WORDS
DEBBIE KOENIG
PHOTOGRAPHY
GETTY IMAGES, MARTY BALDWIN
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NOW
Work with your care team to
make small changes to reverse
or slow the progression of
type 2 diabetes:- Lose 5 per cent of
your body weight.
“Try a Mediterranean
or Asian-type diet,” says
George King. The complex
carbs are hunger-satisfying
and help you eat less. - Get moving for
45 minutes a day.
“You need more than
30 minutes; you’re just
starting to get the benefits
then,” says King.
-^ Get 6-8 hours of sleep.
A study of nearly 5000
people with type 2 diabetes
in the journal Diabetes Care
found that those who slept
less or more had higher
HbA1c levels.
normal eating, might be enough
to reverse type 2. In one study,
a small group averaged a loss of
15kg, and more than half saw
blood glucose return to non-
diabetic levels.
But Taylor’s method isn’t
one that’s recommended by
mainstream experts.
“There are multiple reasons
we don’t recommend very quick
weight loss, other than bariatric
surgery. The success rate is very
low,” says George King, chief
scientific officer at the Joslin
Diabetes Center in the US.
And many people with type 2
find success with less drastic
weight loss. “It’s very clear, from
multiple studies, all you need
to lose is 5 per cent of your
body weight to improve insulin
sensitivity,” says King.
For a 136kg person, that’s 7kg.
While 5 per cent may not be
enough to completely reverse
diabetes, it should slow the
progression. Just as important
though, is then keeping those
lost kilograms off.IT’S PERSONAL
The weight-loss method
doesn’t seem to matter – in
studies, bariatric surgery,
very-low-kilojoule diets, and
a combination of intensive
kilojoule restriction, exercise
and medications have all
been effective.
Scientists can’t yet predict
who will see a reversal or how
much weight a person might
need to lose. Everyone has
a personal fat threshold: the
point at which type 2 develops
or goes into remission.
Think about it: more than
two-thirds of Americans – and
the same in Australia – are
overweight or obese. “Yet only
10 per cent [of Americans] have“There’s no magic
BMI level for
reversibility. Just
increasing activity
can dramatically
improve blood
glucose”
- George King
diabetes,” says King. “Most
people who are overweight or
obese don’t have it.” Their fat
thresholds may simply be higher.TIMING IS EVERYTHING
The longer you have type 2
diabetes, the longer your beta
cells work overtime to produce
insulin. Eventually those cells
begin to die off. Once that
happens, the odds of reversing
diabetes decrease.
In Taylor’s study, and another
recent one involving bariatric
surgery, a substantial number
of participants achieved
remission – but among those
who’d had diabetes for more
than 10 years, it was much
less common.
Still, if you’ve had type 2
diabetes for more than a
decade, don’t lose hope.
“Eating better and being
more active makes diabetes
management easier, lowers
risk for serious complications
and other chronic diseases,
and improves overall
wellbeing,” says Albright.
“Even without remission,
there is much to be gained.” ■diabetic living JULY/AUGUST 2018 93need to know