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Can diabetes really be prevented with diet, exercise and a normal BMI - despite family history?

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  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    edited December 2016
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    No, I don't believe you can always prevent it ... but you CAN control it extremely well with proper diet (especially a VLCKD) and regular (daily) exercise.

    Also, to heck with BMI. There's people with BMI of 21 or 22 (normal, healthy BMI range) who have 30-35% body-fat (lots of unseen visceral fat) and are being diagnosed with diabetes. It's an accurate risk predictor for some people, but misses many others and often assume risk where there is none.

    Regarding control ... At my current HbA1c levels any physician who doesn't know I'm diabetic would assume I'm not even close. Some would suggest I'm "cured" (sigh.) Yet If I were to change my diet or reduce my exercise, my HbA1c would climb to the moon.

    Amazingly, with strict VLCKD there are many Type I diabetics now that are controlling their diabetes quite well without bolus insulin.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    albertabeefy wrote: »
    No, I don't believe you can always prevent it ... but you CAN control it extremely well with proper diet (especially a VLCKD) and regular (daily) exercise.

    Also, to heck with BMI. There's people with BMI of 21 or 22 (normal, healthy BMI range) who have 30-35% body-fat (lots of unseen visceral fat) and are being diagnosed with diabetes. It's an accurate risk predictor for some people, but misses many others and often assume risk where there is none.

    Regarding control ... At my current HbA1c levels any physician who doesn't know I'm diabetic would assume I'm not even close. Some would suggest I'm "cured" (sigh.) Yet If I were to change my diet or reduce my exercise, my HbA1c would climb to the moon.

    Amazingly, with strict VLCKD there are many Type I diabetics now that are controlling their diabetes quite well without bolus insulin.

    That's darn impressive.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    albertabeefy wrote: »
    No, I don't believe you can always prevent it ... but you CAN control it extremely well with proper diet (especially a VLCKD) and regular (daily) exercise.

    Also, to heck with BMI. There's people with BMI of 21 or 22 (normal, healthy BMI range) who have 30-35% body-fat (lots of unseen visceral fat) and are being diagnosed with diabetes. It's an accurate risk predictor for some people, but misses many others and often assume risk where there is none.

    Regarding control ... At my current HbA1c levels any physician who doesn't know I'm diabetic would assume I'm not even close. Some would suggest I'm "cured" (sigh.) Yet If I were to change my diet or reduce my exercise, my HbA1c would climb to the moon.

    Amazingly, with strict VLCKD there are many Type I diabetics now that are controlling their diabetes quite well without bolus insulin.

    That's darn impressive.

    Key word: bolus.

    It would also require more consistency than some of us can do. My schedule and foods (split among protein and fat in addition to a small amount of carbs) is too chaotic to completely eliminate all need for bolus insulin. Still, it is much reduced with low carb.
  • synchkat
    synchkat Posts: 37,369 Member
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    My parents were both type 2 diabetic. Both were able to control it quite well with diet and exercise. My mom is no longer on diabetes meds. My dad just passed away from pancreatic cancer and after he had part of his pancreas, among other things, removed his blood sugars improved as did his also he no longer had high blood pressure.

    I think it can be controlled and type 1 is more the genetic kind. My son says he plans on finding a cure for diabetes so watch for this in the future. :)
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
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    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    Key word: bolus.

    It would also require more consistency than some of us can do. My schedule and foods (split among protein and fat in addition to a small amount of carbs) is too chaotic to completely eliminate all need for bolus insulin. Still, it is much reduced with low carb.
    I agree not everyone can do it. It involves a diet that not everyone a) enjoys, or b) is capable of maintaining.

    And yes, it also involves a schedule that not everyone can maintain. It also means close monitoring and adjusting of the basal insulin as need be - as the need for basal insulin also reduces when T1's adopt a VLCKD.

    I'm glad to see you've been able to reduce bolus with low-carb though. It's great to have better control PLUS less risk of hypoglycaemia, etc. that lower-carb diets bring to T1's.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I tried controlling my blood sugar through diet alone for three days when there were more bills than money. I couldn't do it. The Metformin was doing a marvellous job of keeping my blood sugars stable.

