Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

[Halb]

Halb said:

For those interested there was a good programme on ITV this week called the fast fix:diabetes.

Just seen, it's repeated tonight

[bexVN]

Great to see this thread.

I probably should have guessed things were going to catch up with me but still a shock to get a letter to say my HbA1c was 42 so in the pre diabetic category.

I lost 3 stone in weight 2ys ago, was feeling great, got a virus, was quite ill with it and it spiralled into a shockingly high BP reading. Over time and with meds that came down but still too high. Then my back got really bad so walking the dogs became increasingly hard as did my job and day to day. Had back issues for yeas but mri revealed disc degeneration and arthritis, that settled again just as it was I ended up with viral neurinitis!! I am still struggling with this had a month off work. In all this time my exercise went to virtually nothing but my eating etc increased. Now at heaviest weight and pre diabetic.... Surprise!!

I am feeling incredibly down, I don't enjoy my job, I am struggling with day to day activities and just feeling like st. However I have made a move to sort this.

1) joined weight watchers this week
2) signed up for a free NHS organised life and well being course which I was invited to due to my blood results.

Small steps I know, my mental health is not doing much better than my physical but fingers crossed that will change as I start to lose weight. Oh and get out of my job (that one isn't so easy)

Anyway, the point of my rambling post was to say seeing this thread made me realise that there are a lot of people struggling with pre diabetes/ diabetes etc and that we can make it better, hopefully I will be one of them!!

[Kenny Powers]

Really sorry to hear that you are struggling, but there is another way! Have a look at the keto diet thread on here. It’s currently running at 40 pages, so there’s a lot of potential reading.

In the meantime keep on top of the depression. Tell your GP how you’re feeling. There’s lots of great information in this thread and the keto thread. Join in! Share your problems and experiences. We can all learn from each other. Please try to stay positive. Type 2 diabetes isn’t a life sentence, it can be fixed, and you may just enjoy doing so!



ETA pre-diabetes is just a number. The metabolic condition is the same - insulin resistance. Pre-diabetes just means it’s not yet serious enough to bump you over an arbitrary number. But it will be if you don’t act, and there is no more effective way of rapidly dropping your glucose concentrations than adopting a ketogenic lifestyle. Secondly, IGNORE any and all advice to consume lots of “healthy whole grains” as is often the advice given to diabetics. It is bullst and will make you steadily worse!

Edited by Kenny Powers on Friday 22 June 13:33

[Pieman68]

I've still got a bit to go and I wouldn't normally post these here - but hope that those feeling down and not sure how to deal with it, this is my journey

In total around 5.5 stone. Pic2 is before my 4th half marathon in May this year and my name is down for the ballot for London next year (aiming for another 1.5 stone off)

I was sedentary, lazy and depressed after my divorce when I was diagnosed. I am now part way though running 500 miles over the course of this year for charity

Anybody that wants to take the out of my photo, fill your boots. You can't take away from me what I've accomplished and where I am going

Keep the faith guys, we can beat it!!

[Kenny Powers]

That’s amazing mate. Well done! No need to give a crap about people taking the pee. I certainly don’t care anymore. You have to do what makes you happy and healthy...and you have!

Keep it up folks

[bexVN]

Pieman68 said:

I've still got a bit to go and I wouldn't normally post these here - but hope that those feeling down and not sure how to deal with it, this is my journey

In total around 5.5 stone. Pic2 is before my 4th half marathon in May this year and my name is down for the ballot for London next year (aiming for another 1.5 stone off)

I was sedentary, lazy and depressed after my divorce when I was diagnosed. I am now part way though running 500 miles over the course of this year for charity

Anybody that wants to take the out of my photo, fill your boots. You can't take away from me what I've accomplished and where I am going

Keep the faith guys, we can beat it!!

Anyone who does take the mick aren't worth the time of day. Than you for taking the time to share your turn around and continued progress.

And thanks Kermit Power. I think I am not ready for that much info but I will definitely look into it now that I am aware of it. For now I am going to concentrate on the two things I am doing to change things then may be look into alternative ways of working with foods.

Edited by bexVN on Friday 22 June 15:30

[g3rrd]

bexVN said:

1) joined weight watchers this week

Chin(s) up! Don't fall into the same trap I did. My "go to" diet foods, only now do I realise how seriously bad they were for my Diabetes.

Similar start. Diagnosed Pre Diabetic, so diet and exercise, never took it seriously, with the inevitable result. Initially treated with tablets.
Joined Slimming World and lost 3.5st. Over confident and thought I would be clear.

Dogs all gone, so no excuse to exercise. Then out of the blue, family tragedy, daughter died unexpectedly. World turned upside down, own health issues were ignored. Now 3 years on, 2st back on and injecting Insulin x2 daily.

