Posted on 12/14/2022 9:42:27 AM PST by Red Badger
Dec. 14 (UPI) -- People with Type 2 diabetes who fast intermittently may no longer need medication, a small study suggests.
After an intermittent fasting diet intervention, most patients in the study achieved complete diabetes remission -- defined as having a stable HbA1c, or average blood sugar, level of less than 6.5% for at least three months -- after discontinuing all anti-diabetic medications.
This is according to findings published Wednesday in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
"Type 2 diabetes is not necessarily a permanent, lifelong disease. Diabetes remission is possible if patients lose weight by changing their diet and exercise habits," Dongbo Liu, the study's corresponding author and a professor at Hunan Agricultural University in Changsha, China, said in a news release.
He added: "Our research shows an intermittent fasting, Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy, can lead to diabetes remission in people with Type 2 diabetes, and these findings could have a major impact on the over 537 million adults worldwide who suffer from the disease."
According to the research paper, the Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy diet "is a new proposed dietary approach based on [intermittent fasting] involving five fasting days followed by 10 days of reintroducing everyday food items."
The diet contains daily foods such as wheat, barley, rice, rye and oat, "and features reduced glycemic loads, calories, and carbohydrates, as well as increased unsaturated fatty acids," the scientists said.
Liu, describing diabetes medications as costly and a barrier for many patients trying to manage their illness, said, "Our study saw medication costs decrease by 77% in people with diabetes after intermittent fasting."
The researchers said that, although intermittent fasting diets -- eating within a specific window of time to help the body burn fat -- have become popular, no scientific studies have investigated their benefit in diabetes remission.
Their study involved participants between 38 and 72 years old who had Type 2 diabetes from one year to 11 years and used anti-diabetic drugs and/or insulin injections. Two-thirds of them were men. The participants' body mass index , or BMI, ranged from 19.1 to 30.4.
Participants were randomly assigned to the Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy group, involving intermittent fasting, or to a control group
After a three-month intermittent fasting diet intervention among 36 people with diabetes, almost 90% of participants, including people who took blood sugar-lowering agents and insulin, reduced their diabetes medication use.
Three months after the intervention ended, 47.2% of participants had achieved diabetes remission in the Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy/intermittent fasting group, the research paper said. That compared with 2.8% in the control group.
At the 12-month follow up, 44.4% of the participants were found to have achieved sustained diabetes remission.
The researchers said their findings challenge the conventional view that diabetes remission can only be achieved in people who have had Type 2 diabetes no longer than six years. Sixty-five percent of the study's participants who achieved such remission had Type 2 diabetes for six years to 11 years.
"This study demonstrated the clinical efficacy of [intermittent fasting] in achieving diabetes remission for at least one year," the paper concludes.
Thanks for posting this. I wondered what they meant by “intermittent fasting”, so I went to the article. Evidently it means fasting five days in a row. Wow. From the article:
According to the research paper, the Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy diet “is a new proposed dietary approach based on [intermittent fasting] involving five fasting days followed by 10 days of reintroducing everyday food items.”
Hmmm, normal people knew this 30 years ago.
Cutting carbs works well also..................
Most I did was a three week fast. Came out feeling amazing. You actually don’t lose as much weight as you think as your metabolism crumbles.
3 week is huge!
I stopped at Chinese…
Everyone knows Chinese food makes you hungry an hour after eating it. Probably why so many Americans have diabetes……./
[intermittent fasting] involving five fasting days followed by 10 days of reintroducing everyday food items.”
. . . .
How did they find this out? One of their forced labor camps?
WTH? Taking medical advice from the Chinese when they gave us covid and poisoned our pet food?
There are many, many, many ways to do "intermittent fasting". This Chink study has WAY too many carbs. I have been IF and keto (low carb) for the last six months. Started when, after my last series of tests, the PA started making noises about "pre-diabetic" insulin levels. Have lost 50 pounds with probably another 10-15 to go. Daily blood glucose measurements have come down into the "non-pre-diabetic" range. Just got another blood draw and waiting on the results from that.
IF/keto is the way to go....
“Type 2 diabetes is not necessarily a permanent, lifelong disease. Diabetes remission is possible if patients lose weight by changing their diet and exercise habits,”
Stated better, Type 2 diabetes is caused by diet and exercise habits — and people need to get that straight before running to the doctors who will invariably tell them that diet and exercise habits have nothing to do with their poor condition, and they have a permanent, lifelong disease they can do absolutely nothing about.
“IF/keto is the way to go...”
It’s working for us, too. Beau has lost 25# and I’ve lost 12# as of today.
Our last meal is at 6pm. We then ‘fast’ until Noon the next day (18 hours) and have a Keto ‘brunch.’ We do have coffee in the morning, or tea and/or water.
I enjoy it, as I’ve never been a breakfast eater to begin with and it’s one less meal a day I need to prepare. Neither of us has been hungry, either. Maybe once every few days, but nothing that’s not sated with a big glass of water. :)
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