Diabetics

Intermittent fasting and diabetics, anyone in the same situation as me?

Answers

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    What does your blood sugar say about that? Is it stable or would eating smaller portions throughout the day be better for you?

    For weightloss, which I assume you're trying to achive meal timing has no meaning. Only eating less than your body needs to stay at the current weight helps. That can be due to decreasing your eating window of course, but just eating a bit less and moving a bit more overall is the same. You can also eat too much in a small eating window, and gain weight.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,437 Member
    My husband is diabetic. I make sure he eats on a regular schedule. My experience with him is that he wouldn’t be a candidate for IF.

    Intermittent fasting isn’t a magic wand. The internet touts it as such, but all it is is a method some folks find useful to control eating.

    Personally, I’d gnaw my arm off without a steady trickle of meals, snacks, chai.

    The ultimate success depends on controlling total calories per day, not when you eat those calories. All the stuff about eating the bulk of them in the morning or before bed (depending on where you get your info) has so little effect it’s literally neglible.

    As a diabetic, please ask your doctor how they feel about IF in conjunction with diabetes.

    BTW, a useful tool I’ve found is slipping a few individually wrapped Chimes ginger chews in my gym bag. They’re delicious, only 15 calories apiece, and I can magically pop one in his palm if I see him flagging after a workout. Just enough to revive him til I can get him home and get him fed after an evening class. They’re very tasty but not the thing either one of us would seek out to stuff ourselves with, so no worries about having a big sack in the house. I suppose a hard candy would do the same but he’d get into those while I wouldn’t touch them. The Chimes makes a nice middle ground.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    edited July 24
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes, this! TO needs to work with their medical team on this and monitor glucose levels very carefully.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes, this! TO needs to work with their medical team on this and monitor glucose levels very carefully.

    I guess people missed the part where I said it will depend on the individual and to make sure they talk to their Doctor.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    edited July 25
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    Not sure why you didn’t acknowledge that sudden severe drops in blood glucose - an obvious risk factor for a diabetic who is fasting - is serious and a potential reason why a diabetic should discuss IF with their doctor before trying it.

    And yes. I mean T2 as well as T1, or any other type of diabetes.

    Low blood sugar can kill. Fasting should be considered very carefully before a diabetic tries to eat in this manner.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    edited July 26
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    Not sure why you didn’t acknowledge that sudden severe drops in blood glucose - an obvious risk factor for a diabetic who is fasting - is serious and a potential reason why a diabetic should discuss IF with their doctor before trying it.

    And yes. I mean T2 as well as T1, or any other type of diabetes.

    Low blood sugar can kill. Fasting should be considered very carefully before a diabetic tries to eat in this manner.

    Of course people with type 2 diabetes should consult a professional, and I've said as much.

    The real question is why could a fasting regimen have the possibility for a hypoglycemic moment, well, it's the same reason why a calorie restricted diet or exercise can have the same hypoglycemic effect.

    It's about the effect of these interventions on a persons insulin sensitivity, all of these, fasting, calorie restriction and exercise increase a persons insulin sensitivity and when we couple that with the medication people are on then there is a possibility that too much insulin is circulating for the amount of blood glucose that then, lowers existing blood glucose below base line, it's basically a case of too much insulin.

    There's many different protocols for fasting with many different ways of going about it just like there are many different ways for calorie restriction, types of foods, macro differences as well as exercise, the type and intensity but the result is simply the same by increased insulin sensitivity which means that medications will need to be adjusted lower so that situation where too much circulating insulin for the existing amount of blood glucose is adjusted lower and why it's important to be connected with a professional during any intervention that is going to effect their medication.

    The bottom line is fasting, dietary restriction and exercise are beneficial for people with diabetes because their A1C goes lower and their medications are adjusted downward and over time this can effectively reverse diabetes and many remove all of their medications as well. I'll say it again for any people that might be following this thread; "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    Not sure why you didn’t acknowledge that sudden severe drops in blood glucose - an obvious risk factor for a diabetic who is fasting - is serious and a potential reason why a diabetic should discuss IF with their doctor before trying it.

    And yes. I mean T2 as well as T1, or any other type of diabetes.

    Low blood sugar can kill. Fasting should be considered very carefully before a diabetic tries to eat in this manner.

