Is trying to reverse T2 diabetes too late for me?

[carina62]

I'm T2 on metformin (x2 tablets daily), I'm really trying to lose weight and am a stone and a half lighter than I was this time last year. I do a low carb diet and think I'm doing all the right things and have recently bought the 8 week blood sugar diet recipe book by Dr Michael Moseley where it says that if you follow the 800 calorie a day diet for 8 weeks it claims you can reverse your diabetes. I know it's not quite the Newcastle Diet but it claims to work in a similar way. I've been diabetic for 7 years - is it possible I can still do this or is it too late? My that I mean is it too late for my pancreas to 'wake up'? Can anyone give me some hope please as I hate having diabetes :-(

 

[JimH]

It's never too late and the long term consequences of not trying are horrific. I'm sure you will see a big improvement.

 

[Freema]

I'm T2 on metformin (x2 tablets daily), I'm really trying to lose weight and am a stone and a half lighter than I was this time last year. I do a low carb diet and think I'm doing all the right things and have recently bought the 8 week blood sugar diet recipe book by Dr Michael Moseley where it says that if you follow the 800 calorie a day diet for 8 weeks it claims you can reverse your diabetes. I know it's not quite the Newcastle Diet but it claims to work in a similar way. I've been diabetic for 7 years - is it possible I can still do this or is it too late? My that I mean is it too late for my pancreas to 'wake up'? Can anyone give me some hope please as I hate having diabetes :-(

well some of those following the Newcastle diet had been diabetic for more than a decade and still has gotten back their normal function of their pancreas... but not everyone have such success, but how will anyone know if one does not try..

I think if you would like to go for it, then you should just try and do it, and I am sure many will like to follow your struggle and hear how well you do...
I haven´t gone that low but have been close to 1000 calories for more than 4 month.. but am still not non-diabetic...but have lost 22 kg, and thats a lot and I am so glad for that...my plan is to loose about 20 more kg... but now after 5 month I am not sure I´ll be among the lucky ones

 

[Chasida]

well some of those following the Newcastle diet had been diabetic for more than a decade and still has gotten back their normal function of their pancreas... but not everyone have such success, but how will anyone know if one does not try..

I think if you would like to go for it, then you should just try and do it, and I am sure many will like to follow your struggle and hear how well you do...
I haven´t gone that low but have been close to 1000 calories for more than 4 month.. but am still not non-diabetic...but have lost 22 kg, and thats a lot and I am so glad for that...my plan is to loose about 20 more kg... but now after 5 month I am not sure I´ll be among the lucky ones

Neither of you mention physical activity? Are you exercising enough to help the body to perform at it's optimum? I know it helps and just relying on calorie control is stressful ... at least for me!

 

[Freema]

Neither of you mention physical activity? Are you exercising enough to help the body to perform at it's optimum? I know it helps and just relying on calorie control is stressful ... at least for me!

I do also excercise .. a lot like 12 hours intencive excercise every week...

but the Newcastle diet is mostly based on very very low diet 600 calories of some kind of powder and then 200 calories from vegetaables from over ground... and of cause a lot of walking

the Newcastle diet has been inventet to actually reverse diabetes in a controled Scientific miljeu

 

[Enclave]

Its well worth a try, surely .. its only eight weeks .. and who knows you may kick your system into working again .. I did it the slow way with 20g of carbs a day and just having no low fat products

 

[Tabbyjoolz]

Yes, it can be done. My husband has been T2D for 16 years and is on Metformim, Glicazide and Sitiglyptin. He started low carbing in August with me and his last Hba1C was reduced from 75 to 59. He has reduced his meds and rarely has hypos, and feels better than he has for years.

 

[murph524]

I'm T2 on metformin (x2 tablets daily), I'm really trying to lose weight and am a stone and a half lighter than I was this time last year. I do a low carb diet and think I'm doing all the right things and have recently bought the 8 week blood sugar diet recipe book by Dr Michael Moseley where it says that if you follow the 800 calorie a day diet for 8 weeks it claims you can reverse your diabetes. I know it's not quite the Newcastle Diet but it claims to work in a similar way. I've been diabetic for 7 years - is it possible I can still do this or is it too late? My that I mean is it too late for my pancreas to 'wake up'? Can anyone give me some hope please as I hate having diabetes :-(

Hi carina62 I'm 2 weeks into the Newcastle diet, my fasting bloods when I started were 9.9 This mornings numbers were 4.9 First weeks weight loss was 8lbs weighing myself weekly so I don't get disheartened if I don't lose every day. I make my shakes up with water so I have more calories to eat at evening meal. Good luck on your own try

