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I think I used the wrong terminology, when I said "reverse" I meant being weened off of medication.
Low carb, build lean muscle mass with weight training 3x/week, daily walking or aerobic exercise, and sufficient protein. The authors of the book Protein Power have successfully taken patients off insulin, but you have to stick with the diet for the rest of your life. I would say, not only low carbs, but eliminate sweets altogether, and nearly all fruit.
I think I used the wrong terminology, when I said "reverse" I meant being weened off of medication.
Do you mean weaned off insulin, or off meds like metformin?
Some diabetics never use insulin. In my family, half of us have type 2, and only one of us has taken insulin. Even with insulin, his diabetes was completely uncontrolled because he depended on the insulin to do the work for him; he still drank sweet tea all day, and he ate whatever he wanted with no regard as to the sugar content. He's the one who ended up with amputated feet and died from complications. He was never overweight, by the way. The rest of us in the family control our sugars with a low-carb diet and no insulin.
But while a low-carb diet can control my sugars during the day, my liver still produces glucose while I'm sleeping, which I have no control over, and my metformin helps control that so my fasting sugar in the morning is good at 80-90. I don't want to get off metformin for that reason.
My sugars during the day are very well controlled with a low-carb diet and no insulin.
Last edited by oldgardener; 08-31-2017 at 04:12 PM..
Do you mean weaned off insulin, or off meds like metformin?
Some diabetics never use insulin. In my family, half of us have type 2, and only one of us has taken insulin. Even with insulin, his diabetes was completely uncontrolled because he depended on the insulin to do the work for him; he still drank sweet tea all day, and he ate whatever he wanted with no regard as to the sugar content. He's the one who ended up with amputated feet and died from complications. He was never overweight, by the way. The rest of us in the family control our sugars with a low-carb diet and no insulin.
But while a low-carb diet can control my sugars during the day, my liver still produces glucose while I'm sleeping, which I have no control over, and my metformin helps control that so my fasting sugar in the morning is good at 80-90. I don't want to get off metformin for that reason.
My sugars during the day are very well controlled with a low-carb diet and no insulin.
Is that normal? Is that what everyone's liver does, or is that a diabetes symptom? I'm pre-diabetic, and some of the things I read on this forum scare me! What is metformin; is it some kind of insulin? Does it have fewer long-term negative effects than insulin?
Is that normal? Is that what everyone's liver does, or is that a diabetes symptom? I'm pre-diabetic, and some of the things I read on this forum scare me! What is metformin; is it some kind of insulin? Does it have fewer long-term negative effects than insulin?
It's called dawn phenomenon. You can read about it here. Dawn Phenomenon: American Diabetes Association® "All people have the “dawn phenomenon,” if they have diabetes or not." Diabetics can't handle it like nondiabetics can.
Metformin is not insulin. It is biguanide, an oral diabetes medicine that helps control blood sugar levels and prevents the liver from producing too much glucose. My sisters and I have been taking metformin for years with no negative effects. (People here will tell you otherwise, of course.)
It's called dawn phenomenon. You can read about it here. Dawn Phenomenon: American Diabetes Association® "All people have the “dawn phenomenon,” if they have diabetes or not." Diabetics can't handle it like nondiabetics can.
Metformin is not insulin. It is biguanide, an oral diabetes medicine that helps control blood sugar levels and prevents the liver from producing too much glucose. My sisters and I have been taking metformin for years with no negative effects. (People here will tell you otherwise, of course.)
Thank you. The dawn phenomenon relates to when the adrenal glands release cortisol at 6 a.m. to begin waking you up. They gradually release more as the morning continues, to give you energy to get your day started and go to work. Production of it peaks at noon, and begins a slow decline to bedtime. What other hormones might be involved in the early morning, I don't know. Except that women's testosterone begins entering the system at 6 a.m., too. In men, testosterone comes in at night, as it's their sleep hormone. Women have other sleep hormones that work at night.
Dr. Jason Fung, whom someone mentioned earlier, says that over time, diabetes progresses to the point that metformin is no longer effective, so patients need to escalate to a stronger drug. But I don't know if he means that across the board, or if people who go on, and stay on, a low-carb diet may succeed in preventing the disease from getting worse, so they don't encounter the issue of having to increase dosage or med. strength over time.
Dr. Jason Fung, whom someone mentioned earlier, says that over time, diabetes progresses to the point that metformin is no longer effective, so patients need to escalate to a stronger drug. But I don't know if he means that across the board, or if people who go on, and stay on, a low-carb diet may succeed in preventing the disease from getting worse, so they don't encounter the issue of having to increase dosage or med. strength over time.
One of my sisters has been taking metformin since the mid 90s, so about 20 years, and her dosage hasn't changed in all that time. I've been taking it for almost 10 years, on the same low dosage the whole time. Our fasting sugars are in the 80-90 range. We're low-carbers, no insulin.
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Is that normal? Is that what everyone's liver does, or is that a diabetes symptom? I'm pre-diabetic, and some of the things I read on this forum scare me! What is metformin; is it some kind of insulin? Does it have fewer long-term negative effects than insulin?
