Diabetes reversal has become a subject of interest in many quarters; patients, clinicians, and researchers are looking for ways to nip this rising epidemic in the bud. And very soon, Big Pharma may be forced to take a harder look at its diabetes management approach.

A recent study by the University of Cambridge is pointing at weight loss as The Ultimate for diabetes reversal. But before getting to this study, let’s define the terms.

What Is Diabetes Reversal?

Diabetes reversal means that a person previously diagnosed with diabetes is now able to maintain normal blood sugar levels without the use of diabetes medication. It also implies that this person can have a regular non-diabetic diet without spiking glucose levels.

Diabetes reversal is mostly associated with type 2 diabetes which is influenced by diet and lifestyle factors.

Weight loss has been linked to the reversal of type 2 diabetes in previous studies as well. This is because excess fat in the body affects the production of insulin and sensitivity to insulin as well.

Other research has shown that bariatric surgery can reverse type 2 diabetes effectively.

Study Linking Diabetes Reversal To Weight Loss

A clinical trial that was conducted by New Castle University showed that nearly 50% of individuals with type 2 diabetes achieved reversal after a weight-loss intervention that was conducted for six months.

The study involved 280 participants with type 2 diabetes. Half of them were put on a strict weight-loss program with restricted calorie intake through a liquid diet. Throughout the study duration, the participants did not take diabetes medication. The other half of the group continued with the usual care of diabetes medication.

After one year, 46% of people in the diet group achieved reversal which means normal blood sugar levels without taking medication

One notable observation was that the people who had achieved reversal had sustained improvement in pancreatic beta-cell function. This research appears to show that weight loss can revive these cells so that they work well again.

The study revealed that the response is associated with an improvement in the functioning of pancreatic beta cells. These are the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas. If beta cells can be “re-awakened” through weight loss, many diabetes patients can regain control over their blood sugar levels and return to a non-diabetic state. These results were astonishing as it was earlier believed that beta-cell function is irreversibly lost in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The study also found that people who had been recently diagnosed stood a better chance of reversing their diabetes. The mean age for those who didn’t achieve reversal was 3.8 years, while the mean for those who succeeded was 2.7 years. This further stresses the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.

Why Is Diabetes Reversal Important?

People can live with diabetes for many years. However, a number of factors make diabetes reversal very appealing. They can be categorized into two groups: non-life-threatening and life-threatening factors.

Non- Life-Threatening Risks of Diabetes

Once a person receives the diagnosis, they have to be on life-long medication unless a reversal happens. This can be painstaking on many fronts. There is a high cost of purchasing diabetic medications. Also, there is the inconvenience of having to take meds on a daily basis. When you fail to take meds or eat an appropriate diet, there is a risk of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. These two can present with the following symptoms:

Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Extreme hunger
Unexplained weight loss
Presence of ketones in the urine (ketones are a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there’s not enough available insulin)
Fatigue
Irritability
Blurred vision
Slow-healing sores
Frequent infections, such as gums or skin infections and vaginal infections

Life-threatening complications

Long-term complications of diabetes develop over a period of time. When they come about, they may pose a life-threatening challenge. They include:

Cardiovascular disease. Diabetes increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and narrowing of arteries (atherosclerosis).

Nerve damage. High sugar levels in the blood can injure the walls of blood vessels that nourish the nerves. This will lead to a gradual loss of sensation in the limbs, which are mostly affected. This can eventually lead to a complete loss of sensation.

When the nerves in the gut are affected, a person may suffer from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation. For men, it may lead to erectile dysfunction.

Kidney damage. Diabetes can damage the vessel in the kidneys that filter out compounds from the urine. When these compounds build up in the kidneys, they will cause toxicity and kidney damage in the long run. Kidney failure is the hallmark of end-stage kidney disease. This will call for regular dialysis or kidney transplant, which can be costly.
Alzheimer’s disease. Type 2 diabetes has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Looking at the possible complications that may come with the diagnosis of diabetes, reversal seems the only safe way out.

References

Mayo Clinic: Diabetes. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20371444
Healthline: Is Diabetes Type 2 Reversible? https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes-reversible
Springer (2011): Reversal of type 2 diabetes: normalization of beta-cell function in association with decreased pancreas and liver triacylglycerol. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00125-011-2204-7
New Castle University: Reversing type 2 diabetes. Retrieved from – https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#publicinformation

Full-fat dairy may protect against obesity. A 2014 study concluded: “Participants in the highest tertile of whole-fat dairy intakes (milk, cheese, yogurt) had significantly lower odds for being obese.”

Calories in food and calories as measured in physics are not the same. Nutritional calories exclude non-digestible components, excluding dietary fiber and artificial sweeteners; both of which could be burned in a bomb calorimeter to generate heat.

Many of these human non-digestible components, like cellulose, are the primary energy source for other specie

Human calories are dependent upon the body’s ability to catabolize them, usually involving enzymatic action; rather than a high-temperature oxidation reaction.

Total and LDL cholesterol are a poor marker of cardiovascular health. The cholesterol profile of elevated triglycerides and low HDL is a more predictive marker of cardiac risk and a reliable marker of insulin resistance. In fact, the QRISK calculator, used to estimate the 10-year risk of CVD does NOT use LDL cholesterol but uses a total cholesterol/HDL ratio instead.

Preventing insulin resistance in young men would prevent 42% of myocardial infarctions, a larger reduction than correcting hypertension (36%), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (31%), body mass index (21%), or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (16%).

Treating the root cause of the disease, instead of the symptom is the key. Eliminate all refined carbohydrates to reverse obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.

Processed seed oil is associated with T2DM. Cohort studies confirm that plasma saturated fatty acids from dairy sources such as cheese and yoghurt is inversely related to the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Consumption of fat induces satiation and when compared to the other macronutrients such as protein and carbohydrates, and comparatively fat has the least impact on blood glucose and insulin production. Excessive insulin production and subsequent insulin resistance is the precursor to type 2 diabetes.

A meta-analysis of the evidence available prior to the 1977 US change in dietary guidelines did not support the dietary fat restrictions. Despite the lack of scientific consensus, these guidelines advised limiting total fat to 30% of calorie intake and saturated fat to 10% of calorie intake, creating the low fat craze and a national experiment on diet-induced metabolic dysfunction.

The increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes associated with type 2 diabetes does not begin at the diagnostic cutoff for plasma glucose (or HbA1c) at which the condition is diagnosed. Rather, there appears to be a continuum of increased microvascular and macrovascular risk that extends to levels of glycemia well below these cutoffs.”

Hopper I, BillahB, Skiba M, Krum H. Prevention of diabetes and reduction in major cardiovascular events in studies of subjects with prediabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials. Eur J Cardiovasc PrevRehabil. 2011;18:813–823.

Obesity, Prediabetes, and Diabetes Type 2 are associated with most of the diseases of modern society (cardiovascular/cerebrovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease). These are all metabolic dysfunctions related to the malnutrition of overconsumption which leads to metabolic inflammation, or metal inflammation.

The best way to reverse diabetes is to not get diabetes in the first place because your chances of heart disease, cancer, and death are increased even as a prediabetic.

Our protocol offers real hope and transformational change to patients who would otherwise be consigned to a lifetime of medications, doctor’s visits, and suffering.

Weight Loss and Diabetes Reversal; Study Results