    Now, with significant weight loss, the diabetes is in remission.
  • HomesteadGrandma
    HomesteadGrandma Posts: 2 Member
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    I highly recommend the book, "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung. He also has a Youtube channel with many lectures on the true cause of obesity and diabetes. All the info in his book can be found in those lectures. He sites numerous long term human studies and the evidence is overwhelming. He works mainly with diabetic patients and has helped many of them reverse their diabetes. The current recommended protocol for treating diabetes actually makes it worse. Diabetes in actually insulin resistance, developed over years of eating too much sugar and refined/processed carbs. To reverse diabetes you must reverse the insulin resistance and he explains how to do this. Doctors today continue to prescribe increasing doses of insulin to diabetics which only makes the insulin resistance and the disease much worse. Blood sugar does go down but this does not translate into making the diabetes better. You most certainly can prevent and even reverse diabetes through a low carb, high fat diet and also intermittent fasting (he explains all about that also). There are a lot of fit, normal weight people becoming diabetic. Losing weight will not prevent or reverse diabetes. It's not a weight or calorie issue. It's an insulin issue. You must address the insulin resistance. Again, I highly recommend that you check out Dr. Fung's book and/or Youtube channel.
  • geneticexpectations
    geneticexpectations Posts: 146 Member
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    In answer to OP's title, I have found through clinical experience that Diabetes can easily be reversed regardless of family history with whole food low carbohydrate dieting combined with fasting. Pure calorie reduction (without attention to other variables) seems to work to a much less dramatic extent when it does work, and it only seems to work temporarily. Just my observations.
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
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    geneticexpectations wrote: »
    In answer to OP's title, I have found through clinical experience that Diabetes can easily be reversed regardless of family history with whole food low carbohydrate dieting combined with fasting. Pure calorie reduction (without attention to other variables) seems to work to a much less dramatic extent when it does work, and it only seems to work temporarily. Just my observations.

    Thanks. Are you a clinician?
  • geneticexpectations
    geneticexpectations Posts: 146 Member
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    RalfLott wrote: »
    geneticexpectations wrote: »
    In answer to OP's title, I have found through clinical experience that Diabetes can easily be reversed regardless of family history with whole food low carbohydrate dieting combined with fasting. Pure calorie reduction (without attention to other variables) seems to work to a much less dramatic extent when it does work, and it only seems to work temporarily. Just my observations.

    Thanks. Are you a clinician?

    yes, a phycisian
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
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    geneticexpectations wrote: »
    RalfLott wrote: »
    geneticexpectations wrote: »
    In answer to OP's title, I have found through clinical experience that Diabetes can easily be reversed regardless of family history with whole food low carbohydrate dieting combined with fasting. Pure calorie reduction (without attention to other variables) seems to work to a much less dramatic extent when it does work, and it only seems to work temporarily. Just my observations.

    Thanks. Are you a clinician?

    yes, a phycisian

    If you regularly treat T2 diabetics, there are many here who would be intetested in your experiences and observations....

    Among the questions that tend to come up are:

    "How can I find a LCHF-minded PCP/endocrinologist/nutritionist to help me fine-tune my diet?";

    "How can I productively discuss my diet with my PCP/endocrinologist/nutritionist?"; and

    "Is genetic testing worthwhile for some or all T2 diabetics at this point?"

    Thanks for any insights you'd be willing to share!
  • geneticexpectations
    geneticexpectations Posts: 146 Member
    edited December 2016
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    RalfLott wrote: »
    geneticexpectations wrote: »
    RalfLott wrote: »
    geneticexpectations wrote: »
    In answer to OP's title, I have found through clinical experience that Diabetes can easily be reversed regardless of family history with whole food low carbohydrate dieting combined with fasting. Pure calorie reduction (without attention to other variables) seems to work to a much less dramatic extent when it does work, and it only seems to work temporarily. Just my observations.

    Thanks. Are you a clinician?

    yes, a phycisian

    If you regularly treat T2 diabetics, there are many here who would be intetested in your experiences and observations....

    Among the questions that tend to come up are:

    "How can I find a LCHF-minded PCP/endocrinologist/nutritionist to help me fine-tune my diet?";

    "How can I productively discuss my diet with my PCP/endocrinologist/nutritionist?"; and

    "Is genetic testing worthwhile for some or all T2 diabetics at this point?"

    Thanks for any insights you'd be willing to share!

    Although the absolute number of LCHF minded physicians is still small, the proportion is slowly increasing. It's getting easier by the year to find a physician who is LCHF minded as it's getting increasingly more difficult to deny the literature and more importantly, the real life results.

    Usually a physician sees the results in themselves, then pays attention to the combination of the literature and the dramatic reproducable effect on patients.