    Of course people with type 2 diabetes should consult a professional, and I've said as much.

    The real question is why could a fasting regimen have the possibility for a hypoglycemic moment, well, it's the same reason why a calorie restricted diet or exercise can have the same hypoglycemic effect.

    It's about the effect of these interventions on a persons insulin sensitivity, all of these, fasting, calorie restriction and exercise increase a persons insulin sensitivity and when we couple that with the medication people are on then there is a possibility that too much insulin is circulating for the amount of blood glucose that then, lowers existing blood glucose below base line, it's basically a case of too much insulin.

    There's many different protocols for fasting with many different ways of going about it just like there are many different ways for calorie restriction, types of foods, macro differences as well as exercise, the type and intensity but the result is simply the same by increased insulin sensitivity which means that medications will need to be adjusted lower so that situation where too much circulating insulin for the existing amount of blood glucose is adjusted lower and why it's important to be connected with a professional during any intervention that is going to effect their medication.

    The bottom line is fasting, dietary restriction and exercise are beneficial for people with diabetes because their A1C goes lower and their medications are adjusted downward and over time this can effectively reverse diabetes and many remove all of their medications as well. I'll say it again for any people that might be following this thread; "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    My point:
    1) OP mentioned they are diabetic. They did not specify which type.
    2) Fasting is known to cause low blood glucose levels.
    3) Low blood glucose levels can be dangerous. Low enough blood glucose levels will cause death.

    I honestly don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with my recommendation that OP discuss IF with their medical team.

    One last point: You don’t need to do IF to lower your A1C.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,755 Member
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    Not sure why you didn’t acknowledge that sudden severe drops in blood glucose - an obvious risk factor for a diabetic who is fasting - is serious and a potential reason why a diabetic should discuss IF with their doctor before trying it.

    And yes. I mean T2 as well as T1, or any other type of diabetes.

    Low blood sugar can kill. Fasting should be considered very carefully before a diabetic tries to eat in this manner.

    Of course people with type 2 diabetes should consult a professional, and I've said as much.

    The real question is why could a fasting regimen have the possibility for a hypoglycemic moment, well, it's the same reason why a calorie restricted diet or exercise can have the same hypoglycemic effect.

    It's about the effect of these interventions on a persons insulin sensitivity, all of these, fasting, calorie restriction and exercise increase a persons insulin sensitivity and when we couple that with the medication people are on then there is a possibility that too much insulin is circulating for the amount of blood glucose that then, lowers existing blood glucose below base line, it's basically a case of too much insulin.

    There's many different protocols for fasting with many different ways of going about it just like there are many different ways for calorie restriction, types of foods, macro differences as well as exercise, the type and intensity but the result is simply the same by increased insulin sensitivity which means that medications will need to be adjusted lower so that situation where too much circulating insulin for the existing amount of blood glucose is adjusted lower and why it's important to be connected with a professional during any intervention that is going to effect their medication.

    The bottom line is fasting, dietary restriction and exercise are beneficial for people with diabetes because their A1C goes lower and their medications are adjusted downward and over time this can effectively reverse diabetes and many remove all of their medications as well. I'll say it again for any people that might be following this thread; "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    My point:
    1) OP mentioned they are diabetic. They did not specify which type.
    2) Fasting is known to cause low blood glucose levels.
    3) Low blood glucose levels can be dangerous. Low enough blood glucose levels will cause death.

    I honestly don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with my recommendation that OP discuss IF with their medical team.

    One last point: You don’t need to do IF to lower your A1C.

    💯
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    edited July 31
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    Not sure why you didn’t acknowledge that sudden severe drops in blood glucose - an obvious risk factor for a diabetic who is fasting - is serious and a potential reason why a diabetic should discuss IF with their doctor before trying it.

    And yes. I mean T2 as well as T1, or any other type of diabetes.

    Low blood sugar can kill. Fasting should be considered very carefully before a diabetic tries to eat in this manner.

    Of course people with type 2 diabetes should consult a professional, and I've said as much.

    The real question is why could a fasting regimen have the possibility for a hypoglycemic moment, well, it's the same reason why a calorie restricted diet or exercise can have the same hypoglycemic effect.

