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Diabetes Natural Treatment? TRUE?

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Knightingale

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There are a lot of stories on Natural Treatment for Diabetics. My mom has been taking pills for 2 years and does not plan on doing it for life. She's resorted to natural treatments like proper diet and exercise. Any thoughts on this?
 
Knightingale said:
There are a lot of stories on Natural Treatment for Diabetics. My mom has been taking pills for 2 years and does not plan on doing it for life. She's resorted to natural treatments like proper diet and exercise. Any thoughts on this?
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Lots! An LCHF or keto way of eating has helped so many people to come off meds in here. They're not 'cured', but have stopped the progression of their condition. Even for me, who was diagnosed 14 years ago, keto seems to work beautifully.
Have a look at this sub-forum, and if you have any questions, do fire away.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/success-stories-and-testimonials.43/
 
The medications do not reverse the condition which continues to progress typically thus requiring more and more meds. If you could reverse that progression and avoid the nasty complications of diabetes then it is a no brainer IMO.
In addition to the excellent links on this forum, I am sending you to Dr Jason Fung's video course on reversing type 2 without drugs. He has also written a great book The Diabetes Code:
This is Sarah Hallberg another clinician discussing the best way to reverse type 2 (being to ignore conventional medical advice). She is now a director of Virta Health who help type 2 diabetics follow these principles remotely.
 
Low carb... lowering carbs gradually and figuring out what works for each person. A lot of stories on here of people doing and succeeding at what your mom wants to achieve.
 
Hi @Knightingale, Diet and exercise have always been part of diabetes treatment. If someone is trying to coin it of late as 'Natural Treatment' then they are a charlatan.
Of course they may have their own tested and testimonialised diet which may be part of the money-making package they sell.
What is this 'proper diet' your mother is taking? And how does she know that it is working sans pills? Or that it is still going to be working , without review, in 5 years time. It may get them out of seeing the doctor regularly and further into denial.
And the other concern is that people may be so certain that this Natural Therapy will work they deny when things go wrong - they may not even test BSLs - after all the 'treatment is doing everything so there is not need to worry.
hence people who have been misdiagnosed as T2D and are in denial phase ( theirs or their doctor's) end up with DKA and LADA for example.
This happens with prescribed medication to a degree too.
All us human beings share a common malady at times, lack of common sense.
 
Knightingale said:
There are a lot of stories on Natural Treatment for Diabetics. My mom has been taking pills for 2 years and does not plan on doing it for life. She's resorted to natural treatments like proper diet and exercise. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Proper diet (ie very low carb) appears to work well for many T2s, and exercise helps also. But lets be clear about this, there now appears to be multiple types of T2 diabetes (don't know whether diet works for them all) and diet is certainly NOT a solution for T1 diabetes. Insulin is the solution for T1s, though diet certainly influences the amount of insulin required. If I were T2 I'd buy a glucose testing meter, and experiment with a low carb diet and (more) exercise. But I wouldn't count on never needing meds, I'd let the meter be my guide.
 
Speaking only in the context of type 2 diabetics who are still able to produce their own insulin;

Insulin resistance (too much sugar in the body) causes hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood). Hyperinsulinemia causes hyperglycaemia (too much sugar in the blood). Type 2 diabetes is characterised and diagnosed by hyperglycaemia. Hyperinsluinemia and, later, hyperglycaemia can, but not necessarily will, be reversed with sufficiently intensive dietary intervention. ‘Sufficient’ being highly variable and dependent on the severity of hyperinsulinemia in the individual. Therefore type 2 diabetes is reversible in most.

However, it’s believed by many that the person will likely remain somewhat carbohydrate intolerant for life, but that with continuation of the lifestyle that reversed it, the clinical condition of diabetes will not come back. The carbohydrate intolerance likely remains but, in my opinion, the disease of diabetes does not. Without hyperinsulinemia or hyperglycaemia, a blood test would not bring about a diagnosis.

That’s my understanding and view based on extensive research and experimentation with my own body. The semantics of reversed/cured/beaten/remission divide opinion.

Oh and a warm welcome to the community :)
 
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Natural eating requires some definition in my view. Take for example someone in their 20's, it would be normal to eat highly processed beige food 3 times a day, with 2 to 3 snacks, whereas a great grand parent would have eaten maximally 3 times a day, home cooked items, such as meat and 2 veg, dripping and the like. When I was on honey moon in the Maldives natural eating was dead easy, as food was fresh caught and cooked for dinner - it is about either what the society presents, availability and then personal selection.

