Reversing Type 2 Diabetes - new research Newcastle Uni

jetlag

This study was actually the basis of a big brother style weight loss experiment shown on British telly just last week.

They picked 6 obese and diabetic women and divided them into 2 groups. The "danger" group were put on a strict 600 calorie a day liquid diet (think slim fast) and the other 3 were put on a 1600 calorie a day food diet, can't remember the exact macro ratio, but it was a perfectly long-term liveable diet.

From what I remember, the food eaters lost weight, stuck to their diets and 2 of them were no longer diabetic.
The liquid dieters lost weight (and one participant, who dropped out) but both of the remaining people were still diabetic, though they had improved.

This tells me that it is perfectly possible to reverse Type 2 diabetes, it would seem and you do not have to starve yourself to do it.

MyaPapaya75

nice article...I cut my cals and carbs it took about 6months of dedication no excuses and exercise, no meds and I'm Diabetes free..I still test always to be sure but my A1c remains 5.6 and under

hanwyz

Haven't read the article yet, but just wanted to say that my ex's grandma was diabetic, she lost weight on weight watchers and her diabetes basically went away - she was off all the medication for it and her doctor actually asked if she was sure she was diabetic with the readings of insulin and blood glucose that he had taken...

Cayjominara

I came across this same article back in September of this year. I am diabetic and have been for 10 years. I am 43 years old and have suffered some of the side effects of this disease. After watching 6 family members and 3 friends die from diabetic complications, I decided I needed to take this WAY more seriously. In August, I stopped playing around with my health and started working out at leadt 4 days a week for 60 minutes. I began to change my diet and got rid of the sugar, the flour, the bread, the pasta, the fried stuff,the potatoes, the processed and fast foods, but my glucose readings were still out of range. My fasting sugars are usually 200 or so. Even with the diet and exercise, I did not see any weight loss. I increased the water to 96 oz. per day and stopped drinking pop. Then I read about the Newcastle diet. I researched it and researched it. I read about others that had tried it. The diet is extremely restricting and very challenging. But I figured I needed something drastic if I was going to get over this diabetes. On November 4th I started it. At that time I weighed 229 lbs. I'm 6'5" and people always ask me why I'm trying to lose weight because I don't "look fat". I carry most of it in my mid-section. Before I started working out I was 236 lbs. and jiggly everywhere, meaning I have a high percentage of body fat. Anyway, I have been sticking to the Newcastle diet pretty stringently. I have had a couple of hiccups, but we all make mistakes, right? It's a process. Today, I am down to 223 lbs. I am feeling and looking better than I have in years. My fasting blood sugars have been no higher than 132. Most of the time I get reading between 99 and 121. They haven't been that low since before 2003!!! I continue to exercise, so when I get down to my target weight, I'll have some muscle to work with. I am a believer in this Newcastle thing. I modified it a bit to allow for 1000 calories. I have only reached that margin twice since the beginning of the month. I often consume no more than 700 calories. It's tough and it requires great mental fortitude. My wife and children are in full support. Thanksgiving is this week, so I've been a bit nervous about caving in to the inevitable temptation of all that good food! My wife said she'll make me a really nice looking salad! LOL!

I think this diet is worth a second look. I can't believe how my body and system has already transormed so much in this small amount of time. the 8 weeks will end on December 30th. I can hardly wait to see how I've progressed!

Rocbola

You do know that what we are presented on tv is only the part of the story right? You know how tv gets to us-it's funded by certain interest groups. Research that has shown processed foods to be detrimental to health rarely get airtime but "research" that suggests things like "eating eggs as bad as smoking cigarettes" does (and the study actually shows no such thing). Do ya think there might be a reason for that? Seen any commercials lately? What kinds of food are being advertised? Ok, now stick with me... those companies are the ones paying for your program.

This!!!

Any one interested in reversing their type 2 diabetes through dietary changes should google Dr. Neal Barnard, and his organization The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine. (PCRM.org)

acpgee

Today's the day I reversed my diabetes diagnosis. Started dieting and exercising August 2012 when I got diagnosed with T2. After dropping some weight six months in, was given the green light to experiment with reducing my metformin. Have kept my hba1c at 4.9 the last six months, and kept reducing metformin down from original prescription of 2000 mg daily to 500 mg every other day. Today I was instructed to stop medicating altogether.

Cayjominara

Today's the day I reversed my diabetes diagnosis. Started dieting and exercising August 2012 when I got diagnosed with T2. After dropping some weight six months in, was given the green light to experiment with reducing my metformin. Have kept my hba1c at 4.9 the last six months, and kept reducing metformin down from original prescription of 2000 mg daily to 500 mg every other day. Today I was instructed to stop medicating altogether.

That is AMAZING news! I am so happy for you! I can only dream of the day I get that SAME instruction from my doctor! Way to motivate us!

wildchildzoom

This is very interesting....Even though I cannot do 500-1000 calories a day I do workout and do weight training. My A1c last year January was 6.8, recently i was tested at 5.8 and continue to try to lower it. Hopefully the weight training will bring that extra boost to bring it down even more. That is my dream to not have to take Metformin anymore!

acpgee

This is very interesting....Even though I cannot do 500-1000 calories a day I do workout and do weight training. My A1c last year January was 6.8, recently i was tested at 5.8 and continue to try to lower it. Hopefully the weight training will bring that extra boost to bring it down even more. That is my dream to not have to take Metformin anymore!

