Lupf

Well-Known Member
Messages
198
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello all,

I am a 59 year old male and was diagnosed with T2 diabetes in Sept 2014. I was put on Metformin and HbA1c went down to 62 to 65, but not further. After diagnosis I was eating a healthy diet, no more fizzy drinks, lots of fruit and veg, few sweets, but I like pasta, potatoes and bread. Weight was stable at about 10 kg overweight. Early in 2019 Doctor asked me to take more medicine (Gliclazide), but I decided to lose weight and to start exercise instead.

Since April 2019 I have been doing 5+2 diet (Michael Mosley) with 600 calories on fast days (200 breakfast/ 400 dinner, water for lunch). I travel a lot for work, but found ways to fast while travelling, On fast days, I basically don't eat carbs. Surprisingly I don't feel hungry as you can eat lots of soup and vegetables. I also drink lots of water during the day. For exercise, I have am cycling regularly, even use hotel gyms. In addition, I started judo, but I had to stop due to shoulder pain for which I am doing physiotherapy now.

Since starting 5+2 diet I have lost 10 kg most of it in the first 4 months. I now weigh 80 kg, which is the same as when I was 19 years old. My waist reduced from 105 to 90 cm. My HbA1c dropped from 65 to 52 (in July 2019) to 42 mmol/mol (end of November 2019) and my blood sugar measurements (in the morning before eating) now average just below 6 mmol/litre. I also noticed that my resting pulse decreased from 68 to 58 per minute.

Last week I went to see the doctor and we agreed to stop Metformin. I am not on any medication anymore. Wow!

I have also continued reading up. I am a scientist and knew about the Newcastle diet (8 weeks very few calories) which reversed diabetes, but couldn't see myself doing it. Thus when Mosley's books convinced me that there is a chance that you could achieve T2 reversal with 5+2, I decided to give it a go. I was also wondering why intermittent fasting works, where as I know that everyone who ever went on a diet ultimately failed. Recently I have read "The Diabetes Code" by Jason Fung. Now all makes sense. There is a scientific basis for why diabetes is a dietary disease and it can be reversed. You need to reduce and/or remove temporarily sugar/carbs. While fasting your body burns fat, which is simply an evolutionary survival tool.

What is next for me? Of course my plan is to keep my weight down. Should I continue to fast regularly or only when weight or blood sugar start increasing again? Do I need to lose more weight? How far have I reversed T2D, e.g. has my insulin resistance stopped. Are my beta cells in the pancreas functioning again. Can we measure this? Should I ask for more detailed tests - liver fat, insulin resistance, ... ? How long do I need to have HbA1c < 42 mmol/mol and blood sugar below 6 mmol/litre without medication before I can consider my T2 reversed?

Looking beyond my personal journey what can be done to make sure that everyone is getting correct advise? For two generations, people have been told to eat low-fat, but all studies trying to prove link between butter and cardiovascular disease failed. Guidelines to eat low-fat led to sugar being added (for flavour) to almost every food (even bacon). This is almost certainly a main cause of the huge increase in obesity and diabetes. NHS webpage on T2D still basically says eat a healthy diet which includes eating carbs. If diabetes is a dietary disease, medication only lowers blood sugar, but make diabetes worse. Apart from all the unnecessary suffering, there is lots of money to be saved.
 
Last edited:

VashtiB

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
2,283
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
hi and welcome,

I'm a relative newbie but my thoughts are that you should probably stay on what ever way of eating has reduced your carb intake and hence your Hba1c.

I think if you went back to eating carbs as you used to your weight and HbA1c would increase.

As for getting the information out I think the answer is to tell those you know but more importantly your health care professional- if they are convinced they will tell other patients.

Congratulations
 

angustia

Well-Known Member
Messages
177
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello all,

How long do I need to have Hb1Ac < 42 mmol/mol and blood sugar below 6 mmol/litre without medication before I can consider my T2 reversed?

Someone gave a link somewhere that explains about a research on that.
If I'm not mistaken, maintaining a non-diabetic reading for 5 years is considered reversed or cured.
 
  • Like
Reactions: saky

Rustytypin

Well-Known Member
Messages
387
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Congratulations on your results so far. Personally I don't think that one can ever be cured of Diabetes. If you go back to eating carbs in any quantity, then T2 will likely return. The trigger level for each person is different, mine is somewhere around 50gm carbs a day, but I try to keep under 20 to 25 gm carbs daily. I will not go back to my former eating habits, too risky!
 
  • Like
Reactions: saky

Jam&Scones

Well-Known Member
Messages
100
Type of diabetes
MODY
Treatment type
Diet only
Great work! You must be very pleased! I agree with you about sugar and low fat dietary guidelines combo - it has (and will more so in the future I have no doubt) created an epidemic of issues. The more I learn, the more I am convinced processed foods are the enemy.

I think that Type 2 can only be in remission (never cured)? But I do think you can handle carbs better when you do have them on the rare occasion (christmas was an interesting test for me on that level, I never overdid it, but my levels more often than not eventually came back to a 5.mmol, when I first started my diet they would never get close to that). I find though that anything processed will always send my levels sky high and that isn't just sugary things, one particular experience was with a small packet of mcdonalds fries (bad choice, I know, but a powerful lesson!).

I have watched a lot of videos which also claim that high levels of insulin for a long time are also bad idea (even if your blood sugar is normal) as they can seriously mess up certain body processes (i.e. high levels create resistance, block other hormones which tell you not to eat any more, etc).

There is so much info out there, conflicting and new things coming to light that I think it is almost impossible to give a one-size-fits-all set of guidelines. Ultimately, only you can try things and see if they help you feel better or not.
 

Lupf

Well-Known Member
Messages
198
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Someone gave a link somewhere that explains about a research on that.
If I'm not mistaken, maintaining a non-diabetic reading for 5 years is considered reversed or cured.
thanks for pointing this out.
 

t1234

Newbie
Messages
4
Hi-I am T2 for the last 18 years or so, from the age of 25 or so. I have had episodes of good control, but then I have gone off the program numerous times. I quite liked the Blood Sugar Diet and followed it for a while, and then got off that too.
I am determined to have a go at the Newcastle Diet, as a last ditch attempt to reverse my diabetes, but as I have been diabetic for a relatively long time, not sure if that is possible. But I want to give it a go. If nothing, it might shed my visceral fat.

I am not sure if this is the right place for this question, but if one of you can point me in the correct direction, that would be great. I am thinking of using Kee Diet soups and shakes for my 8 week stint. Has anyone used them or would folks suggest other alternatives like Optifast, etc?

Apologies again, if this is the wrong forum to ask the above!

Many Thanks!
 

Goonergal

Master
Retired Moderator
Messages
13,466
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi-I am T2 for the last 18 years or so, from the age of 25 or so. I have had episodes of good control, but then I have gone off the program numerous times. I quite liked the Blood Sugar Diet and followed it for a while, and then got off that too.
I am determined to have a go at the Newcastle Diet, as a last ditch attempt to reverse my diabetes, but as I have been diabetic for a relatively long time, not sure if that is possible. But I want to give it a go. If nothing, it might shed my visceral fat.

I am not sure if this is the right place for this question, but if one of you can point me in the correct direction, that would be great. I am thinking of using Kee Diet soups and shakes for my 8 week stint. Has anyone used them or would folks suggest other alternatives like Optifast, etc?

Apologies again, if this is the wrong forum to ask the above!

Many Thanks!

Hi

you’d probably get more responses if you posted a new thread in the low calorie diets section.

And welcome to the forum!