    To be honest, there is no true secret to finding that right physician - you just have to keep looking. But yes, eventually you will find one. The good news from a practical standpoint is that the information that successful physicians dispense is easily available on the internet or in bookstores. Often, physicians get to that point of self discovery when they see that one of their own patients has just proactively done it themselves. Then, the physician reads what the patient read, applies it, experiences the personal success, and the transformation in their practice begins there.

    In regards to your second question, either you can or you can't. Some physicians are open minded and educated in lifestyle issues, while others prefer to have opinions that are much stronger than their knowledge/success.

    I think genetic testing can be helpful, but we have had experience with massive quality of life improvements with major chronic diseases in general (not just diabetes) regardless of how genetically predisposed the individual is (to a point of course, but this is the exception, not the rule).
  • oocdc2
    oocdc2 Posts: 1,361 Member
    edited December 2016
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    I'll tell you what my endo. told me: the root cause of type-2 diabetes is insulin resistance, or the body's inability to process sugar effectively. I inherited mine from my father, and he from his. I was pre-diabetic (and had gestational diabetes with both my children). But then I lost 80 lbs, I now run regularly, and am no longer considered pre-diabetic.
    However...I take 500 mg of Glucophage/day and try to eat less than 30 g. of sugar/day, because I am still, and will always be, insulin resistant. I will develop type-2 diabetes someday--all this work and taking the meds, though, should push it down the road quite a bit. There's nothing wrong with being proactive, OP. :smile:
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
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    @geneticexpectations -

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Here's an unrelated T2D question:

    I developed a GI war zone after my pharmacy switched generic versions of metformin XR last year (which led me in a roundabout way to this group...) I happened to catch Dr. Bernstein advising people with such issues to switch to name-brand Glucophage XR, and voilà! this resolved my GI complaint in short order.

    Q - Is the GI side effect more likely attributable to a filler/inactive ingredient in that particular generic or to a quality-control problem with the specific formulation of the active ingredient?

    (I've never had that sort of reaction to generic versions of other drugs)

    Thanks again!
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    edited December 2016
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    oocdc2 wrote: »
    I'll tell you what my endo. told me: the root cause of type-2 diabetes is insulin resistance, or the body's inability to process sugar effectively. I inherited mine from my father, and he from his. I was pre-diabetic (and had gestational diabetes with both my children). But then I lost 80 lbs, I now run regularly, and am no longer considered pre-diabetic.
    However...I take 500 mg of Glucophage/day and try to eat less than 30 g. of sugar/day, because I am still, and will always be, insulin resistant. I will develop type-2 diabetes someday--all this work and taking the meds, though, should push it down the road quite a bit. There's nothing wrong with being proactive, OP. :smile:

    Nice going! B)

    A quick aside about Metformin/Glucophage...
    If you can tolerate it, the effective dose is said to be higher in the FDA product info for clinicians - 1500-2000mg/daily, if memory serves.

    PS. I don't think you're condemned to develop T2D if you stay the course! o:)
  • geneticexpectations
    geneticexpectations Posts: 146 Member
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    RalfLott wrote: »
    @geneticexpectations -

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Here's an unrelated T2D question:

    I developed a GI war zone after my pharmacy switched generic versions of metformin XR last year (which led me in a roundabout way to this group...) I happened to catch Dr. Bernstein advising people with such issues to switch to name-brand Glucophage XR, and voilà! this resolved my GI complaint in short order.

    Q - Is the GI side effect more likely attributable to a filler/inactive ingredient in that particular generic or to a quality-control problem with the specific formulation of the active ingredient?

    (I've never had that sort of reaction to generic versions of other drugs)

    Thanks again!

    Short answer - who knows. As physicians we just do what works (so changing medication worked, which is good). That being said, Metformin has GI side effects in all versions really, just depends on the person.

    What seems to work better is getting patients off all meds entirely. Less side effects :)
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    @geneticexpectations -Thanks for the added information. :)
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
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    From my reading on this subject after hubby was diagnosed, if you're going to get Type 2, you're going to get it. Whether you end up with at 40 or younger vs. 65+ and how well it's managed are where weight and lifestyle come into play. Even those who reverse it with lifestyle will eventually find it returning and requiring more medication and changes as they age. Complications can be avoided until you're very, very old if you manage it well.
  • zamphir66
    zamphir66 Posts: 582 Member
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    Kind of random question: What happened to those with diabetes before the age of modern medicine. I mean, I know they *died*, but what did it look like? In other words, how fast was the downward progression, and what did people think was happening? Or, was it not well understood that this was a singular disease? I am interested in the sociological-ish history of disease.

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