If you had diabetes would you....?

[HappyHiker]

If you had Type 2 diabetes, would you commit to a semi-fast diet of 600 calories a day for eight weeks if you could cure your diabetes?

A small British study has found this will work, but believes only 5% of the population with Type 2 diabetes would do this semi-fast...

How about you? Would you?

[freein05]

I am sure the semi-fast will not work. I am type 2 diabetic losing weight and exercise and taking Metformen has enabled me to keep my blood sugar levels at what is consider a pre-diabetic level. As you get older it gets harder to control your blood sugar levels with diet and exercise. That is why I started the Metformen about 3 years ago. It helps your body use what insulin is produced. With type 2 diabetes your body does not produce enough insulin or it does not us it properly. A semi-fast will not cure that. There is no cure for type 2 diabetes. I have been one for over 10 years and wish there was a cure you can only control it.

[Glo]

600 calories a day? That can't be good. I'm diabetic and 600 calories would throw me into low blood sugar; that's a horrible state to be in and you could go into a diabetic coma.

[Gina]

Here's a link to an article about this study:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/25/news/la-heb-diabetes-extreme-diet-06252011

[Rosemary]

Interesting article. excerpt: He added that, "We used the 600-calorie diet to test a hypothesis. What I can tell you definitively is that if people lose substantial weight by normal means, they will lose their diabetes."

So 600 calories may not be necessary, it was just a quick road to weight loss. I know people who are well within normal weight who have type ii diabetes, however. This was a very small study - only 11 people. After a normal diet, 1/3 of them were again diabetic. So apparently those few either needed the very low calorie diet or put on weight very quickly, gaining back the fat in the pancreas that was theorized to cause the diabetes.

[Gina]

Yes, interesting article. I don't know that much about diabetes, but it sounds as if much more extensive studies are called for. IIRC, I've heard from other sources that some people can indeed totally reverse their type 2 after losing significant weight. Of course there are many people with type 2, so there probably is much variation in what works for different people.

I know one lady who got very thin, but frankly was never that heavy to begin with - her weight loss didn't affect her condition at all. And of course most people who lose weight end up gaining it back over time again anyway, so....

[catherine]

You don't have to starve yourself to reduce risk of diabetes, or get your blood sugar/HbA1c in line. If you stick to a reasonable calorie consumption, eat fresh nutritious foods, lay off the simple carbs, and exercise, you can made a serious dent in the disease--maybe even "cure" it (although I certainly agree with what Freein05 says about controling it with metformin). They say that even losing 5% of your body weight will help.

The instinct, if the pendulum is too far one way, is to swing it too far to the other way. How about the "middle way"?

ps. I am not a medical professional, but I've interviewed hundreds of doctors on the topic of diabetes, so take it as word-of-mouth information only.

[sweetana3]

Oh how I wish people would stop reading newspaper articles about health. Rarely do they do the indepth research to provide a balanced report of any kind. Much like the emotional drug TV advertisements that I wish were banished.

There is no easy or fast way to resolve most of these issues. But that is what the general population wants.

[freein05]

Some people have said losing weight will cure type 2 diabetes. Using the word cure is incorrect. You will be may be able to keep your A1c or blood glucose readings in a normal range but your diabetes is not cured. As I said before type 2 diabetics body does not produce enough insulin or there bodies do not use it properly. A cure would mean that your body has started using insulin properly. In all my studies on type 2 diabetes I have never herd anybody claim a cure. If so please let me know and site the source.