I didn't follow the Newcastle very low calorie plan, but still managed to get to the point where i was instructed to stop meds after months of being on a more normal deficit. I had to lose almost 20% of bodyweight to get there.

I think Newcastle study says that the BMI threshold at which people stop being diabetic varies wildly, depending on their predisposition to store fat in the liver and pancreas. For one person it might be BMI=40, for another unlucky person it could be BMI=22.

vixenbbw

I'm very interested in this discussion.

vixenbbw

Got diagnosed in April this year and found the Newcastle diet and am half way through it. Have a maternal grandmother and mother with it and been obese since 7 years old. Always feared getting it but felt it was inevitable as I was never going to be a skinny person. Felt powerless in that way. However, the idea of a personal BMI threshold made sense and gave me a goal to reduce my weight by a specific amount for a specific purpose. I started on metformin but struggled with it due to stomach upsets so was given a slow release firm and had only started on one of the three a day I was asked to take when I decided to give the diet a go. I am 45 and have literally never dieted. I have known people for over 20 years who have battled with their weight by dieting and are still the same weight as they were all those years ago. I never wanted to join them. I've improved my diet over the years, 5 portions of fruit and veg, plenty of water, low fat, sugar, processed foods, no caffeine but never calorie counted. Doctors always looked surprised that my thyroid, sugar and cholesterol levels were good when I had bloods taken. However, the past 4 years have been hellish and my life and food choices have been terrible and I think the weight gain (my weight/size has always remained static even though it was very high) tipped me over my personal threshold and caused the diabetes to develop. I'm doing the diet alone as I'm not due to get my next bloods done for a while. So I'm hoping that as I know my bloods were fine in September last year and my sugar levels were only just above normal in March this year that I have a good chance of this fast weight lost working. There's so much info out there that it's hard to know what to listen to but I'll report back once I've finished my 8 weeks and been retested.

dixonge

My wife reversed her Type II diabetes using this diet.

She was diagnosed in 2012. Her HBA1C was off the charts (10.6) and she had developed a toenail fungus, which led the doctor to do the blood work. Her liver enzymes were outside the 'normal' range as well. For two years she took 500mg of metformin and tested her blood on a regular basis. The Metformin allowed her to control her blood sugar, but we weren't looking forward to years of drugs followed by years of insulin, which is typically the outcome.

This spring she did the Newcastle diet. 800 kcal/day (or less) for 8 weeks. You've never seen a more compliant dieter! Nothing but GNC protein powder drinks and some veggies. She lost more weight than she expected (she wasn't that much overweight to begin with) and has kept it off ever since. At one week her fasting blood sugar dropped into a better range. At completion, she stopped taking Metformin. A month later she had another HBA1C and it was still in a good range. Three months later it had improved again.

She occasionally checks blood sugar for a day, both fasting and meal response, and the numbers are all well within normal non-diabetic ranges.

This diet - folks, this is a game-changer. IMHO every single Type II diabetic person on the planet should try it. Sure, tell your doctor what you're doing, yada, yada, but if it works for you, and it seems to work for *most* who try it, won't you be glad you tried?

mjacobs11

Just thought I'd add to this. This diet has totally worked for me. I have been T2 for a couple of years. I stumbled across the British article in August and decided to give it a try. I was not taking any medications at the time. Basically, my diabetes was uncontrolled and I knew I needed to do something.

I started Friday, August 29th after a Dr's appointment where I had a fasting reading of 188. By the following Monday (3 days of the diet) my fasting reading was 135. Within a week, readings were under 100. After a few weeks, I tried some pasta and watched my post meal reading spike to 170. I was discouraged because I figured it was just the diet that was keeping my readings low, not my body working properly. I didn't give up (I wanted to but my wife talked me out of it)

I wanted to stay on the diet at least until a Dr's appointment on September 29th so I didn't cheat again. By the appointment, I had lost 24 lbs. and was having normal readings fasting or 2 hours after meals. At the appointment, I learned that my triglycerides dropped from 580 to 161 in just a month.

Now, 6 weeks in, I have tried a few different foods with out any noticeable spikes in readings. Last night was a birthday party for a friend. I had some salmon, pasta, bread, cheese, and sliced meats. My reading was 106 this morning. I still need to lose 40-50 lbs to be in the normal BMI range. I know it will take time but I plan to get there. I'm sure when I do, all of my blood work will be clean.

Here is my routine:
Morning: 30 minutes walking on treadmill
Breakfast: Almased Shake
Snack: Carrots, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Celery, or Snap Pees and a few Almonds
Lunch: Almased Shake
Snack: Carrots, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Celery, or Snap Pees and a few Almonds
Dinner: Any assortment of steamed or fresh vegetables, a stew of various vegetables, or a salad with no dressing. I stay away from starchy veggies.
1 or 2 hours after Dinner: 30 minutes walking on treadmill

If I need a snack before bed, I'll make another Almased shake with a ton of ice in a Magic Bullet and eat it like ice cream.

I also average about 6 to 8 16.9oz water bottles per day.

It has been tough but the results are worth every bit of agony. Feel free to add me if you would like.