    It's about the effect of these interventions on a persons insulin sensitivity, all of these, fasting, calorie restriction and exercise increase a persons insulin sensitivity and when we couple that with the medication people are on then there is a possibility that too much insulin is circulating for the amount of blood glucose that then, lowers existing blood glucose below base line, it's basically a case of too much insulin.

    There's many different protocols for fasting with many different ways of going about it just like there are many different ways for calorie restriction, types of foods, macro differences as well as exercise, the type and intensity but the result is simply the same by increased insulin sensitivity which means that medications will need to be adjusted lower so that situation where too much circulating insulin for the existing amount of blood glucose is adjusted lower and why it's important to be connected with a professional during any intervention that is going to effect their medication.

    The bottom line is fasting, dietary restriction and exercise are beneficial for people with diabetes because their A1C goes lower and their medications are adjusted downward and over time this can effectively reverse diabetes and many remove all of their medications as well. I'll say it again for any people that might be following this thread; "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    My point:
    1) OP mentioned they are diabetic. They did not specify which type.
    2) Fasting is known to cause low blood glucose levels.
    3) Low blood glucose levels can be dangerous. Low enough blood glucose levels will cause death.

    I honestly don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with my recommendation that OP discuss IF with their medical team.

    One last point: You don’t need to do IF to lower your A1C.

    Well, I'm not surprised anything I said made any sense to you or enticed any kind of nuanced conversation especially considering your now doubling down referring to fasting as a possible death scenario. Nice strawman though. I'm out, take care. :)
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    I’m type 2 ad I think this question depends greatly on what type of the beetus you have.for instance I have a friend who’s type 1 who has zero tolerance for fasting -probably because her body can’t produce insulin. Meanwhile, I, a type 2, have no issues with it. I usually fast 6pm -12 pm so my feed window is 12-6 pm.

    I tend to workout in the morning and I wear a CGM (libre). I workout at a gym, shower there and take a bus home, so as long as I keep the workout to an hour and it’s moderate then I have no issues with having too low glucose by the time I get back home to eat. If I know the workout will be on the harder side or if I have errands to run after work I definitely will get very low before I make it home
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    edited August 4
    Well diabetes is basically chronically elevated blood glucose where someone will either need medication to control that or take insulin injections if it's more advanced. I stopped consuming carbs for the most part which basically eliminates sugar from the diet, which basically mediates elevated glucose and that reversed my Insulin resistance quickly, a few months and I use a ketogenic diet for that. If you decide to go a similar route you'll need to talk to your Doctor simply because your medication is will need to be adjusted or eliminated eventually.

    As far as intermittent fasting goes that will depend on the individual. Regardless though, the more time between meals and the total amount of time your not throwing something down your throat those fasting periods can help regulated your blood sugar by increasing insulin sensitivity. Finding a dietary approach that also addresses what types of food your consuming will make a difference as well and if someone just consumes mostly processed foods compared to someone that makes a change and consumes mostly whole food that will have a big impact and of course the lower the carbs the more insulin sensitive you'll become as well. 5-2 is a decent intermittent fasting choice that does effect IR and diabetes quite a bit and I suggest instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions.


    Fasting is not appropriate for everyone. Especially diabetics.

    Not all diabetics are insulin resistant. Or exclusively insulin resistant.
    And some can experience sudden severe lows out of nowhere.

    Yes your right, not all diabetics are insulin resistant, and that group are type 1 diabetics which is what your statement is referring too, type 1's and not type 2's which are almost exclusively insulin resistant. 95% of all diabetics are type 2 and have elevated A1C from chronically elevated blood glucose which elevates insulin levels to help mitigate that effect that are eventually recognized as insulin resistant which eventually can manifest into type 2 diabetes. This is about as basic as it gets in describing diabetes 2, there's of course much more to diabetes but diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the prominent features of the disease.

    Not sure why you didn't acknowledge IF has benefits for diabetics because the literature is overwhelming and show benefits, maybe a gottcha moment was your focus, who knows. Again I suggest to people "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    Not sure why you didn’t acknowledge that sudden severe drops in blood glucose - an obvious risk factor for a diabetic who is fasting - is serious and a potential reason why a diabetic should discuss IF with their doctor before trying it.

    And yes. I mean T2 as well as T1, or any other type of diabetes.

    Low blood sugar can kill. Fasting should be considered very carefully before a diabetic tries to eat in this manner.

