Type II diabetes curable?

[ahrabd]

The researchers of the University, Alabama Birmingham Comprehensive Diabetes Center announced that diabetes is a curable disease.

http://alldiseaseinfo.com/diabetes_cure.html

[tom_h]

That is correct.  I am a Type II diabetic.  I will always be a Type II diabetic.  But I control it entirely by diet only.  I've been eating Paleo for 5 years now. My semi-annually A1C's average around 5.8.  The idea is to avoid anything containing carbohydrates.  Now, that's pretty hard to do, but with a little effort, you can minimize them.  My diet is rich in eggs, cheese, meats, and nuts,  Pounds and pounds of nuts; peanuts, walnuts, pecans, and almonds.  I estimate that I easily consume 50 lbs. of various nuts annually.  What I avoid primarily is anything "white".  I don't eat pasta, or flour products with the exception of 2 slices of low carb bread (14G total) daily, rice, potatoes, or anything with added sugar is out.  I stay clear of al juices.  I eat strawberries and blueberries, but shun apples and oranges.  There are tradeoffs:  I yearn for a bagel and cream cheese.  But instead, I have a hard boiled egg, and a plate of bacon.  Vegetables!  Piles of broccoli and Brussels, spinach, and salads.  But no corn, peas, and beans.  They're carb laden.  I can live with this.  Initially, I lost about 15% of my body weight. but I've plateaued in the recent years to a level weight.  Along with diet, I exercise.  I spin, walk and jog daily.  I bought a gym quality spin bike for the house, and spin while I watch evening TV.  The other thing I do is I check my blood glucose once a day, and the same time; when I walk in the door from work.  If it's higher than yesterday, I am very careful.  For me, it's like a competition.  My attempt at diet control was initially met with great skepticism from my physician.  But I convinced him to give me 90 days.  In that period, I went from a 7.1 A1C to a 5.7.  He was dumbfounded with the results.  But It is possible  for some of us to control without meds.

I check my cholesterol every 6 months as well.  I take a statin, which is why I might have turned type II in the first place.  My total cholesterol is usually around 135 to 140 where it was formerly 215-220 without.  I find myself to be an aspertame lab rat on this diet.  I typically consume about 30 to 50 little blue envelopes of aspartame every week.  It doesn't seem to affect me.

Humans were never designed to consume mass quantities of carbs..  Carbohydrates were seasonal treats; gatherers collected raw honey, berries, and other fruits which were consumed on a seasonal basis when they were available..  It wasn't a constant stream of carb laden food like it is today.  Processing grains into flour has only been around for about 8000 years; a blink of the eye on the evolutionary time line.  Our bodies have not yet adapted to processing large quantities of breads, pasta and flour products.

You can do it, but it just takes a little effort.  Initially I got into reading, and calculating the glycemic index of various foods.  It was bewildering.  Instead I just shun anything with high amounts of carbs.  Initially, it requires a little label reading.  But once you get it down, you know what to buy and what to pass on.

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

the tendency towards diabetes (type 2) is not curable, but the expression of that diabetes can be managed / cured by lifestyle (weigh loss, low carb eating, exercise), as long as you consider that you will be 'cured' only as long as you follow that lifestyle.

Further diabetes is not a simple disease and some people will develop it regardless of how good their diet and lifestyle is (not that one shouldn't continue with that lifestyle), and may need medications as well.

Also be aware that recommendations for healthy lifestyle change over time.  However, I think that low carb eating (Low carb, moderate protein, higher fat) is definitely the way to go in diabetes where, after all, you have a defect in carbohydrate metabolism.  

Way of eating may be "paleo" or 'Primal" if you want names.... amount of carb per meal is probably 15 - 50 g and mostly coming from  non-starchy vegetables (no grains and very minimal sweet fruit).

Hope this helps.

[Rachel_R]

A cure in mice is a long long way from a cure in humans. And whats up with the spelling Diabates?

[artemesia2]

I read that if you do a low glycemic diet you can reduce your need for antidiabetic drugs.  THe lower the GI the slower the blood sugar will spike.  Therefore less need for meds.

[diabetes86]

Ummm  

That is not a cure As I understand it you would have to keep taking Verapamil for the rest of your life.  So if your activily doing something to get normal BG and if you stop doing it, and your disease comes back....  That is CONTROLLING the disease.

ALSO  LOTS of things work in animals and NOT in humans  Ill wait for before I start clapping.