Which Blood tests are accurate at showing diabetes reversal

John93

Active Member
Messages
32
I'm trying to work out the best diet to use to deal with type 2. currently not on meds and keeping well controlled with lots of exercise mainly. I read a lot about claims of diabetes reversal / cure / remission by following a keto or low carb diet but they seem to only use fasting glucose or HbA1c tests to prove effectiveness.

my understanding is that the gold standard of diabetes testing is the 2 or 4 hr Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) when it is used to measure glucose levels and insulin levels. If the OGTT test is used though I'm told people following a low carb diet will be shown to still have diabetes using the OGTT. It seems to me that getting good HbA1c and fasting glucose tests are not giving a true indication of whether diabetes has been reversed or not because the OGTT shows up insulin resistance as the problem. I'm being told a low fat high complex carb diet that is plant based is the only way to get true reversal of type 2 but I know from experience going on that can send blood sugar levels spiking initially but then they level off quickly

Love to hear any comments on this from medical experts who have qualifications to comment
 

Mike d

Expert
Messages
7,997
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
idiots who will not learn
You'll be waiting a long time for the advice ... it's not permitted on this site. And neither it should be
 

Quinn1066

Well-Known Member
Messages
283
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I am no medical professional. But getting a blood glucose monitor, and eating to your meter would be the first step to see if you can control your diabetes especially type 2 through diet. Also blood tests that indicate the reversal of fatty liver disease are usually a good sign, as it's a co-morbid factor with type 2 diabetes. If fatty liver goes away, there is a good chance the subcutaneous fat around the internal organs has gone away, which is a cause of insulin resistance in early type 2 diabetes.
 

DCUKMod

Master
Staff Member
Messages
14,298
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I'm trying to work out the best diet to use to deal with type 2. currently not on meds and keeping well controlled with lots of exercise mainly. I read a lot about claims of diabetes reversal / cure / remission by following a keto or low carb diet but they seem to only use fasting glucose or HbA1c tests to prove effectiveness.

my understanding is that the gold standard of diabetes testing is the 2 or 4 hr Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) when it is used to measure glucose levels and insulin levels. If the OGTT test is used though I'm told people following a low carb diet will be shown to still have diabetes using the OGTT. It seems to me that getting good HbA1c and fasting glucose tests are not giving a true indication of whether diabetes has been reversed or not because the OGTT shows up insulin resistance as the problem. I'm being told a low fat high complex carb diet that is plant based is the only way to get true reversal of type 2 but I know from experience going on that can send blood sugar levels spiking initially but then they level off quickly

Love to hear any comments on this from medical experts who have qualifications to comment

John, whilst we do have medical professional using our site, they'd are not permitted to give medical advice. It is covered in our rules. There I see a link to those in my signature.

In. Terms of this holy grail of remission, reversal, cure, or whatever you choose to call it, there are many definitions around, but even none of those are definitive.

Personally, I have never taken any medication to help with my T2, but my reduced carb way of eating reduced my diagnostic A1c from 73 to 37 in short order and my last was 27. I can pass an OGTT, without carbing up, but that's me. I seem to have got a bit lucky. My fasting insulin levels, when tested showed little insulin resistance, although I'll likely rerun that sometime soon. After over 6 years of low carbing, I stick with it.

That I can pass the tests I describe doesn't mean I would necessarily be able to eat as I wish over any length of time, and I'm content enough not pushing that envelope.

Other T2s find they can go back to eating whatever they wish, without trouble, but they tend to drift away from the site over a period. That is obviously their choice, so I'm not sure I could I identify a current member who had a T2 diagnosis who routinely eats very highly carb foods, day in and day out, without concerns or blood sugar repercussions, but there may be folks lurking who will chip in.

Good luck with whatever approach you adopt.
 

Tophat1900

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,407
Type of diabetes
Type 3c
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
Uncooked bacon
You can always get your insulin levels measured, a c-peptide will show how much your pancreas is producing. A blood test.

There is a thread on here somewhere, "success stories" which is full of posts from people who have gained great control and better health eating low carb or keto

The eat lots of carbs and go low fat advice still persists and the reward for this approach of some 50 yrs is sky rocketing T2 diabetes rates and obesity. In other words it has been an epic failure by professionals to understand the role of insulin and carbs.
 

John93

Active Member
Messages
32
You'll be waiting a long time for the advice ... it's not permitted on this site. And neither it should be
Thanks Mike. I was looking for informed comments, not advice, but thanks for taking the time to reply in any case.
 

John93

Active Member
Messages
32
I am no medical professional. But getting a blood glucose monitor, and eating to your meter would be the first step to see if you can control your diabetes especially type 2 through diet. Also blood tests that indicate the reversal of fatty liver disease are usually a good sign, as it's a co-morbid factor with type 2 diabetes. If fatty liver goes away, there is a good chance the subcutaneous fat around the internal organs has gone away, which is a cause of insulin resistance in early type 2 diabetes.
Many thanks Quinn. You seem to have got quite impressive results as measured by A1c test but wondering if you have had an OGTT in recent times and what results you got on that.
 

John93

Active Member
Messages
32
You can always get your insulin levels measured, a c-peptide will show how much your pancreas is producing. A blood test.

There is a thread on here somewhere, "success stories" which is full of posts from people who have gained great control and better health eating low carb or keto

The eat lots of carbs and go low fat advice still persists and the reward for this approach of some 50 yrs is sky rocketing T2 diabetes rates and obesity. In other words it has been an epic failure by professionals to understand the role of insulin and carbs.