    Of course people with type 2 diabetes should consult a professional, and I've said as much.

    The real question is why could a fasting regimen have the possibility for a hypoglycemic moment, well, it's the same reason why a calorie restricted diet or exercise can have the same hypoglycemic effect.

    It's about the effect of these interventions on a persons insulin sensitivity, all of these, fasting, calorie restriction and exercise increase a persons insulin sensitivity and when we couple that with the medication people are on then there is a possibility that too much insulin is circulating for the amount of blood glucose that then, lowers existing blood glucose below base line, it's basically a case of too much insulin.

    There's many different protocols for fasting with many different ways of going about it just like there are many different ways for calorie restriction, types of foods, macro differences as well as exercise, the type and intensity but the result is simply the same by increased insulin sensitivity which means that medications will need to be adjusted lower so that situation where too much circulating insulin for the existing amount of blood glucose is adjusted lower and why it's important to be connected with a professional during any intervention that is going to effect their medication.

    The bottom line is fasting, dietary restriction and exercise are beneficial for people with diabetes because their A1C goes lower and their medications are adjusted downward and over time this can effectively reverse diabetes and many remove all of their medications as well. I'll say it again for any people that might be following this thread; "instead of listening to me for example that promotes different interventions as help or the people that believe it's all nonsense that you do your own research and that way you can make your own decisions."

    My point:
    1) OP mentioned they are diabetic. They did not specify which type.
    2) Fasting is known to cause low blood glucose levels.
    3) Low blood glucose levels can be dangerous. Low enough blood glucose levels will cause death.

    I honestly don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with my recommendation that OP discuss IF with their medical team.

    One last point: You don’t need to do IF to lower your A1C.

    Well, I'm not surprised anything I said made any sense to you or enticed any kind of nuanced conversation especially considering your now doubling down referring to fasting as a possible death scenario. Nice strawman though. I'm out, take care. :)


    My point:
    1) OP mentioned they are diabetic. They did not specify which type (T1 and T2 are the most common, but there are many other types of diabetics)
    2) Fasting is known to cause low blood glucose levels.
    3) Low blood glucose levels can be dangerous. Low enough blood glucose levels will cause death and for some diabetics can come on very quickly, especially if the person is under the weather. Sometimes it’s the first symptom of being ill.

    I honestly don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with my recommendation that OP discuss IF with their medical team.

    And, again: You don’t need to do IF to lower your A1C.
    If that’s the only reason why someone is considering IF? They should know that it’s not necessary.
    I’m not disagreeing with you that IF is potentially beneficial for some diabetics. I’m merely saying it’s not for everyone.

    Yes. Pointing out once again that OP has not specified what type of diabetic they are.
    Hence my cautious comment.

    It’s not a “strawman” because I’m not distorting your position.
    I’m merely saying that a diabetic should be cautious when considering fasting.
    For example, they may need to adjust - or skip - certain medications.
    Or their individual situation might mean IF is contraindicated.

    And yes. Low blood sugar can be extremely dangerous. This is a fact. And should be taken into consideration when discussing IF and diabetes.

    Can diabetics do IF?
    Sure. Many do. And do so safely with good results.
    However, my original point remains.
    Intermittent fasting is not for everyone. And a diabetic should discuss it with their physician before potentially putting their health at risk.


  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    I’m type 2 ad I think this question depends greatly on what type of the beetus you have.for instance I have a friend who’s type 1 who has zero tolerance for fasting -probably because her body can’t produce insulin. Meanwhile, I, a type 2, have no issues with it. I usually fast 6pm -12 pm so my feed window is 12-6 pm.

    I tend to workout in the morning and I wear a CGM (libre). I workout at a gym, shower there and take a bus home, so as long as I keep the workout to an hour and it’s moderate then I have no issues with having too low glucose by the time I get back home to eat. If I know the workout will be on the harder side or if I have errands to run after work I definitely will get very low before I make it home

    My husband is a T2 diabetic, and experiences severe lows out of nowhere.
    He’s always been an athlete. Never overweight. Always had a relatively food diet. It was Agent Orange that caused him to be diabetic.

    The VA’s been pushing for him to use a CGM and he’s been resistant.
    But he had a low (42!) the other day that he didn’t feel. That was a first. So he’s going to get that CGM as soon as I call the VA on Monday.