Was finding life in general stressful (still shocked), hated my crappy job so bull by the horns. I simply resigned and have spent the past 14 months getting my health back on track. Walking 30+ miles weekly and eating mainly a high protein diet.

Kick in the teeth is weight has stayed the same, cruelly despite eating healthier and regular exercise, insulin can mean weight gain!

Positive head on, my HB1AC is now 38, down from mid 80's and my average blood glucose is in the low 6's Probably to late for me, will likely be drug dependent for life, by avoiding the weight loss only diet and concentrating more on your blood sugar levels and you can definitely reverse your condition. Good luck...

Shout if you are struggling

[Kenny Powers]

That’s really sad. Sorry for your loss

Perhaps not the time for practical advice, but ahigh protein diet isn’t really the ultimate answer. In the absence of carbohydrates, your liver will metabolise protein into glucose. Dietary fat is the key.

You are also correct in that insulin injections won’t do you any favours for weight loss. Think of insulin as a fat burning blocker. As long as you have high levels in your bloodstream attempting to overcome resistance, your body is unable to burn fat as a fuel. Additionally, the excess glucose that isn’t being used for fuel will be stored as fat. It’s an increasingly slippery slope.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, nutrional ketosis is probably the only answer if you’re already at the insulin injecting stage. This will naturally lower your blood glucose, which in turn will require less insulin, which in turn will allow your body to stop storing fat, and start burning it

Short, basic science lesson over. For now

[g3rrd]

Thank you Kenny. No broken record, play on I say! Now to Google "nutrional ketosis"

[Kenny Powers]

Sorry, nutritional

[Kenny Powers]

I want to add;

If you are currently injecting insulin, please do not start dabbling willy-nilly in ketosis without carefully monitoring your blood glucose. I would think there’s a big risk you could end up going hypoglycaemic.

Edited by Kenny Powers on Friday 22 June 15:59

[bexVN]

g3rrd

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, it is a big help. Definitely chins, though they are partly genetics, even slim we still seem to have a double chin!! I can't even begin to imagine what you went (and still go) through. It is no wonder taking care of yourself took a backseat.

I lost a good friend to pancreatic cancer and she was the same age as I am now 44. I think about her a lot, I am so lucky in so many ways, I struggle to remember that day to day. Resigning my job is so very tempting but I can't until I know what sort of job I do want to do! Financially I need to work.

I am going to use ww to kick start my weight loss then look for longer term management such as the suggestions put forward by Kenny Powers.

Edited by bexVN on Friday 22 June 16:57

[boxst]

Pieman68 said:

Anybody that wants to take the out of my photo, fill your boots. You can't take away from me what I've accomplished and where I am going

I doubt you will get that in this thread. You look absolutely awesome and should be tremendously proud of yourself.

[Kenny Powers]

Echo that. No one in this thread is going to mock anyone. All the dick heads are too busy moaning about other people’s car choices anyway. We can leave our egos outside. No need to be ashamed of anything in here. Diabetes can be a real fker to live with at first. At times it can feel like a massive weight around your neck 24/7. Anyone really trying to deal with it deserves praise, not derision.

It’s a long, dark tunnel, but in a twist of fate, when you come out the other side, you may actually feel like it saved your life. I know I’m far healthier now than I’ve ever been. Not just physically but also in my head. I highly recommend practicing meditation as a way to help keep things in perspective. Keeping the mind healthy is as important as the body. After all “one cannot survive without the other”.

Don’t let it beat you, make it make you!

[Kenny Powers]

Also, type 2 is massively misunderstood. Overweight or obese people who develop type 2 are universally viewed as having brought the condition upon themselves. The truth is somewhat different, and I’ll explain why. Everyone has varying degrees of insulin sensitivity, or put another way, everyone is insulin resistant to one degree or another.

Person A may be highly insulin sensitive. This means they can consume carbohydrates at will, and their insulin will be effective, quickly bringing down glucose concentrations, and returning insulin concentrations to normal, in this state they are able to burn both glucose and fat readily, and will never get obese or develop diabetes. Lucky them!

Person B may be highly insulin resistant. This means that when they consume carbohydrates, their insulin is less effective. More and more of it is needed in order to to bring glucose under control, and it’s needed for longer. This means that their blood has high insulin concentrations for more of the time. In this state the opportunities for their body to burn fat are seldom. Additionally their glucose concentrations begin to rise above normal, further increasing the need for insulin secretion, and also increasing fat storage of all the unburned glucose. At the same time also increasing the resistance even further. The cycle is set in motion, and they will get fatter and fatter so long as they continue to unwittingly consume carbohydrates. Diagnosis usually doesn’t occur until the pancreas is no longer able to keep up, at which point being obese is wrongly vilified as the culprit, when in fact it was a symptom of insulin resistance all along.

