According to new research, type 2 diabetes is more likely to disappear if you lose weight.
Diabetes that disappears is beneficial. The most crucial thing, though, is that diabetes does not develop. Learn the essential information on how to permanently lose weight and reverse diabetes from the doctors and dietitians at the Pritikin Longevity Center.
Can losing weight get rid of diabetes?
New research from scientists in the United Kingdom suggests that remission of type 2 diabetes is possible through weight management.
306 overweight and obese individuals, aged 20 to 65, with a maximum of 6 years’ history of type 2 diabetes participated in the trial, which was directed by Michael Lean, MD, of the University of Glasgow.
Random assignment placed half of the participants in an intervention group that followed a very low-calorie diet. The other half, known as the control group, got standard diabetes treatment but was not given any special instructions to drastically reduce their calorie intake.
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Lost twenty-two pounds
The intervention group lost an average of 22 pounds after a year. Just 2 pounds were lost by the control group.
Type 2 diabetes in remission
And after one year, 46% of those in the intervention group were able to achieve remission of type 2 diabetes. Only 4% in the control group did.
Remission was defined as achieving an HbA1c (a measure of long-term blood sugar control) that was less than 6.5% without the use of medication for a minimum of 2 months.
The main objective of the study was achieved by nearly a quarter of those in the low-calorie intervention group, who lost 33 pounds or more. No one in the control group lost that much weight.
Increased remission of diabetes and weight loss
The researchers discovered that the chance of a diabetic remission increased with weight loss:
The necessity of sustained weight loss
“Our results imply that it is possible to put type 2 diabetes into remission even if you have had the condition for six years,” said Dr. Lean in a Lancet news release. “In contrast to other approaches, we focus on the need for long-term maintenance of weight loss through diet and exercise and encourage flexibility to optimize individual results.”
“Impressive”
In an accompanying editorial2 in the same issue of The Lancet, Matti Uusitupa, MD, PhD, of the University of Eastern Finland described the trial’s findings as “impressive.” They “strongly support the view that the presence of excess fat in the body is closely associated with type 2 diabetes.”
He went on, “This study suggests that the first goal in treating type 2 diabetes should be weight loss.” He wrote that since “antidiabetic drugs seldom result in normalization of glucose metabolism if patients’ lifestyles remain unchanged,” a lifestyle-based, non-pharmacological approach ought to be resurrected.
Weight regain
It’s vital to keep the weight off.
“If you regain the excess weight, the diabetes will eventually return,” cautions Danine Fruge, MD, Medical Director of the Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami. Pritikin has been teaching healthy-living skills for the prevention and control of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease since 1975.
“What’s driving the return of diabetes isn’t diabetes, per se. It’s something called insulin resistance.”
To better understand what’s going on in our bodies, let’s backtrack a bit with definitions of diabetes and insulin resistance…
What is diabetes?
The illness known as diabetes is caused by the body’s improper production or utilization of insulin. A hormone known as insulin is produced, stored, and released by beta cells, which are cells found in the pancreas.
Blood sugar, also known as glucose, accumulates when our insulin is not working properly.
Less than 100 mg/dL of fasting glucose is regarded as normal.
A fasting blood glucose level of 100–125 mg/dL indicates prediabetes.
Diabetes is diagnosed at 126 mg/dL or above during fasting.
There are two main types of diabetes – type 1 and type 2. Type 2 diabetes is virtually entirely preventable. Worldwide, many populations are now suffering epidemic rates of type 2 diabetes because many live in a food toxic and sedentary environment that leads to obesity.
What is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance is the major precursor of type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance occurs when the body’s cells withstand the insulin that your pancreas is generating.
Normal cells
Here’s what is happening. In a normal cell, insulin can open the cell’s “doors” and ferry glucose from the bloodstream into the cell, nourishing that cell. The medical term for “doors” is insulin receptors. They receive insulin.
Insulin resistant cells
In cells that are insulin resistant, most of the cells’ doors are shut tight. Insulin can’t get in, which means glucose stays in the blood, building up. The pancreas, determined to deposit that glucose into our cells, pumps out more and more insulin to “break” those cell doors down. That’s why people with prediabetes or diabetes often have high insulin levels.
But ultimately, the beta cells in the pancreas wear out. Insulin production stops, which
What causes insulin resistance?
The chief cause of insulin resistance is the diet we in America typically consume – super-calorie-dense stuff like sugary beverages, from sodas to smoothies to sports drinks, as well as CRAP (calorie-rich and processed) foods like pizzas, burgers, French fries, donuts, Doritos, and desserts. All these calorie-dense foods and drinks lead to weight gain and the build-up of body fat.
Getting blood sugar back to normal
The good news: When we shed body fat, insulin often starts working again. That’s because our body’s cells often start working again. Their “doors” kick open when insulin comes calling. Once again, insulin can ferry glucose out of the bloodstream and into our cells. As a result, blood glucose falls into healthy, normal ranges.
Fast results
Interestingly, you don’t have to shed a lot of weight before insulin gets back into gear.
“We’ve seen much improved insulin sensitivity for decades at the Pritikin Longevity Center, and it happens in just two to three weeks – long before people have lost much weight,” observes Kimberly Gomer, MS, RD, LDN, Director of Nutrition and educator at Pritikin.
