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Around the world, about 300 million people are suffering from diabetes, an ailment in which the blood glucose levels remain high. For a long period, diabetes was described as a condition and not a disease and therefore, incurable. It was believed that once you have it, all you can do is to manage and try to live with it for the rest of your life. But recently, studies conducted in various corners of the world points to the fact that diabetes reversal is possible and patients can lead a normal life without medicine and extensive diet control.
There is no magic pill that you can pop and then be cured. Obese people and those who lead unhealthy lifestyles have an increased risk of developing the disease. For most people, the onset of diabetes doesn’t happen until in their fifties. This is known as type two diabetes, and despite being told for decades, studies say that this is curable.
The two frontrunners in this “diabetes reversal” research are Dr Michael Mosley from the UK and Dr Jason Fung, a nephrologist from Canada. These two doctors conducted independent studies, staying on two sides of the planet, but arrived at the same conclusion. To reverse diabetes, patients need to lose weight and that to lose weight, the best way is to fast.

Dr Michael Mosley’s Diabetes Reversal Research   

The good doctor and BBC broadcaster began studying diabetes when he had a health scare a few years ago. Despite being thin, he had high blood sugar.  A proper check-up found out that he had high amounts of abdominal fat inside the stomach. This prompted him to investigate the relationship between fat and high blood sugar further. He also started making programs about healthy lifestyles and during the course, reinvented the age-old idea of intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting, otherwise known as 5:2 fasting is an eating pattern in which people are required only to eat minimal calories for two days a week, but they can have their daily requirement of calories for the other five days. Dr Mosley lost about 10 kg through this diet and eventually reversed diabetes. He further researched the subject and came up with his path-breaking eight weeks blood sugar diet and a large number of people who tried it were able to return to normal blood glucose levels.

Blood Sugar Diet   

Based on two previous studies, the blood sugar diet requires diabetic patients to adhere to 800 calories per day for the first eight weeks.  According to the doctor, the average weight loss during the first eight weeks is about 14 kg. Then, in the following weeks, patients should follow the 5:2 diet. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of low carb food, especially the Mediterranean low carb diet for curing diabetes.

Dr Jason Fung’s Diabetes Reversal Research   

Dr Jason Fung, a Canadian nephrologist became interested in diabetes when he realised that 85% of his patients had chronic diabetes. Dr Fung also arrived at intermittent fasting as a solution for diabetes and runs a clinic in Canada. Unlike Dr Mosley’s, Dr Fung’s treatment methods can be viewed as extreme because he advises his patients to fast for extended periods of time.
He argues that the body does not produce insulin during fasting and hence helps in weight loss. Patients can drink water and other zero calorie beverages as well as protein broth. Consequently, extended periods of fasting come with health risks for diabetic patients since their blood sugar levels tend to fluctuate and should be done only under the careful supervision of a doctor.
After following these methods, even patients who have had diabetes for decades returned to normal blood sugar levels. Furthermore, it is much easier for people who are diagnosed recently to reverse their condition. While fasting is good for everyone, children under 18 years of age, as well as pregnant women should not, under any circumstances fast since their nutritional needs are different from others.
Although the above methods for diabetes reversal are controversial at the moment, the illness is something all medical practitioners will at some point come across while working in the care sector.
If you need to know the facts about diabetes, our diabetes awareness course explains what is proven regarding its causes and treatment.
Aimed at Social Care and Health Care workers it gives an in-depth guide to this illness and examines not only the two different types but also the treatments for both.
Further reading:
Diabetes.co.uk