In other words, if you are overweight regardless of how hard you tried not to be, and have type 2 diabetes, it’s almost a given that you were dealt the insulin resistance card at birth. This cannot be stressed enough. By extension, if you are overweight but not diabetic, and simply cannot shift the flab, chances are you are insulin resistant and will develop diabetes eventually. This is why obesity and type 2 diabetes are on the rise, it’s due to genetic insulin resistance in people consuming, for the most part, a ‘normal’ western carb-rich diet. It is NOT because everyone became lazy in 1978 (1977 was when the current dietary guidelines were invented by industry-influenced science)

Edited by Kenny Powers on Saturday 23 June 07:17

[WyrleyD]

And then there's me. Not overweight and have never been, slightly underweight if anything. Diagnosed with T2 two years ago and am taking Metformin, have been controlling the intake of carbs/sugar since diagnosis. Tried the 5:2 diet for a year and it did nothing and have just read a report from the European Society of Endocrinology saying that that type of fasting diet actually increases the risk of worsening T2 diabetes and not making it better!! Probably right as I did a recent 5:2 diet for a couple of months with the mrs as she wanted to lose some weight and before the diet my Hba1C was 6.1 and after the 3 month diet it was up at 6.5.

[Kenny Powers]

Sorry about this but I’m on a roll this morning

A little more on why a high protein diet isn’t the ideal solution;

The foundation of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, but many don’t realise that this means the liver is also insulin resistant. It is normal for the liver to begin releasing glucose into the bloodstream in the early hours, in order to prepare you to wake up and start your day with sufficient energy. Unfortunately a major malfunction occurs in type 2 diabetics - the insulin secreted by the pancreas to tell the liver to stop manufacturing glucose is ignored, because it too is resistant to insulin! This is why blood glucose is often elevated in the mornings.

Excess protein in the diet effectively gives the liver a source with which to metabolise glucose whenever it wants to. By limiting protein intake to “just enough” you will restrict the liver’s likelihood of dumping too much glucose into your bloodstream before you wake up. With this realisation, I got my fasting BG down from c.7.5 to c.5.5 - which is obviously a far better starting point before breakfast!

Edited by Kenny Powers on Saturday 23 June 08:05

[Kenny Powers]

WyrleyD said:

And then there's me. Not overweight and have never been, slightly underweight if anything. Diagnosed with T2 two years ago and am taking Metformin, have been controlling the intake of carbs/sugar since diagnosis. Tried the 5:2 diet for a year and it did nothing and have just read a report from the European Society of Endocrinology saying that that type of fasting diet actually increases the risk of worsening T2 diabetes and not making it better!! Probably right as I did a recent 5:2 diet for a couple of months with the mrs as she wanted to lose some weight and before the diet my Hba1C was 6.1 and after the 3 month diet it was up at 6.5.

I was the same. In fact at 63kg I’m heavier than when I was diagnosed! For sure everyone is different and there’s rarely one exact fix for all. It seems to me that your liver was hugely overactive in dumping glucose when you were not eating. This is possibly because of glycogen stores being used, and would most likely benefit from protein reduction.

ETA: I should stress than I’m neither a doctor nor a scientist. I’m not an expert. I’m only sharing what I have learned works for me. It took me 18 months to find my perfect balance, so I’m just hoping that in by sharing my experience, it may give others some clues that will help them find theirs. I understand only too well the utter despair of failing to consistently control your blood glucose even whilst seemingly doing everything right. But there IS a combination of meds, food, sleep and exercise that will work for you. You just have to find it.

I’ll stop rambling for now anyway, as I need to go out for a stroll and burn off some glycogen stores

Edited by Kenny Powers on Saturday 23 June 08:25

[Bill]

Kenny Powers said:

In other words, if you are overweight regardless of how hard you tried not to be, and have type 2 diabetes, it’s almost a given that you were dealt the insulin resistance card at birth.

There is probably a degree of truth to this, but there is no doubt that obesity is due to eating too much even if "too much" varies from person to person. If you stop the rot when you start gaining weight you won't become obese and are far less likely to develop diabetes.

[Kenny Powers]

Bill said:

There is probably a degree of truth to this, but there is no doubt that obesity is due to eating too much even if "too much" varies from person to person. If you stop the rot when you start gaining weight you won't become obese and are far less likely to develop diabetes.

Absolutely, but “eating too much” is often a sign of insulin resistance. By stopping eating too many carbs, you will stop that rot