Can insulin resistance be reversed? (veggies, Alli, BMI, overweight)
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I know that I can control IR through diet/exercise/weight loss. Last summer I was barely aware that I even had it. I had gotten to the point where I could have some high carb foods every now and then without getting the jitters later on. But come fall, I got slack on my good habits and I could feel my sensitivity to carbs increase.
I'm in the process of getting back on track but I find myself wondering if it is possible to ever truly reverse IR. What do you think?
I know that I can control IR through diet/exercise/weight loss. Last summer I was barely aware that I even had it. I had gotten to the point where I could have some high carb foods every now and then without getting the jitters later on. But come fall, I got slack on my good habits and I could feel my sensitivity to carbs increase.
I'm in the process of getting back on track but I find myself wondering if it is possible to ever truly reverse IR. What do you think?
See there's the rub. If you mean reverse it to the point where you can eat the way you want to, the answer is no. If you mean get healthy to the point where your glucose levels aren't all over the board, then I believe that it can be. Fact is that the human body was not designed to eat a standard american diet. I was talking to a lady today who reversed diabetes with her diet and hasn't had to start any pills yet, but she has to stay on a low carb regimen and keep her weight down. My personal experience is that when I've been gaining weight, my IR is the worst, and when the weight stabilizes it's a bit better, but it def improves when I lose weight. All extra weight goes straight to belly fat on me so I know it's not healthy.
See there's the rub. If you mean reverse it to the point where you can eat the way you want to, the answer is no. If you mean get healthy to the point where your glucose levels aren't all over the board, then I believe that it can be. Fact is that the human body was not designed to eat a standard american diet. I was talking to a lady today who reversed diabetes with her diet and hasn't had to start any pills yet, but she has to stay on a low carb regimen and keep her weight down. My personal experience is that when I've been gaining weight, my IR is the worst, and when the weight stabilizes it's a bit better, but it def improves when I lose weight. All extra weight goes straight to belly fat on me so I know it's not healthy.
I don't really expect to eat everything that I want to eat, not exercise and still stay fit. But there was I time when I could exercise for a stretch, drop some pounds and slack off for a little bit without too much of an issue. Maybe I'd gain 5 pounds over the course of a few months.
Now there seems to be no slack off time. If I'm not eating *very* low carb, I need to be exercising and even then I need to stick to the complex carbs if I want to lose weight.
There was a small study in Britain that showed incredible results in T2 diabetes patients from following a severely calorie-restricted, fibrous, low-carb diet for 3 months. Essentially they consumed special protein shakes and cruciferous low-carb veggies and that's it. Nearly all the participants were able to completely reverse their diabetes - to the point where they no longer showed any signs of insulin resistance. Researchers theorized that severely depriving the body of fat forced it to canabalize its internal fat stores, and that decreasing the amount of fat around the pancreas (by about 2%) was enough to restore normal insulin function. The results were pretty spectacular, but if I recall correctly the sample-size was very small (<12 people), so I would hope a larger study is in the works...
I don't know if you're at that point (I'm certainly not), but being from a family with a strong history of both T1 and T2 diabetes - I read it with a great deal of interest. I see the fall-out from diabetes all around me each time I go home and I don't want to go on drugs or poke myself daily. I find it disturbing that Wal-greens has an entire 'diabetes lifestyle' section, and I don't want to be shopping in it!
So, your story sounds familiar. Like you my body simply doesn't deal with carbs well. I may not like it, but I've had to accept that this is my heritage and it's better to eat low-carb and get my butt to the gym than deal with what the rest of my family is going through. We don't even tend towards being overweight - we're just not good at regulating insulin. Sure I'd love to eat more pie, but I'm also grateful that I can control it with something as simple as diet. Life's not fair, but at least I've got lifestyle options and it's not debilitating. Good luck to you in your research!
There was a small study in Britain that showed incredible results in T2 diabetes patients from following a severely calorie-restricted, fibrous, low-carb diet for 3 months. Essentially they consumed special protein shakes and cruciferous low-carb veggies and that's it. Nearly all the participants were able to completely reverse their diabetes - to the point where they no longer showed any signs of insulin resistance. Researchers theorized that severely depriving the body of fat forced it to canabalize its internal fat stores, and that decreasing the amount of fat around the pancreas (by about 2%) was enough to restore normal insulin function. The results were pretty spectacular, but if I recall correctly the sample-size was very small (<12 people), so I would hope a larger study is in the works...
I don't know if you're at that point (I'm certainly not), but being from a family with a strong history of both T1 and T2 diabetes - I read it with a great deal of interest. I see the fall-out from diabetes all around me each time I go home and I don't want to go on drugs or poke myself daily. I find it disturbing that Wal-greens has an entire 'diabetes lifestyle' section, and I don't want to be shopping in it!