 

[bulkbiker]

I'm T2 on metformin (x2 tablets daily), I'm really trying to lose weight and am a stone and a half lighter than I was this time last year. I do a low carb diet and think I'm doing all the right things and have recently bought the 8 week blood sugar diet recipe book by Dr Michael Moseley where it says that if you follow the 800 calorie a day diet for 8 weeks it claims you can reverse your diabetes. I know it's not quite the Newcastle Diet but it claims to work in a similar way. I've been diabetic for 7 years - is it possible I can still do this or is it too late? My that I mean is it too late for my pancreas to 'wake up'? Can anyone give me some hope please as I hate having diabetes :-(

Hi Carina
Have you heard of Dr Jason Fung? He has had significant success with his fasting regimes for people who have had Type 2 for a long time. His website is here
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com
Some of the testimonials are truly inspiring. Maybe have a read around there and see if you fancy trying his methods..
Having looked at some of the recipes on the 8 week diet they didn't appear to me to be especially low carb and whilst quite a few people have reported success with the Newcastle Diet I'm not a great fan of extreme calorie restriction. Maybe give it a go and see if it works for you but if not then try Dr Fung's regime. It certainly has worked for me. You have done well in losing weight over the past year and I'm sure are reaping benefits so it's always worth persevering.

 

[JohnEGreen]

It's not over till the moderately overweight lady sings.

I do not know how long I have had diabetes but it is a lot longer than the twelve months since diagnosis. I am 66 years of age and 12 months or so ago I was over 18 stone and my HbA1c was 64 with the aid of LCHF and strict caloric control I have lost over 7 Stones my HbA1c is now 38 and my blood sugar levels are in the normal range if it was not too late for me it's not to late for you.

Even if you do not achieve all your goals any improvements you gain along the way will be of immense benefit to you.

The prospect of failure is no good reason for not trying sounds trite I know but is non the less true.

Good luck and best wishes

John

 

[carina62]

Thanks all for your encouraging words. I'm going to give it a go and start tomorrow. Can I ask you Murph524, what shakes do you use? Do you have one for breakfast and lunch and have a calorie controlled meal in the evening? Also do you have any bedtime snack like a slice of cheese to avoid DP? Thanks

 

[AndBreathe]

It's not over till the moderately overweight lady sings.

I do not know how long I have had diabetes but it is a lot longer than the twelve months since diagnosis. I am 66 years of age and 12 months or so ago I was over 18 stone and my HbA1c was 64 with the aid of LCHF and strict caloric control I have lost over 7 Stones my HbA1c is now 38 and my blood sugar levels are in the normal range if it was not too late for me it's not to late for you.

Even if you do not achieve all your goals any improvements you gain along the way will be of immense benefit to you.

The prospect of failure is no good reason for not trying sounds trite I know but is non the less true.

Good luck and best wishes

John

Yet another who has lost pretty much a whole me! That's an astonishing amount of weight, John!

@carina62 - The thing about this diabetes malarkey is it hasn't heard of rules. It seems like it makes it's own rules for each person who trips over the diagnostic threshold. I didn't do the ND, but did get lucky (with hard work) on my diabetic status.

Some manage it, and others don't, but it is highly likely you would be a bit lighter and with improved diabetes/health markers even if not "rid" of your diabetes.

If it is something you think you could tolerate (and it isn't for everyone), then go for it, provided you are otherwise well and have no medical reasons not to. Professor Taylor/Michael Mosley recommend discussing your planned actions with your GP, so do please bear that in mind.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[walnut_face]

@carina62 Hope trumps everything. I contemplated ND in February, but failed to get support from my HCP's, indeed they were obstructive. Like many here I attend my checkups, say yes Ma'am, no Ma'am, three bags full Ma'am, and carry on my own sweet way. A mix of IF, LCHF with the sole aim of bring BG down, which it has also caused a couple of stones to pack their bags and leave. A nice side effect. I am now looking to deliberately lower my weight in the hope of finding the elusive Personal Fat Threshold. I know more (thanks to you folk here) than I did back then, and will discuss with my HCP next time on a FYI basis only - no discussion. I will rely on friends and family to tell me if I look like death warmed up.