“It’s really encouraging. Losing weight may happen slowly, but getting healthy – getting rid of insulin resistance, getting your blood sugar down to healthy levels – can happen very, very quickly.”
Insulin resistance in remission
Combating insulin resistance is incredibly important,” emphasizes Gomer. “In actuality, insulin resistance is what goes into remission when we lose weight and control our blood sugar levels—not diabetes itself.”
Keeping diabetes at bay
The best way to keep insulin resistance and diabetes at bay is to keep the weight off.
The best way to keep the weight off is not by forcing yourself to live with chronic hunger day in and day out. “Chronic hunger is what happens with portion-control diets,” explains Gomer.
The problem with portion-control diets
“Portion-control diets often whittle down food to tiny, unsatisfying servings. Can anyone really stop at one skinny slice of pizza?” Eventually, nagging hunger overrides will power. Yes, the whole pizza disappears.
The solution
The best way to keep the weight off is with a program, like the Pritikin Eating Plan, that allows you to eat plenty of food throughout the day. It’s food that is low or moderately low in calorie density but high in stomach-filling satisfaction. It’s food like fruits, vegetables, bean-rich soups, potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole-grain pasta, and other plant-based, fiber-rich, unprocessed or minimally-processed foods. It’s food that fills you up to 10 to 20 calories per bite, not 100 calories per bite.
It is far more likely that someone will maintain healthy weight reduction with these low- to medium-calorie-dense foods than with portion-control approaches that hyper-focus purely on calories. There’s another great bonus to these lower-calorie-dense foods. They’re often very high in nutrition.
Getting off medication
“You have a win-win situation when you follow a plan like Pritikin. Gomer continues, “You’re not just cutting weight; you’re cutting the meds.
As we’ve seen here at the Pritikin Longevity Center, the majority of type 2 diabetics with enough remaining beta-cell function are able to stop taking their diabetes medications.
“Bottom line: Insulin resistance is largely reversible with a healthy diet and exercise program provided it reduces calorie intake and leads to long-term weight control.”
Benefits of exercise
Getting into the habit of daily physical activity has also been found to reduce insulin resistance.
Of course, regular exercise also aids in the loss of body fat – and helps keep the weight off. In fact, one of the best predictors of long-term weight-loss success is a lifestyle that includes regular exercise.
Even if you regain the weight, keep trying
Yo-yoing? That’s okay. Keep at it.
There is clear evidence that there is longer remission and better glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes who have lost weight and regained it compared to those who have never lost.
In short, it is better to have lost and regained than to have never lost at all.
The sooner you get started, the better
In research on men and women with type 2 diabetes who came to the Pritikin Longevity Center, those who were most successful were those who arrived when they were first diagnosed with the disease, not those who waited till they’d had the disease for many years.
“The longer one continues treating type 2 diabetes with drugs while mostly ignoring what drives the disease process – excess body fat, excess calories, inactivity, and a lousy diet – the more rapidly the disease progresses. Beta cells are lost forever. It becomes more and more difficult to control blood glucose without drugs,” explains Gomer.
Beta cell burnout
To be sure, loss of beta cells happens to virtually everyone with type 2 diabetes. By the time people are diagnosed with the disease, many have already lost about half of their beta cells. It’s called beta cell burnout. Unfortunately, little evidence suggests that these burnt-out cells will ever function again.
“But with weight loss, you can maintain good functioning of the beta cells you still have,” encourages Gomer. “For this reason, it’s critical to begin a healthy weight-loss program like Pritikin right away.
Don’t wait.”
Summing Up | Can losing weight get rid of diabetes?
If you’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, there’s a good chance that adopting a program of low-calorie-dense eating and regular exercise, like the program taught at the Pritikin Longevity Center, will lower your blood sugar into healthy, normal ranges. That’s in large part due to the loss of insulin resistance.
When insulin resistance is in remission, blood sugar falls. When blood sugar falls, your need for medications falls.
In fact, research has shown that most people with type 2 diabetes who come to Pritikin on drugs for diabetes no longer need these drugs within 2 or 3 weeks, or their dosages have been dramatically reduced. Even some people who arrive using insulin shots no longer require them – or need less – upon their return home.
But always keep in mind that you’re susceptible to having your diabetes return.
The Pritikin Program protects you from that return. By sticking with a Pritikin lifestyle, you keep fat stores at bay, which keeps insulin resistance and diabetes at bay.
Living well
There’s more good news: With Pritikin living, you’re living well. You may never be able to say you’re completely rid of diabetes, but you sure feel as if you are.
Dr. William Pordy, a physician from New York City, knows that feeling. Several years ago, he arrived at Pritikin 60 pounds overweight and a type 2 diabetic. He shed that weight, and with it, his sky-high blood sugar numbers.
“Isn’t it terrific that at my age – I’m in my 60s – I actually turned my life around? Once you go to Pritikin, you learn, really learn, how to exercise and eat right. If I hadn’t gone to Pritikin, I wouldn’t have lost weight, and I wouldn’t have gotten rid of my diabetes,” says Dr. Pordy.
Yes, I will always have type 2 diabetes and will need to live a Pritikin-style lifestyle to manage it, but that’s alright because I feel great right now. I’ve got energy. My brain functions better. My work functions better. Everything functions better. That’s why I can say I’ve gotten rid of my diabetes.
“I wouldn’t want to live any other way.”