Comment by open-source-ux | Hacker News Reader

Comment by open-source-ux | Hacker News Reader

Type 2 diabetes can be reversed through diet. The evidence comes from medical practitioners and scientists, not from quacks making outlandish claims (although they exist too).

Some links:

The Diabetes Code by Jason Fung: This is a best-selling book by a Canadian Nephrologist (care and treatment of kidney disease) that explains type 2 diabetes in detail and recommends diabetics switch to a low-carb diet.

Counterweight Plus low-calorie diet plan: This diet was run as part of a scientific trial and showed promising results for obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Nearly half of the 300 patients in the trial reversed their diabetes. Note: the diet was run under the supervision of medical professionals and is not suitable for everyone: https://www.nhs.uk/news/diabetes/radical-low-calorie-diet-ma...

The Truth about Carbs: this is a BBC documentary from earlier this year which is unfortunately no longer available to watch on the BBC website. It featured NHS doctors who ran a two-week low-carb diet plan with type 2 diabetic patients. All patients reported improvements to their health, but the most impressive result was a patient with type 2 diabetes for 17 years who was now in part-remission.

Here is a thorough write-up of the programme: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/truth-about-carbs-bbc-1-...

A clip from the programme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKQWFJmCWZE

10 things you may not know about carbs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4DfZMpv7BYJ3kGXdHxd...

Just to re-iterate, the examples above all refer to types 2 diabetes, not type 1 diabetes.

Something important that I think is worth noting is that you can reverse the symptoms of T2 Diabetes, but it does require a lifelong change of lifestyle. If you go back to your old lifestyle, those symptoms are just going to come right back. I know to some it may be obvious, but I think it's worth stressing this. When people say "reverse," they're talking "in remission." The symptoms are waiting to return if you start fucking up again. That being said, it is a much better approach than the alternatives.

The word 'reversed' implies a cure. It is more accurate to say that T2 diabetes can be successfully managed through diet.

Diet does not reverse changes in the pancreas that cause T2 diabetes.

I don’t have diabetes (yet). I do have another rather more complex neurological disease. As part of managing that over the past year I’ve switched to a low carb diet, and completely cut out anything with added sugar. Yet for some reason my blood sugar levels over that time have been creeping up and up and are now always above normal (ranging between ~105-145). So I’m thoroughly confused by the low carb thing and hope switching to low carb isn’t giving me diabetes.

> and completely cut out anything with added sugar.

Many products contain high amounts of "naturally" occurring sugar. The worst offenders here are various kinds of pressed fruit juice and other fruit products.

I should’ve noted I avoid fruit products too. I have a banana a day, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the cause. :-)

Bananas have a lot of sugar. It's the reason I have only have a half of a banana when I choose to eat them.

Bananas have a ton of sugar.

Aside from that, you also need to avoid starches. Bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. they all spike your insulin.

Even whole fruits such as apples, oranges, and bananas, have been cultivated over the past few centuries to be much sweeter than their natural counterparts used to be. If you ever eat a truly natural wild apple, it's quite sour.

This is true for type 2, one of my cousins was able to lose enough weight with a more proper diet and exercise, got his body functioning more normally without the need of insulin shots any longer. Obviously it takes effort, time and a lot of dedication to keep yourself in a good diet and exercise routine.

Quack here. I've been saying this, and backing it with scientific support, since at least 2003 and being dismissed. Got my mom to reduce her insulin by cutting out all the carbs (took several years), now she thanks me. I think we should be more open to more "outlandish" claims from people. There are some serious problems with modern medicine. SSRIs being out performed by pasebo or just turmeric, Potassium Bromide in bread causing cancer, Blood Thinners actually causing heart attacks, Titanium Dioxide, aluminum sulfate causing breast cancer and "race for the cure" not spending any money on actual research, no real antibiotic resistance with first responding antibiotics (simple amox, doxy, penn ) and reducing their use causes more harm, the need to ban glysophophate and do multi-generation claw back damages lawsuit. Anyway just thought I chime in. All of these are backed by research.

One of the side effects of the weight loss surgery I got is a very high "cure" rate for T2 diabetes.

A couple of the 10+ year veterans are back to active management, but usually, you're done with insulin injections.

In order to have people cure something though diet, you have to convince them that they can control their own fate. The powers that be don't want that, they'd rather scare people with talk of insulin shortages.

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