Magdalena reversed her diabetes

Magdalena struggled with binge eating and a stressful job which caused her to put on a lot of weight. After a blood test, her doctor told her she had type 2 diabetes.

I have yo-yo’ed my whole life. I last about a month before I cheat. Sometimes I can pick myself up and go back at it. More often, I binge.  

My fasting blood sugar was 155. My ac1 was 6.7. The list of uh-ohs was long, and my mind blurred. I had begun a journey with diabetes. My heart was pounding, and all I could hear was, “Avoid bread.” 

Armed with nothing more than a bunch of bad news, I went to work.
Researching everything I could find. I started, of course, with the ADA (American Diabetes Association). Everything on there seemed wrong. Fruit flavored yogurt? Huh? So, I went back to the 4-hour body book I yo-yo’ed with once. Slow carbs. That might be the ticket. 

Then, in January of this year I stumbled on the Reversing Diabetes group on Facebook. I read, and read, and read. I asked a dumb question about why beans aren’t ok. I started following the advice to the letter. 

This last 6 months have been amazingly easy and satisfying. I don’t fantasize about food. I don’t crave those awful donuts in the lounge. I eat freely and on plan every single day. 

I have now lost 48 lbs (22 kg) and reduced my a1c to 5.4 with the help of just LCHF [low carb, high fat]. My doctor reduced my metformin [diabetes medication] three months ago, and as of yesterday told me to go off it. My blood pressure is normal. My headaches and sluggishness are gone. My body is healing. 

And I have reversed diabetes.

Read Magdalena's whole story here.

Inspiration: Type 2 Diabetes - Reversed!

Is Diabetes Type 2 irreversible? That’s what Bernard Bollen’s doctor told him, and that’s what conventional wisdom says.

Then Bernard tried the Paleo diet, a way of eating that emphasizes healthy fats and proteins, vegetables (and lots of them!), and limits or excludes processed foods, especially grains. Here’s his story:

I am 59 years old and have eaten a nutrition-sparse diet most of my life, high in sugars and refined carbohydrates. When I was first diagnosed with diabetes 6 years ago, my doctor told me that diabetes was a progressive disease that would require management, but that it was ultimately incurable. My feet were beginning to go numb, a sure sign of nerve damage in the extremities.... I was resigned to what I saw as the inevitable, a limb amputation, blindness, a stroke or a heart attack. 

Then, one year ago... I became aware of the Paleo diet. Its underlying nutritional philosophy just made sense to me. I... threw myself into the Paleo program. Over the next few months I certainly began to lose weight, but more, my whole relation to food... changed.... 

One month ago I saw my doctor.... who one year ago appeared to be skeptical of the benefits of the Paleo diet (so was I for that matter). Today he calls me his ‘poster boy patient’. Nearly all of the medications that I took a year ago have been dispatched to the [trash] bin. My life has been transformed in many ways. 

After six months on the Paleo diet I had already lost 15 kg (33 lbs) and felt that I had made a health breakthrough.... So I enrolled in a gym and regularly engaged in aerobic and resistance exercises. Now, 12 months later I have lost 30 kg (66 lbs) and I look and feel so much better.... 

Today I am cured of diabetes.

Was it the Paleo diet specifically that reversed his condition, or merely getting the processed foods out of his diet and/or reducing carbs? I suspect either would have made a radical difference.

Even if you're not ready to go full-on Paleo or Whole30, I believe -- from my own experience and from what I've seen in others -- that just eliminating sugar and processed foods can make a huge difference in your health -- not just your weight; your overall health!

Diabetes Type 2 increases your risk for multiple, serious health issues:

• Heart and blood vessel disease. Diabetes doubles your chance of heart attack or stroke, and dramatically increases your risk of other cardiovascular problems, including CAD, atherosclerosis, and high blood pressure.
• Nerve damage (neuropathy). Poorly controlled blood sugar can eventually cause you to lose all sense of feeling in the affected limbs. 
• Digestion problems. Damage to the nerves that control digestion can cause problems with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. 
• Kidney damage. Diabetes can damage the delicate filtering system of your kidneys. Severe damage can lead to effects which require dialysis or a kidney transplant.
• Eye damage. Diabetes can damage the blood vessels of the retina, potentially leading to cataracts, glaucoma, and even blindness.
• Foot damage. Nerve damage in the feet or poor blood flow to the feet increases the risk of various foot complications. 
• Skin conditions. Diabetes may leave you more susceptible to skin problems, including bacterial and fungal infections.
• Alzheimer's disease. Type 2 diabetes may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The poorer your blood sugar control, the greater the risk appears to be.

Learn more about diabetes' effect on your health:

• About the Diabetes-Alzheimer's link; Alzheimer's Association
• The connection between diabetes, heart disease, and stroke; U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
• Type 2 Diabetes complications; The Mayo Clinic

Read some Whole30 success stories. (Whole30 is a 30-day elimination diet based on Paleo principles.)

Bernard's story is edited from an original article, here.
More success stories from the same site, here.

A simple explanation of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

Here is a 7-minute video that does a great job of explaining in very simple terms how insulin and glucose work together to control your blood sugar/glucose and get your cells what they need, and also explains the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes:

Dear Diet Soda: You're not helping - What research has to say about artificially sweetened beverages

Excerpts from a report published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 2013

Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements

Susan E. Swithers -- Department of Psychological Sciences and Ingestive Behavior Research Center, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

ASB = artificially sweetened beverage
SSB = sugar sweetened beverage

Weight gain & body fat percentage

The San Antonio Heart Study documented weight change in men and women over a 7–8-year period. That study reported that, among participants who were normal weight or overweight at the beginning of the study, risk of weight gain and obesity were significantly greater in those consuming ASB compared with those who did not.
In a study of two adolescent groups, ASB use was associated with increased body fat percentage at 2-year follow-up.

Metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes)

A number of studies have reported greater risk of metabolic syndrome for consumers of ASB. Estimates of the increase range from 17% to over 100%, with the magnitude of the risk also depending on which other risk factors were taken into consideration. In studies that also examined the risk of metabolic syndrome with SSB consumption, the increased risk was often similar for SSB and ASB.

Type 2 diabetes

In the European E3N study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, risk for Type 2 diabetes more than doubled for participants in the top 25% of ASB consumption compared with non-consumers. SSB consumption was also associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Hypertension and cardiovascular disease

In the Nurses Health Study, risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) was significantly elevated in women who consumed more than two ASB or SSB per day. Similarly, in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, risk of CHD was significantly elevated by ASB and SSB.
Three different studies found a significantly elevated risk for hypertension in women who consumed at least one ASB daily -- at a level similar to that of SSB use.
Results from the Northern Manhattan Study indicated that daily ASB consumption was associated with significantly increased risk of vascular events, at a magnitude similar to daily SSB consumption.

Concluding remarks

Recent data from humans and rodent models have provided little support for ASB in promoting weight loss or preventing negative health outcomes such as Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular events. Instead, a number of studies suggest people who regularly consume ASB are at increased risk compared with those that do not consume ASB; with the magnitude of the increased risks similar to those associated with SSB.

Source: http://download.cell.com/images/edimages/Trends/EndoMetabolism/tem_888.pdf

Read more about why your diet pop may be making you fat.