Appreciate the feedback here - its a great site. I dont think its quite right though to link carbs with causing diabetes if I understand that is what is being said, but I know refined junk carbs like sodas , candy, white bread and pastries sure play havoc with blood sugars and need to be avoided. The carbs - diabetes link is pretty much debunked by the stats in places like China and Japan. about 40 years ago and earlier, they ate a diet of mainly rice, which is a carb and their diabetes rates were around 1% of the population but these days they eat the typical western diet full of processed foods and fats and very little rice and their diabetes rates are 12% or more, so I think that disproves any link based on carbs causing diabetes. I also noticed on this website that vegan diets are very successful and they are low fat the link to the page is here https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html so it's pretty confusing knowing who to believe. Anyway, thanks again for the responses
 

Quinn1066

Well-Known Member
Messages
283
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Many thanks Quinn. You seem to have got quite impressive results as measured by A1c test but wondering if you have had an OGTT in recent times and what results you got on that.
no I haven't had a OGTT, so I don't know how I would go with that.
 

Lotties

Well-Known Member
Messages
317
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Appreciate the feedback here - its a great site. I dont think its quite right though to link carbs with causing diabetes if I understand that is what is being said, but I know refined junk carbs like sodas , candy, white bread and pastries sure play havoc with blood sugars and need to be avoided. The carbs - diabetes link is pretty much debunked by the stats in places like China and Japan. about 40 years ago and earlier, they ate a diet of mainly rice, which is a carb and their diabetes rates were around 1% of the population but these days they eat the typical western diet full of processed foods and fats and very little rice and their diabetes rates are 12% or more, so I think that disproves any link based on carbs causing diabetes. I also noticed on this website that vegan diets are very successful and they are low fat the link to the page is here https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html so it's pretty confusing knowing who to believe. Anyway, thanks again for the responses
I wouldn't say the carbs/diabetes link is debunked - there may be a debate as to the cause and there may be different routes to T2D but there is no debate that a T2D responds to carbs in a different way to a non-diabetic that can become damaging to the body. The development of pathological insulin resistance is considered to be one major driver of T2D.
 

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Appreciate the feedback here - its a great site. I dont think its quite right though to link carbs with causing diabetes if I understand that is what is being said, but I know refined junk carbs like sodas , candy, white bread and pastries sure play havoc with blood sugars and need to be avoided. The carbs - diabetes link is pretty much debunked by the stats in places like China and Japan. about 40 years ago and earlier, they ate a diet of mainly rice, which is a carb and their diabetes rates were around 1% of the population but these days they eat the typical western diet full of processed foods and fats and very little rice and their diabetes rates are 12% or more, so I think that disproves any link based on carbs causing diabetes. I also noticed on this website that vegan diets are very successful and they are low fat the link to the page is here https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html so it's pretty confusing knowing who to believe. Anyway, thanks again for the responses
The way I see it John, is that too many carbs in the diet (as in percent of diet) has been the problem across the globe.
 

aealexandrou

Well-Known Member
Messages
117
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Exercise
You have to be careful with using China and Japan of 40 years ago to support a theory that high carb doesn't cause T2D. 40 years ago in the the East, 60 years ago in the Mediterranean and even in Europe, people ate sparingly, 2 or 3 times a day, largely whole foods that included fat. Snacking was rare. Fruit juices were limited to the occasional orange juice. The devil then were cokes and other sofas, but even with those there was an element of moderation. Even on a high carb diet your body had time between food and insulin bursts to regulate itself. The world is a very different place now, even in China and Japan which has not been spared from the scourge of obesity, T2D and other insulin related diseases.
 

TriciaWs

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,727
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
You have to be careful with using China and Japan of 40 years ago to support a theory that high carb doesn't cause T2D. 40 years ago in the the East, 60 years ago in the Mediterranean and even in Europe, people ate sparingly, 2 or 3 times a day, largely whole foods that included fat. Snacking was rare. Fruit juices were limited to the occasional orange juice. The devil then were cokes and other sofas, but even with those there was an element of moderation. Even on a high carb diet your body had time between food and insulin bursts to regulate itself. The world is a very different place now, even in China and Japan which has not been spared from the scourge of obesity, T2D and other insulin related diseases.

I agree. Also in many areas of China the poor Chinese rarely had enough to eat, but filled up on thin soup then ate whole grain rice with vegetables, maybe soya and small amounts of fish or meat, very little fruit and no sugary foods, while the rich avoided rice because that was poor man's food (I attended a dinner a couple of times for Chinese govt delegates - there was no rice or pasta served just protein and vegs).
 

New Haven Neil

Well-Known Member
Messages
126
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Arrogance, awkward people
You
Appreciate the feedback here - its a great site. I dont think its quite right though to link carbs with causing diabetes if I understand that is what is being said, but I know refined junk carbs like sodas , candy, white bread and pastries sure play havoc with blood sugars and need to be avoided. The carbs - diabetes link is pretty much debunked by the stats in places like China and Japan. about 40 years ago and earlier, they ate a diet of mainly rice, which is a carb and their diabetes rates were around 1% of the population but these days they eat the typical western diet full of processed foods and fats and very little rice and their diabetes rates are 12% or more, so I think that disproves any link based on carbs causing diabetes. I also noticed on this website that vegan diets are very successful and they are low fat the link to the page is here https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html so it's pretty confusing knowing who to believe. Anyway, thanks again for the responses

You really, really need to read Dr Jason Fung's book 'The Diabetes Code' which explains the different genetic makeup of people and diabetes - it is fascinating. It will put you on the straight and narrow! Knowledge is power, in this case power over T2 diabetes.