Curing Diabetes Type II

 “I was diagnosed with type II Diabetes....

Can I cure it?”

The answer to this?

Maybe. 

About a year ago, I diagnosed a middle-aged man with Type II diabetes.  Looking at him, you would not call him “fat” by American standards, but when I measured his BMI, he was definitely overweight.  As a school administrator he did not get much formal exercise, but “walks” quite a bit on his job.  Over the past year or two his blood pressure had been slowly rising and so had his weight.  He came to my office because he noticed that he was more fatigued than usual.  When asked, he reported that he had been urinating more than usual as well, but, he explained, he had also been drinking more water. 

When I ordered some routine labs, his blood glucose level was very high.  I then ordered a “Hemoglobin A1c” (HgA1c is a measure of average blood sugars over a 3 months’ time), which was also high. 

I brought him back to my office and told him the bad news - he had diabetes.  We talked about life style changes that can help with diabetes, and I told him that based on his numbers, I recommend we start him on diabetes medication now.  He looked at me and said “What can I do to not need to be on medications?”

I told him he would have to get down to a healthy body weight. He would need to exercise on a daily basis, and he would have to drastically reduce the amount of carbohydrates, processed sugars and juices from his diet.  He told me to give him 3 months, and that his HgA1c would be back in target range without medications.  I told him “Go for it!”

Three months later he returned to my office.  He had ran every day but one since our last meeting, he had drastically reduced the amount of carbohydrates he was eating, eliminated processed sugars and juices from his diet, and he had lost 25 pounds. 

His blood pressure was back down to the normal range, and his HgA1c was well within our goals. Although, some would say he still “has” diabetes, he is someone who I would say is “beating” diabetes.

Dr. Jeff’s 5 Steps to Beating Diabetes Type II

The three major factors that contribute to Type II diabetes are genetics, lifestyle factors, and age.  We cannot change our genetics or age, so if you have diabetes type II or are at risk of developing the condition, it is extremely important that you work on reducing the life style factors that contribute to diabetes.

1. Get and Stay Lean. Get to and maintain a healthy weight.

2. Exercise. Get both cardiovascular and strength training on a daily basis.

3. Avoid Carbohydrates. Reduce total carbohydrate intake from breads, grains, and starchy vegetables.

4. Avoid Refined Sugar. Eliminate refined sugars including granulated sugar, sanding sugar, powders sugars and super-refined sugars found commonly is sodas and sugary beverages.

5. Control Other Health Conditions. Make sure other contributing medical conditions such as high cholesterol, blood pressure, and thyroid disorders are under control.

Stay Healthy!

Dr. Jeff

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