 

[13lizanne]

I'm T2 on metformin (x2 tablets daily), I'm really trying to lose weight and am a stone and a half lighter than I was this time last year. I do a low carb diet and think I'm doing all the right things and have recently bought the 8 week blood sugar diet recipe book by Dr Michael Moseley where it says that if you follow the 800 calorie a day diet for 8 weeks it claims you can reverse your diabetes. I know it's not quite the Newcastle Diet but it claims to work in a similar way. I've been diabetic for 7 years - is it possible I can still do this or is it too late? My that I mean is it too late for my pancreas to 'wake up'? Can anyone give me some hope please as I hate having diabetes :-(

Hi Carina, I had been diabetic for almost 10yrs and taking Metformin when I discovered this forum and started low carb high fat diet. I was able to stop medication after a few months and now control my diabetes with diet and exercise only. But, and it's sad to say but if I eat higher carb for a couple of days my bg levels shoot up again and I wake with a dry mouth etc So, in my case I would have to say that my diabetes is well controlled and I wouldn't call it reversed so much as halted in its tracks - dependent on my sticking to low carb and exercise though. I do feel well most of the time and my levels are in the "normal" range so I will keep low carbing. Good luck with your quest

 

[AndBreathe]

@carina62 Hope trumps everything. I contemplated ND in February, but failed to get support from my HCP's, indeed they were obstructive. Like many here I attend my checkups, say yes Ma'am, no Ma'am, three bags full Ma'am, and carry on my own sweet way. A mix of IF, LCHF with the sole aim of bring BG down, which it has also caused a couple of stones to pack their bags and leave. A nice side effect. I am now looking to deliberately lower my weight in the hope of finding the elusive Personal Fat Threshold. I know more (thanks to you folk here) than I did back then, and will discuss with my HCP next time on a FYI basis only - no discussion. I will rely on friends and family to tell me if I look like death warmed up.

Walnut_face, some folks find the changes we go through to be a bit of a challenge for many reasons I have written about in the past. I got skinny in the course of bringing my bloods back into line too and like many others got the "you're looking thin", "is everything OK with you", "What happened there" sor of feedback along the way.

What I have found though is that having maintained my very light weight now for a good couple of years, my body shape/look has largely caught up with how well I feel. My skin took a bit of a bashing (the downside of being a woman of at least a certain age), but with daily industrial moisturising that has recovered a good deal, and my shape has evened a bit too. Like most folks, annoyingly I lost weight from the "good" bits faster than the "less good" bits, but I think that was as much to do with the speed of my loss, and as I say as I have maintained, that has all sorted itself a bit too.

@carina62 - It's all a bit of a journey, and we each have to decide where we would really like to be and do our best to achieve it. What's ideal for me could be horrid for you, and vice versa.

Fingers crossed for you.

 

[JohnEGreen]

some folks find the changes we go through to be a bit of a challenge f

This is true though my wife and family are happy that I have lost weight they are now anxious for me not to lose more weight and we are having some pretty heated discussions on the matter.

Bye the way Flax seed is supposed to help with skin problems and as I now have a fair amount of loose skin and no chance of cosmetic surgery to remove it I am giving the flax seed a try out to see if it is beneficial.

 

[AndBreathe]

This is true though my wife and family are happy that I have lost weight they are now anxious for me not to lose more weight and we are having some pretty heated discussions on the matter.

Bye the way Flax seed is supposed to help with skin problems and as I now have a fair amount of loose skin and no chance of cosmetic surgery to remove it I am giving the flax seed a try out to see if it is beneficial.

Shea butter and cocoa butter have been excellent for me, as well as a good diet. There will, undoubtedly, be a fair amount of luck and genetics involved in this.

Give it time, John. I did find my body improved over time. Of course, it may just be we've all (those who see my body without too much wrapping) got a bit more used to it. Although spending quite long periods overseas, where swimwear is an every day occurrence certainly impacts on who might see what! (TMI Obviously!)

 

[bulkbiker]

This is true though my wife and family are happy that I have lost weight they are now anxious for me not to lose more weight and we are having some pretty heated discussions on the matter.

Bye the way Flax seed is supposed to help with skin problems and as I now have a fair amount of loose skin and no chance of cosmetic surgery to remove it I am giving the flax seed a try out to see if it is beneficial.

Dr Fung reckons that a bit of fasting also helps with the loose skin.. and I must say that even though I am significantly smaller than I was I don't seem to have too much looseness.. obviously there is a bit but overall not so bad. He credits autophagy with the assist.

 

[carina62]

Can someone please list me some foods to eat on the LCHF way of eating? I am low carbing and try and eat healthy but just need a list of foods and ones I can also snack on. Thanks

 

[connie104]

Hope this helps