Can You Reverse Diabetes with Diet?
Some experts claim that Type 2 diabetes can be cured with a special diet. Is there any truth to this claim?
Recently, a reader forwarded me a link to a book about a diet that supposedly would cure type 2 diabetes. “My mom is a type 2 diabetic,” she wrote, “but I find it hard to believe that you can reverse it.” So, is this book for real? Can type 2 diabetes really be reversed with a diet? Let’s take a closer look.
What is Type 2 Diabetes?
Basically, having Type 2 diabetes means that your blood sugar is too high—and this can be due to a number of factors. For newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics, the problem is usually that the cells have become insensitive to the effects of insulin, a hormone which normally moves glucose (or sugar) from the blood into the cells. In other words, the insulin is knocking, but the cell isn’t answering the door, so the glucose stays out on the street—or in this case, in the bloodstream.
See also: What is Type 2 Diabetes?
What Problems Can High Blood Sugar Cause?
You don’t want a lot of sugar hanging around in your blood. Chronically high blood sugar damages your blood vessels and nerves, which can eventually lead to blindness, hearing loss, or even the loss of limbs. It also forces your kidneys to work harder and can eventually lead to kidney failure. High blood sugar also increases your risk of heart disease.
See also: Why Is Sugar Bad For You?
If you’re diabetic, getting and keeping your blood sugar under control can help prevent or minimize these complications. Unfortunately, damage to the nerves, kidneys, or other tissues may not be reversible once it has occurred.
OK, enough with the scary stuff. Suffice it to say that a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes—or even a warning that you’re moving in that direction—is something you want to take very seriously.
How is Type 2 Diabetes Treated?
Type 2 diabetics are often given medications that increase insulin sensitivity. In other words, these drugs help your insulin knock a little louder so that your cells get the message and open the door. But there are other non-pharmaceutical ways to increase your insulin sensitivity. It depends on how high your blood sugar is and how long it’s been elevated, but in many cases, people can bring their blood sugar back down to healthy levels using diet and lifestyle changes alone.
Unless your blood sugar is very high or there are other complications, it’s usually worth a try to see whether you can get those blood sugar levels down on your own. But if your doctor feels that you need medication, this does not let you off the hook. Following the advice I’ve outlined below will make your medication work better and reduce the risk of complications.
Type 1 diabetics, on the other hand, cannot be cured by diet alone. It’s not that their cells are insensitive to the effects of insulin. It’s that their bodies are not able to produce enough insulin to do the job. Although good diet management is very important for type 1 diabetics, they also require insulin injections. The vast majority of diabetics, however, are type 2.
Type 2 Diabetics and Diet
It all boils down to managing the speed at which sugar enters your blood stream. Because your body isn’t doing a good job clearing sugar from your blood into your cells, you need to be the gate-keeper.
If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, you really need to work closely with a qualified health professional to determine what’s right for you. If you can’t work with or don’t trust your health advisor, please find a new one.
In addition to the advice that your doctor or diabetes educator can share with you, there are lots of books (such as the one my reader asked me about) on controlling type 2 diabetes with diet. Although the programs differ, it all boils down to managing the speed at which sugar enters your blood stream. Because your body isn’t doing a good job clearing sugar from your blood into your cells, you need to be the gate-keeper.
4 Diet Tips for Type 2 Diabetics
For example,
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Strictly limit sweets, added sugars, and fruit juice. These foods are high in sugar, and the sugars are very rapidly absorbed. If you’re worried about your blood sugar, this one’s a no-brainer.
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Replace white flour with whole grain flour. The carbohydrates in whole grain flours are more slowly converted to blood sugar. So, for example whole wheat bread or pasta is a better choice than white bread and white pasta.
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Replace flour-based foods with intact whole grains. You can slow the conversion of carbs into blood sugar even more by eating your grains whole instead of ground into flour. So, a bulgur wheat pilaf would be even better than whole wheat bread.
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Cut down on portion sizes for ALL grain-based foods. Perhaps most important is to limit your portion sizes of high-carbohydrate foods like bread, pasta, cereal, and grains—even when they’re whole grain. Instead, eat more vegetables, protein foods, and/or healthy fat. Or, if you’re overweight, it might be best not to replace those calories, or at least not all of them.
Lifestyle Tips for Type 2 Diabetics
These diet tips are focused on throttling back the amount of sugar that’s entering the bloodstream. The other half of the equation is to accelerate the rate at which that sugar is cleared into the cells. In other words, you want to increase insulin sensitivity. Two effective ways to do that are to lose excess weight and exercise regularly. Fortunately, the two tend to go hand in hand.
See also Get Fit Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Slim Down and Shape Up
Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Cured?
It depends on what you mean by “cured.” Some people feel that if you can get and keep your blood sugar levels at healthy levels without the use of medication, you’re no longer diabetic. Others would argue that your diabetes is controlled or managed but not cured. The idea is that recovering diabetics—if I can borrow a term from the 12-step movement—will always be at greater risk of relapsing into Type 2 diabetes if they relax their dietary vigilance.
For example, I might have the same normal blood sugar levels as my friend who is successfully managing her diabetes. We might even have similar eating patterns. The difference is that if I were to suddenly give into a craving for those little red Swedish fish I love so much, my body would (I hope) still be able to regulate my blood sugar levels, despite my indiscretion. Hers might not. Then again, if I give into that craving too often, I might end up with type 2 diabetes myself—which is why I keep myself on a pretty short leash with the Swedish fish.
By the same token, if my diabetic friend maintains her healthy lifestyle for long enough, it’s possible that her body would regain the ability to deal with an occasional onslaught of sugar—just like non-diabetics can. If I were her, though, having triumphed over the disease once, I probably wouldn’t want to test that theory. The bottom line is that whether or not you are or ever were diabetic, you’d do well to limit your intake of sugar and other refined carbohydrates.
RESOURCES
Type 2 Diabetes Resource Center (NutritionData.com)
Dr. Neil Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes
Glycemic Load Diet (Dr. Rob Thompson)
About the Author
Monica Reinagel is a board-certified licensed nutritionist, author, and the creator of one of iTunes’ most highly ranked health and fitness podcasts. Her advice is regularly featured on the TODAY show, Dr. Oz, NPR, and in the nation’s leading newspapers, magazines, and websites. Do you have a nutrition question? Call the Nutrition Diva listener line at 443-961-6206. Your question could be featured on the show.