So, your story sounds familiar. Like you my body simply doesn't deal with carbs well. I may not like it, but I've had to accept that this is my heritage and it's better to eat low-carb and get my butt to the gym than deal with what the rest of my family is going through. We don't even tend towards being overweight - we're just not good at regulating insulin. Sure I'd love to eat more pie, but I'm also grateful that I can control it with something as simple as diet. Life's not fair, but at least I've got lifestyle options and it's not debilitating. Good luck to you in your research!
Facepalm city right here.
Just eliminating the damn carbs probably would have had the same effect -- they didn't have to starve the poor people.
So are you down to the weight that is right for you or do you have some pounds to go?
No. I need to lose weight.
I had been doing pretty good last year, then fell off the wagon with diet/exercise when I hurt my foot and the weather got rainy. I got really inconsistent with my food choices, only exercised once or twice a week. I gained weight pretty quickly, and it's taken until now to steel myself to try again .
On the good side, my muscles seem to be coming back way faster than I thought they would. And I've already lost 5 pounds, which is really fast for me.
There was a small study in Britain that showed incredible results in T2 diabetes patients from following a severely calorie-restricted, fibrous, low-carb diet for 3 months. Essentially they consumed special protein shakes and cruciferous low-carb veggies and that's it. Nearly all the participants were able to completely reverse their diabetes - to the point where they no longer showed any signs of insulin resistance. Researchers theorized that severely depriving the body of fat forced it to canabalize its internal fat stores, and that decreasing the amount of fat around the pancreas (by about 2%) was enough to restore normal insulin function. The results were pretty spectacular, but if I recall correctly the sample-size was very small (<12 people), so I would hope a larger study is in the works...
I don't know if you're at that point (I'm certainly not), but being from a family with a strong history of both T1 and T2 diabetes - I read it with a great deal of interest. I see the fall-out from diabetes all around me each time I go home and I don't want to go on drugs or poke myself daily. I find it disturbing that Wal-greens has an entire 'diabetes lifestyle' section, and I don't want to be shopping in it!
So, your story sounds familiar. Like you my body simply doesn't deal with carbs well. I may not like it, but I've had to accept that this is my heritage and it's better to eat low-carb and get my butt to the gym than deal with what the rest of my family is going through. We don't even tend towards being overweight - we're just not good at regulating insulin. Sure I'd love to eat more pie, but I'm also grateful that I can control it with something as simple as diet. Life's not fair, but at least I've got lifestyle options and it's not debilitating. Good luck to you in your research!
Makes sense. My IR seemed to be triggered by increased fat around my midsection after I had my babies. I actually know the month and the year that it started.
It seems that if I could just get this belly weight off, my IR would improve and hopefully go away. Diabetes scares the heck out of me, too. I really do not want to get it.
I had been doing pretty good last year, then fell off the wagon with diet/exercise when I hurt my foot and the weather got rainy. I got really inconsistent with my food choices, only exercised once or twice a week. I gained weight pretty quickly, and it's taken until now to steel myself to try again .
On the good side, my muscles seem to be coming back way faster than I thought they would. And I've already lost 5 pounds, which is really fast for me.
OK, that helps to know that. I've got to say that I'm only speculating here and much depends on how close to diabetes you are, but I believe that most people would have a little wiggle room for falling off a bit if they're closer to their goal weight. But, you're not going to like this--I have no idea how old you are but I suspect you're younger than me--I'm 52. What passes for a normal weight these days is actually overweight and probably by 20 lbs. I think BMI is not a very good method to determine what you should weigh either so if you really want to know, you should probably pull up an old fashioned height/weight chart and check that. I'm talking about the ones that were out in the 70's and had separate categories for men and women and also for small/medium/large frames and even those had a range. If I can find one I'll post it. I can't even imagine why they replaced it with the BMI measure--seems like the info you get from docs and the govt is just so hazy these days.
Also it sounds like you could really benefit from reading Sugar Nation. Someone suggested it to me and it's great--it's written by a young thin man who got adult diabetes and wasn't satisfied with the answers he was getting from his doc so he started researching for himself and interviewing researchers to see if it could be reversed with lifestyle or if that's just a dream and he does keep it under control w/o pills but he says that you shouldn't even let 2 days go by w/o exercising. It's also a very interesting book to read.
I had been doing pretty good last year, then fell off the wagon with diet/exercise when I hurt my foot and the weather got rainy. I got really inconsistent with my food choices, only exercised once or twice a week. I gained weight pretty quickly, and it's taken until now to steel myself to try again .
On the good side, my muscles seem to be coming back way faster than I thought they would. And I've already lost 5 pounds, which is really fast for me.
Well keep and eye on it. Fast loss can also be a sign of issue. I assume you do the little log book and all, right?
I can say when I put my father on a healthier diet and he lost a few he was able to quit his high BP meds and reduce his "sugar pill" (metformin) dose. In the summer when he is active outside he can actually skip his sugar pills as long as he is eating correctly. (he still monitors during this time and cleared it with his doctor) His weight is still a little high for his height by about 15-20lbs but he is one of those bulldog built old men. I really only think he has a gut because of age. Its not a fat deposit its just the age bulge when that liner becomes thin between your skin and organs. (he is 74)
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