If I Lose Weight Can I Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

A lot of people ask me if they can reverse diabetes or prediabetes. For some, the answer will be yes. But not for everyone. It’s more complicated than a simple

Across the board. I know. I know. We all want a simple answer, but the human body just isn’t simple. And diabetes just isn’t simple. And what makes it even harder is that I can’t say who will experience a reversal and who won’t. I do know some things about who’s the most likely person to reverse diabetes or prediabetes though. More on that in a bit.

And to be clear, I’m talking about type 2 diabetes here, not type 1. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, and people with type 1 diabetes require insulin by injection or pump to live.

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To me, reversing diabetes or dialing back prediabetes means to have a long-lasting metabolic improvement without additional medications. Since type 2 diabetes and prediabetes are characterized by insulin resistance, people with diabetes or prediabetes often have high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and other health problems, along with high blood sugar levels.

We have good evidence that diet, weight management and physical activity improve all of these health concerns. But even with excellent health habits and weight loss, lots of people with prediabetes will move on to full blown diabetes. And lots of people with type 2 diabetes will still require medications for blood sugar management, blood pressure control and more.

Even if you are able to get your blood sugar level in the normal range for months or years, there’s no guarantee that lifestyle changes will keep them there indefinitely without medications. Type 2 diabetes tends to progress over time – and this isn’t the fault of the person with diabetes! Diabetes progresses because the beta-cells of the pancreas – the cells that make your body’s insulin – continue to fail. We can

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Before you were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, you probably had blood sugar levels in the prediabetes range for a few years. This is true even if you weren’t diagnosed with prediabetes. Both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are characterized by a combination of insulin resistance and loss of insulin-making ability. It’s a double whammy with some of the body’s cells stubbornly refusing to use insulin properly and the beta-cells of the pancreas unable to produce enough insulin to make up for this resistance.

I congratulate my patients with type 2 diabetes when they’re able to dial back insulin resistance enough to no longer require medications. Same for those who are able to reverse prediabetes adequately to bring numbers to the healthy level. But again, this isn’t a cure, and that’s because of loss of beta-cell function (your body’s ability to produce insulin).

Reverse Type 2 Diabetes By Losing 15pc Of Your Weight

The best day for a reversal is today! The longer you’ve had insulin resistance, the more beta-cell function you’ve probably lost. In other words, everyday the window of opportunity to reverse diabetes or prediabetes – and even to delay their progression – closes another little bit. Even if you change your lifestyle enough and even if you lose enough weight to reverse insulin resistance, you might not have enough insulin producing capacity to maintain normal blood sugar levels without the assistance of medications. And if you do, you might not always. That’s why I always insist that a reversal isn’t a cure.

A diabetes remission is to achieve normal blood sugar levels without medications for at least 1 year. A prolonged diabetes remission is to experience the same normal blood sugar levels for 5 years. A remission or a reversal of any type usually requires some weight loss. Some people experience a diabetes remission through intensive lifestyle therapy. More often, we see remissions following weight loss surgery. But even after dropping huge amounts of weight, it’s not uncommon to see the loss of diabetes remission over time. Many people will stay in remission for a year or two, but not longer. Even those who stay in remission for 5 years are at risk of losing it.

In general, losing more weight, having had diabetes for a short time, and being in better blood sugar control are predictors of diabetes remission. This is what I meant above when I talked about that window of opportunity. The longer you’ve had diabetes, the harder it is to see a lasting reversal because of the loss of beta-cell function.

Ways To Lose 15 Per Cent Of Your Body Weight And Help Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

If you have overweight or obesity, losing any amount of weight is good. Dropping a few pounds can have profound benefit. In a fascinating study among people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, losing only 5% of body weight (10 pounds for someone starting at 200 pounds) improved insulin sensitivity in the fat, muscle and liver cells. This small weight loss also improved the function of the pancreas’s beta-cells and reduced the amount of fat in the liver. As weight loss continued first to 11% and then to 16% of starting weight, the participants experienced greater improvements. Their muscle cells became even more sensitive to insulin; they lost more fat from their livers; and the function of their beta-cells improved even more. Now that’s what I call pretty darn awesome!

I'm Jill, and I believe simple changes in your mindset and health habits can bring life-changing rewards. And I don't believe in willpower. It's waaaay overrated. As a food-loving registered dietitian nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist and certified health and wellness coach, I've helped thousands of people solve their food and nutrition problems. If you're looking for a better way to master this whole healthy eating/healthy living thing or if you're trying to prevent or manage diabetes or heart problems, you'll find plenty of resources right here.

Right here is where you can discover the mindset and habits to stick with healthy lifestyle choices most of the time - and drop the guilt when you don't.

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Thanks for signing up for my Nutrition Solutions emails. If you've already signed up, don't worry, you won't get on my list twice. But the download is yours!You want to lose weight, so you get on a diet and cut your calories way back – you start working out, doing cardio, and in general try to clean up your habits. The weight starts to come off, usually a good amount in the first week. You keep seeing fairly steady progress for a few more weeks after that, and then it slows down.

You try to work out a little harder, eat even less, but you also start to feel like you’re hitting a wall.

You’re feeling pretty good because you dropped 15-20 pounds, maybe even more so you tell yourself that’s good enough. Time to go back to eating “normally.”

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You’re not trying to bankrupt any buffets, and you’re doing your best to eat reasonably healthy, but for some diabolical reason the weight seems to be creeping back on. You’re still going to the gym, but each week the scale keeps ticking back up and you don’t know why. Eventually, you feel frustrated and just want to say “screw it” and throw in the towel.

Now it’s a few months down the road from the end of your diet, and you’re right back to where you started, only now you’re demoralized.

Before we dive into exactly what a reverse diet is, we need to hammer out the basics of what it is NOT.

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Alright – this is the part you’ve been waiting for, the defining moment where you’re going to learn how to break free of the hamster wheel diet cycle forever. Through understanding the purpose of a reverse diet, and when to start one, you’re going to be able to keep the fat loss progress you worked so hard for, for the rest of your life.

If you really want to break down the definition into one grand statement, you could think of a reverse diet like this:

“A reverse diet IS the process through which you gradually add carbs, fats, and protein (macronutrients) to your daily intake, through controlled weekly increases, typically after a period of fat loss, in order to return to maintenance calories while keeping any weight or fat regain to an absolute minimum.”

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A reverse diet is not a magical process, but when you are in a good position to start one, the first time you do a reverse there’s a good chance it will feel Gandalf assembled a team of nutrition wizards to handle your macros.

The most obvious time to start a reverse diet is when you’re at the end of a fat loss phase, and the end of a fat loss phase is typically indicated by the following:

If you find yourself in any of the above situations, it’s a great time to reverse – the first is of course the most obvious, as that’s how you’re going to lock in your progress and keep a physique that you’re happy with while also eating an amount

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