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Is weight Loss a 'must' for reversing Metabolic Syndrome?

Many of us would say just go low carbs with enough fat and protein to keep you feeling full - simples. Yes, you shouldn't eat too many carbs but can be fairly free with fat and protein
 
No.

Over the nearly 8 years I have been maintaining healthy blood sugar levels by having around 100g of carbs a day, I have lost very little weight. Less than a stone. I am still morbidly obese. I am still on no diabetes meds.

I have ME so can't exercise either

For my body, it's all about the carb intake.
 
I’ve not lost a lot of weight over the years (approx 2 stone) and am still classed as overweight but I’ve managed to maintain my hba1c at non diabetic levels for about 7 years.
 
I think it’s not how much weight lost but where the fat loss is. Smaller waist and a non fatty liver is key to controlling insulin resistance.
 
Daphne917 said:
I’ve not lost a lot of weight over the years (approx 2 stone) and am still classed as overweight but I’ve managed to maintain my hba1c at non diabetic levels for about 7 years.
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Some of us have been at it for years and have lost no weight at all.

Count yourself lucky
 
I lost about 20 kilos which is roughly half I actually ought to lose, and have since kept both my weight at that levels and my glucose levels at low pre-diabetic for six years. I currently aim to eat a maximum of around 50g carbs a day. But I actually reduced my HbA1C down from 61-62 to a just on pre-diabetic 47 in the 2-3 months after diagnosis just by avoiding all the obvious sugars and starchy carbs and this reduction happened before I started noticeably losing any weight. At that point I didn't have a meter, so have no real idea of my actual carb levels at that time, but my weight loss trigger came later and I believe was due to cutting carbs right down to 20-25g a day for a few weeks, roughly following Atkins (induction phase) as suggested by my GP.

Robbbity
(who possibly comes under the heading of a stereotypical fat and lazy old T2 :eek: :D)
 
I agree with @Hotpepper20000

Since metabolic syndrome is a condition with these symptoms:-

abdominal obesity
insulin resistance (leading to increased blood glucose levels)
high blood pressure
high cholesterol

then merely controlling BGs isn't reversing metabolic syndrome, just reversing one of the symptoms. True, T2 may be reversed by low carbing or other methods of lowering BGs, but that is just one facet (allbeit the most important one for most of us here) of metabolic syndrome. Therefore I can't see how anyone can say that metabolic sysndrome has been reversed until the other symptoms are back in line too, not just BGs. A true reversal would surely mean fat lost around the middle, BGs at nondiabetic levels, IR improved and BP and cholesterol levels improving too? Having non diabetic BG levels is a great start, but IMO metabolic syndrome is still present when someone has to low carb to keep them at a nondiabetic level. If metabolic syndrome had been truly reversed then this surely wouldn't be necessary?

Just my opinion of course and I am not criticising anyone for keeping their BGs under control, I myself low carb to do so, but until my tummy is trim I won't consider that my metabolic syndrome has been reversed.
 
I lost a lot of weight in the first few months on low carb, but nothing for the last 9 months. I am still obese and my waist measurement is out of proportion to the rest of me and big enough to cause my GP surgery staff to mutter at me - I lost proportionally a lot more weight from my legs, arms, face, etc.
But my triglycerides went down, and in addition to being in remission I had a liver scan recently and my fatty liver has resolved too.
 
Hotpepper20000 said:
I think it’s not how much weight lost but where the fat loss is. Smaller waist and a non fatty liver is key to controlling insulin resistance.
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I agree. The 'skinny fat' person who looks normal weight but in fact has a more visceral fat than his/her body can handle and a fatty liver will need to fix those to restore metabolic health. But that doesn't necessarily mean losing weight overall.
 
TriciaWs said:
I lost a lot of weight in the first few months on low carb, but nothing for the last 9 months. I am still obese and my waist measurement is out of proportion to the rest of me and big enough to cause my GP surgery staff to mutter at me - I lost proportionally a lot more weight from my legs, arms, face, etc.
But my triglycerides went down, and in addition to being in remission I had a liver scan recently and my fatty liver has resolved too.
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Tricia, I don't know how long, or even if your weight has been at a stable point?

I know, post-diagnosis my love handles melted away, then some more, and the result was(and is), I'm very slight.

In my experi nice, our bodies can sometimes take a while to sort themselves our after weight loss (or gain). Somehow we always lose from, or gain on to the parts we least want to. In my case, limbs and lady bumps on the loss, where any gain would be at my waistline or central torso.

