
Michael Hussey