Diabetes is a chronic ailment that affects millions of people from across the globe. Unfortunately, it doesn’t show empathy for anyone. Children, young adults, middle-aged, and older folks are treated with the same prism. Diabetes was once considered the illness of the rich. Not anymore! Today, individuals belonging to different socio-economic classes are equally vulnerable. Diabetes was and continues to be addressed through anti-diabetic medications and insulin intake (in severe type-2 and type-1 cases).
Nonetheless, the medical fraternity is now looking at diabetes cure from a different perspective. It believes that “reversal diabetes” is not only possible but has the potential to offer greater benefits to affected individuals. This strategy is gaining momentum and is now considered a front-line tool.
How Is Diabetes Reversed?
Healthcare professionals adopt one of the three strategies mentioned below.
- Bariatric Surgery – Even ordinary folks know that obesity is one of the major reasons for developing diabetes. Bariatric surgery is a procedure where changes are made to the digestive system to reduce body weight. The success of diabetes reversal typically depends on the approach, post-surgery care, and the concerned individual’s metabolic reaction to this change.
- Low Calorie Diet – It is a non-surgical approach to T2D reversal. By consuming meals that are low in calories (800 to 1,200 per day), individuals can push their type-2 diabetes into remission. Of course, this takes time and patience. Most of the time, people with diabetes rely on juices, shakes, fruits, and fibre-rich vegetables.
- Low Carbohydrate Diet – Although carbs are important for humans, as they provide energy (body fuel), choosing the right ones and in the right proportion can reverse diabetes over a period of time.
While bariatric surgery is a standalone solution to reverse diabetes, other approaches generally need additional strategies such as insulin resistance diet, exercise routines, and stress management. Read on to learn how diabetes reversal not only improves blood glucose levels but also offers a bouquet of health benefits.
Improved Blood Sugar Control
Earlier, the focus of healthcare professionals was fixed on managing blood glucose spikes. This simply meant that a person with diabetes needed to follow the prescribed treatment regime, which included medication and regular glucose monitoring. Diabetes reversal was never the goal. Today, this stance towards diabetes is gradually evolving as more and more diabetes experts and educators are migrating towards the remission strategy, which offers improved blood sugar control over an extended period.
Reduced Risk of Diabetes-Related Complications
Diabetes is a reflection of metabolic disorders. Moreover, individuals who have diabetes are at a greater risk of developing high blood pressure or high cholesterol, the two major contributors/factors responsible for cardiovascular complications such as inflamed heart muscles and strokes. Synthetic medicines for diabetes also have long-term repercussions on human organs, especially in people with diabetes who also have weak immune systems. T2D reversal prevents these long-term complications by improving insulin resistance and, thereby, diabetes itself.
Enhanced Cardiovascular Health
Did you know that between 30% to 60% of people with diabetes (type-1 and type-2) have high blood pressure? This percentage is higher in people over 60 years of age. Obese people with unhealthy lifestyles (especially poor diet) are also afflicted with secondary lipid metabolism abnormalities, which give rise to renal illness and hypothyroidism. Keeping blood sugar levels low is not the solution. The answer to maintaining healthy vascular dynamics is diabetes reversal.
Better Weight Management
“How to reverse pre-diabetes” is a popular search string on the internet. The results may not be surprising because most of the folks know that diabetes / pre-diabetes is directly linked to obesity. Studies have time and again shown that the greater the body mass, the greater the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. Obesity compromises metabolism and leads to insulin resistance. In simple words, overweight individuals fail to use insulin efficiently, resulting in glucose build-up. Incidentally, insulin resistance occurs because of increased fatty acids, cytokines, and inflammatory elements (free radicals), which are synonymous with obese people. By addressing diabetes, you also shed extra weight.
Increased Quality of Life and Longevity
One of the important and trusted diabetes markers is the A1C / HbA1C value. It provides average blood sugar levels over a lengthy timeline (typically 3 months). Studies have shown that if a person with diabetes reduces this value/reading from 9.9% to 7.7%, it fetches the concerned individual three-and-a-half years of extended life. The good news doesn’t end here. By controlling comorbidities such as hypertension (additional 1 to 2 years of life gained) and cholesterol (extra 6 months to a year gained), people with diabetes tend to be rewarded with not just longevity but also improved quality of life.
Read More: Reversing Diabetes – A Holistic Approach to Regaining Health
Summing Up
Although diabetes is a threat to humanity because of its horrifying spread across all age groups, geographies, and socio-economic strata, it is now being challenged in many unique ways by the medical world. Today, diabetes experts and educators are shifting towards alternative medical / non-medical paths, not only to address insulin resistance symptoms but also to push it back completely (remission).