I have had 3 years of non-diabetic numbers. If I am fortunate enough to live another 40 years with similar blood work this would be a "virtual cure" - strong words, but unless someone removes my brain and reprograms it, I WILL NEVER go high carb ever again, the beige and sweet stuff doesn't temp me and is the devil incarnate as far as I am concerned. I will not be testing any mid - high carb or sweet items as I have checked what they do to blood sugar, insulin and nutrient levels - NO THANKS. Rowing back a little, as I like effect, cure is strong word but If diabetes in a robber and you lock the doors, it can't get in.

My view deviates at a point from just low carb high fat, as I weight train, so I use saturated fat in for cooking and what comes with the protein. LCHF / Keto does work in my view, it gets you fat adapted and satiated. I have upped my protein content with real food (which carries some additional fat as a by-product e.g. steak, salmon).

I would point you in the direction of this site - excluding the following items (whey, artichoke, parsnips)

http://www.burnfatnotsugar.com
http://www.burnfatnotsugar.com/Diet20.html
 
Mbaker said:
Natural eating requires some definition in my view. Take for example someone in their 20's, it would be normal to eat highly processed beige food 3 times a day, with 2 to 3 snacks, whereas a great grand parent would have eaten maximally 3 times a day, home cooked items, such as meat and 2 veg, dripping and the like. When I was on honey moon in the Maldives natural eating was dead easy, as food was fresh caught and cooked for dinner - it is about either what the society presents, availability and then personal selection.

I have had 3 years of non-diabetic numbers. If I am fortunate enough to live another 40 years with similar blood work this would be a "virtual cure" - strong words, but unless someone removes my brain and reprograms it, I WILL NEVER go high carb ever again, the beige and sweet stuff doesn't temp me and is the devil incarnate as far as I am concerned. I will not be testing any mid - high carb or sweet items as I have checked what they do to blood sugar, insulin and nutrient levels - NO THANKS. Rowing back a little, as I like effect, cure is strong word but If diabetes in a robber and you lock the doors, it can't get in.

My view deviates at a point from just low carb high fat, as I weight train, so I use saturated fat in for cooking and what comes with the protein. LCHF / Keto does work in my view, it gets you fat adapted and satiated. I have upped my protein content with real food (which carries some additional fat as a by-product e.g. steak, salmon).

I would point you in the direction of this site - excluding the following items (whey, artichoke, parsnips)

http://www.burnfatnotsugar.com
http://www.burnfatnotsugar.com/Diet20.html
Click to expand...

Agree entirely. Many people talk of never being able to return to a “normal” diet as a rationale for diabetes not being reversible. In my view ”normal” is a societal viewpoint and not necessarily natural in the context of our evolutionary adaptations to the food in our environment. This is evidenced by the “normal” diet being causal in the development of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistant diabetes.
 
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Jim Lahey said:
Speaking only in the context of type 2 diabetics who are still able to produce their own insulin;

Insulin resistance (too much sugar in the body) causes hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood). Hyperinsulinemia causes hyperglycaemia (too much sugar in the blood). Type 2 diabetes is characterised and diagnosed by hyperglycaemia. Hyperinsluinemia and, later, hyperglycaemia can, but not necessarily will, be reversed with sufficiently intensive dietary intervention. ‘Sufficient’ being highly variable and dependent on the severity of hyperinsulinemia in the individual. Therefore type 2 diabetes is reversible in most.

However, it’s believed by many that the person will likely remain somewhat carbohydrate intolerant for life, but that with continuation of the lifestyle that reversed it, the clinical condition of diabetes will not come back. The carbohydrate intolerance likely remains but, in my opinion, the disease of diabetes does not. Without hyperinsulinemia or hyperglycaemia, a blood test would not bring about a diagnosis.

That’s my understanding and view based on extensive research and experimentation with my own body. The semantics of reversed/cured/beaten/remission divide opinion.

Oh and a warm welcome to the community :)
Click to expand...
I am absolutely convinced that you are correct... in most cases T2D can be cured (or reversed if pedantic) by an LCHF diet and intermittent or extended fasting.
As you rightly assert, we probably remain intolerant to excessive carbs, but, as to the rest of it, we're back to normality.
 
Knightingale said:
Any thoughts on this?
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Things like:

1. Exercise Regularly

2. Control Your Carb Intake

3. Increase Your Fiber Intake

4. Drink Water and Stay Hydrated

5. Implement Portion Control

6. Choose Foods With a Low Glycemic Index

7. Control Stress Levels

8. Monitor Your Blood Sugar Levels

9. Get Enough Quality Sleep

10. Eat Foods Rich in Chromium and Magnesium

11. Try Apple Cider Vinegar

12. Experiment With Cinnamon Extract

13. Try Berberine

14. Eat Fenugreek Seeds

15. Lose Some Weight

Don't forget you can do all of these things and still have poor control. There may come a time when you have to bite the bullet and do what you have to do to control BG. i.e. take the meds.


 
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