My weight has been stable now,for almost 6'years, but one day (I could identify when, in hindsight) I was dressing and caught my image in the mirror. I knew my weight was stable, but i also knew my size 8s were still getting looser around the middle, but I hadn't to that point noticed I have a little waist, and much less up and down than I originally was. That shape has stayed here.

I'm now in UK size 6 bottoms and 6/8 tops, and thankfully now stable there too.

My suggestion would be not to be too harsh on your waistline, it might just still be catching up.
 
I have lost 4 stone, I go the gym 5 sessions a week with a combination of weights and mobility classes, and swim over a mile a day. My HbA1c continues to deteriorate, my cholesterol remains over 5 at 5.6 no-one believes I am a type II diabetic, it is now 20 years, diagnosed 1999. Sometimes you can do everything and still get a hard time from your diabetic nurse, who just tells me to eat less (she is obese). I don't drink alcohol or sugary drinks, I eat a crust from a wholemeal loaf every other day, I eat no white rice or pasta, lots of veggies, I grow my own. I make soup (no potatoes for thickening just veggies) for lunch most days in the winter, salads from my garden in the summer. I cook from scratch every day, we rarely eat out. I am tired of trying to beat this disease and just feel like giving up to the inevitable, which is what my not helpful diabetic nurse says.
 
My hubby has been T2 for over 12 years, and is stick thin!! (he's just over 6' and weighs around 12 stone) HbA1C of 101 before he started LC, now well under control and HbA1C hovers around 50-55. I think weight is more of a side effect, rather than a cause
 
Chrissie18 said:
I have lost 4 stone, I go the gym 5 sessions a week with a combination of weights and mobility classes, and swim over a mile a day. My HbA1c continues to deteriorate, my cholesterol remains over 5 at 5.6 no-one believes I am a type II diabetic, it is now 20 years, diagnosed 1999. Sometimes you can do everything and still get a hard time from your diabetic nurse, who just tells me to eat less (she is obese). I don't drink alcohol or sugary drinks, I eat a crust from a wholemeal loaf every other day, I eat no white rice or pasta, lots of veggies, I grow my own. I make soup (no potatoes for thickening just veggies) for lunch most days in the winter, salads from my garden in the summer. I cook from scratch every day, we rarely eat out. I am tired of trying to beat this disease and just feel like giving up to the inevitable, which is what my not helpful diabetic nurse says.
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This reminds me when I was working out really hard my HbA1c stuck at 41/42 (my movement of the needle was by going from low GI to Keto). If I had my time over I would have either obtained direct help from Dr Eric Westman (he confidently states he can make low carb ketogenic work for anyone (I believe him)) or I would do full elimination with a starting point of carnivore, along with meticulous measurements of cortisol and other metrics. It might be 1 thing such as a vitamin D deficiency that is holding you back.
 
Really good question @ianf0ster. I would say yes with caveats to your original post, if reversal means a provable positive change to Metabolic Syndrome. I think any other position is management as opposed to reversal. However I do believe there is potentially an enhanced framing of the question.

I think it would be beneficial to take a leaf out of Jacqueline Eberstein's perspective (46 years Akins specicalist, I know an appeal to authority....but she is brilliant) that "weight loss" could be more defined as "fat loss" - I definitely will try to refrain using weight loss as this can and might include muscle loss. Although this is a subtle difference in terminology, it is still profound in my view, as if the "fat loss" part of reversing metabolic syndrome is focused on then vital lean muscle mass will be kept with the correct actions, whereas with weight loss literally anything goes.
 
...and if you lose muscle then that will probably make metabolic syndrome worse.
 
lucylocket61 said:
No.

Over the nearly 8 years I have been maintaining healthy blood sugar levels by having around 100g of carbs a day, I have lost very little weight. Less than a stone. I am still morbidly obese. I am still on no diabetes meds.

I have ME so can't exercise either

For my body, it's all about the carb intake.
Click to expand...
this is encouraging. Can you tell me how long it took to get to those healthy BG levels? Thank you :)
 
Daphne917 said:
I’ve not lost a lot of weight over the years (approx 2 stone) and am still classed as overweight but I’ve managed to maintain my hba1c at non diabetic levels for about 7 years.
Click to expand...
this is encouraging. Can you tell me how long it took to get to non diabetic BG levels and how you achieved it? Thank you :)
 
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