Diabetic 2

shalisa7

Just been diagnosed diabetic type 2. Ready to try and reverse it but I'm 7 st overweight. Anyone in similar situation?

neanderthin

Yeah I did or at least I was headed in that direction. Diabetes is really an insulin problem where chronically elevated blood sugar manifests itself to the point a person develops glucose toxicity which then can and does impair the beta cells of the pancreas to produce and secrete insulin effectively which then translates into the progression of insulin resistance and diabetes. Basically maintaining blood sugar levels within a normal range is crucial for the health and function of beta cells, and chronically high blood sugar levels can contribute to the dysfunction and decline of these cells.

The problem with understanding diabetes progression has been the basic misdiagnosis and ignoring the signs of these chronically elevated insulin levels and only looking at elevated blood sugar as the cause, which it isn't it's a symptom and of course medication of that symptom has been the status quo medical advice and of course if that person happens to be overweight or obese patients are also told to eat less and move more because that is also a symptom of IR and diabetes.

As far as diet goes as it related to diabetes it's the constant increases over the course of the day, week, month, and years where our blood glucose levels are constantly elevated mostly from carbohydrates but have been managed by
Insulin trying to keep our blood sugar within a certain range and when tested, blood glucose looks fine or moving very little. Fasting insulin is a different story and while for decades blood sugar stays fairly constant our fasting insulin levels if IR or diabetic would have shown an increase over that same period of time, if fasting insulin was ever checked. Basically we have fairly stable blood sugar with insulin eventually going through the roof where it does get to the point where some diabetic patients need to inject insulin because the pancreas has totally broken down and many will have suffered amputation, declining sight and even death simply because insulin has never been checked over the years or decades.

We can muck around in the peripherals and try and lose weight, blame it on red meat and eat more of a plant based diet, reduce UPF, eat more whole grains but unless we remove the active mechanism that causes elevated blood sugar in the first then we're just wasting time and health and for some people small improvements are enough. The 900 lb gorilla for most people is going to be dietary changes reducing their carbohydrates because yummy food is yummy and hard to resist.

Personally for me it has been a long road that started over 20 years ago where I was also 60ish pounds heavier and for a few years I watched what I ate, I counted calories for a while and lost weight only to end up bingeing on sugary things and just gain the weight back, it was frustrating to say the least. I also has IBS, psoriasis, arthritis, and a few other problems like elevated triglycerides. I basically ate pretty well, except that bread, pasta, potatoes and rice where my go to starches and I ate lots of meat as well, but I had a sugar problem, a big sugar problem.

I eventually changed my Dr. who was a personal friend and a move on my part brought me closer and became a patient. That was 14 years ago and about the same time my research eventually found the low carb ketogenic space and that's when I decided to give it a go. It took about a year to get on board and that's basically because I went all in and started with the ketogenic diet which was my mistake and just started reducing carbs instead, that worked and have been low carb and ketogenic ever since and my blood markers are stellar and cleared up those other problems, which was a real eye opener, inflammation is not something we want floating around caussing havoc. Basically if you remove carbs you remove the active mechanism for diabetes it will reverse, it has no other route to take, does that mean it works for every single person, well I'm sure we can find one or two, but generally that's what happens. My doctor happens to run his own clinic and supports the low carb and ketogenic diet for diabetes, obesity and other metabolic diseases, which are the majority of his patients which was a bonus for me.

Creamtea42

Same boat, but diagnosed T2 formallly last year with 6 stone to lose - lost just over 3 to date.

HbA1C decreased from 86 mmol/L to 52 mmol/L over the next 7 months.

No meds, as yet and 🤞…so far. DB Nurse Specialist happy for me to continue as am.

Good luck @shalisa7 - making healthier choices, being consistent, planning my menus, prepping food in advance and forgiving yourself when you have a blip, but getting bck to it as soon as you can is the way I have handled it so far!

Also, the nurse referred me to a NHS dietician - was on waiting list for a long time, but her six weeks of advice & support proved game changer for me…

Signposted to online resource https://diabetes.co.uk.

ddsb1111

Type 2 Diabetes, in your case, is a weight problem that affected your insulin. If you lose the weight you will lose the insulin issue. Consult with your doctor to see if you need a special diet at this point or if you can set a reasonable calorie deficit so the transition to maintenance is easier. GL!

kshama2001

I've heard others with diabetes recommend getting a referral to a diabetes educator. This person would have more specialized education than a registered dietitian, your next best referral.