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Reversing diabetes

Pinkorchid

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,927
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
What do people actually mean if they say they have reversed their diabetes are they just keeping it under control and in non diabetic levels or do they think they no longer have it.. Reversing it to me means being diabetes free the way we were before we had it I have heard some say their diabetes is in remission with good control but that's a different thing to reversed as they have not gone back to being diabetes free. However well controlled we are we still have diabetes and always will until someone finds a proper cure for it . I note that Diet Doctor says he can reverse diabetes so what does he mean
 
This is a very contentious topic that has been discussed on many threads.
Reversed? In remission? Tightly controlled? Everyone has different opinions.
 
I don’t like either of the terms ‘reversed’ or ‘in remission’. As you say they imply that the Diabetes has gone either permanently or temporarily.
My HbA1c is a non diabetic level now but I definitely don’t consider myself non diabetic, because if I stopped my meds and reverted to a ‘normal’ diet my readings would become diabetic again.
I prefer the term ‘very well controlled’. That’s how my gp describes me and I’m happy with that
 
Each to their own definition, which doesn't help.
I just want to control mine, I don't see myself ever being cured.
 
We can work hard to control our blood sugars, rid ourselves of fatty livers and reduce insulin resistance, which will give us lovely non-diabetic finger prick tests and HbA1cs. We can call this what we like, and so can our doctors, but at the end of the day, something gave us diabetes in the first place - and that something will always be a risk factor to it all going belly up again.
 
Reversed means maintaining non-diabetic BG levels IMHO.

Complaining that someone only manages to achieve it by eating low carb is as silly as complaining that someone only hasn’t got lung cancer because they have never smoked.
 
With some extreme starvation Newcastle diet, several people said their diabetes 2 was "reversed" or gone for good. This means they've been able to eat again no matter what, with no negative blood sugar effects. We never know how permanent this condition is, because eating no matter what may of course create again the same problems at some point in time. The explanation for this reversal was by starvation you may quickly loose the fat around your liver and pancreas, which was blocking the proper insuline response and makes you as good as new.

All this not to be confused of course with "controlling" your diabetes. Which is what we do with diet, exercise and eventually medication: we bring and maintain our BG levels back to normal, but only as long as we keep a different lifestyle.
 
britishpub said:
Reversed means maintaining non-diabetic BG levels IMHO.

Complaining that someone only manages to achieve it by eating low carb is as silly as complaining that someone only hasn’t got lung cancer because they have never smoked.
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I disagree, because someone who never had lung cancer can’t reverse it if they never had it in the first place!
 
I've known 2 lads, both diagnosed with T2 come off all meds, one did it by diet changes (think a liver problem influenced this) and eating/taking 'bitter melon' , he used a long acting and metaformin, he hasn't used either since his changes, and another lad, older guy I used to speak to in a gym, he shed all meds by hard exercise and a good diet.

They'd say cured, point to a 2.5 stone weight loss they've maintained so say it's reversed. Then give me diet advice
 
britishpub said:
Reversed means maintaining non-diabetic BG levels IMHO.

Complaining that someone only manages to achieve it by eating low carb is as silly as complaining that someone only hasn’t got lung cancer because they have never smoked.
Click to expand...
But the term reversed could imply to people especially to newbies that diabetes can be cured
 
Pinkorchid said:
But the term reversed could imply to people especially to newbies that diabetes can be cured
Click to expand...
The good news is the old mantra of "T2 Diabetes is a progressive ailment......." is being challenged, with research data to back it up. The HCP are now having to take their fingers out of their ears and listen.

It (reversal) might be possible.

In the meantime the voices that demonstrate that it is not progressive are getting louder and more numerous, to the benefit of us all - even non diabetics - as the amount of taxpayer £££'s spent on medicating may well fall
 
Pinkorchid said:
But the term reversed could imply to people especially to newbies that diabetes can be cured
Click to expand...
They would be wrong then. Reversed cannot mean cured, there are degrees of reversed, where as cured is complete.
 
I think that there can't be any real definition as we are in a situation which is not thought to exist.
I have known that the diet I need to follow - Atkins or low carb, or whatever, is the one which allows me to maintain my weight at what it should be, but it is also one which causes HCPs to throw fits and make threats.
That has been the situation all my adult life.
As far as I am concerned, it isn't me who's wrong - I want to be a normal weight with good levels of energy able to exercise or to go off on a walk or cycle ride without having any concerns.
The idea of what is a healthy diet is wrong - if I keep to the same way of eating as when I had a slender waist and did not gain weight, I am absolutely fine. How that is described is just words - a bit of a Shrodinger's cat.
 
Diabetes is diagnosed by blood glucose levels at abnormally high levels If you have normal blood glucose levels without meds, then you've reversed it.

When "they" change the definition of type 2 diabetes to "blood glucose levels at abnormally high levels while eating lots of carbs", then the definition of reversal will change.
 
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