Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible ?

Yes, for many diabetics it is. Type 2 diabetes is a chain of events that begins with your body's exposure to a diet that your body initially tries to control. AT THIS EARLY STAGE, IT USUALLY GOES UNDIAGNOSED.

Your blood sugar levels may be excessive, but you produce extra insulin to compensate. If you get an annual check-up, your physician sees that your fasting blood sugar is normal. This is because your body has worked hard overnight, producing extra insulin to bring it down. However, damage is already being done.

Your average blood sugar is often higher than it should be and damage to other body organs has begun.

For some people, this damage to other organs is discovered before your doctor realizes you are diabetic. Your body begins to become resistant to these high insulin levels, so your blood sugar starts to increase. Your fasting blood sugar may become slightly elevated, but your physician may dismiss it or tell you that you are "pre-diabetic".

In my opinion, that has the same validity as telling a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy that she is "pre-pregnant".

This is an early stage of diabetes and should not be dismissed lightly! As the disease progresses, you produce more insulin to compensate for your body's resistance. You may encounter sharp swings in your sugar level. These may cause mid-morning hunger, episodes of confusion, irritability and mood changes. You may be prescribed a mood-altering medication, to compensate for the symptoms while ignoring their underlying cause.

Finally, your body can not keep up. Your pancreas can no longer produce the level of insulin your body demands to control itself. Your blood sugar is now higher than it should be most or all of the time. This is typically the point which most people reach, before they are finally diagnosed as diabetic.

This is the time most therapy begins.

But, is it the correct therapy for you? The usual sequence should be:

1. Education and monitoring.
2. Dietary change.
3. Oral diabetic medication.
4. Insulin injections.

Unfortunately, this is not the way that it always happens. Insurance reimbursement policies, as well as business-like group practices, often penalize your physician if he or she spends time educating you. If you do receive any education, it is often relegated to someone not responsible for your care and a canned pitch. Incredibly, it may contain recommendations originating from a group receiving grants from the soft drink industry! The next time that you visit your physician and your tests are redone, you may get a disappointing frown and a lecture about not following an effective diet.

Many people have been started immediately on diabetic medications, not even going through the formality of an attempt at dietary change. That is too bad, because the right dietary intervention coupled with the knowledge of how to monitor your progress, may have been sufficient at this point.

What happens next? If you are currently on diabetic medications, did they instantly work? For many people, it is a process of gradually increasing and adding to medication, yet never achieving could control. In fact, good control is usually a compromise! Oral medications are fixed doses. It is notoriously impossible to get it just right. Every day, your energy needs may be different. A slight change in your eating pattern or exercise pattern can often lead to a hypoglycemic or low blood sugar episode. Research has shown that when diabetics are too closely controlled by oral medications, the rate of people having low blood sugar leading to strokes increases greatly! For that reason, your control may be compromised. Rather than take a chance of harming you this way, your physician may be satisfied less than perfect control. You may be moved from the inexpensive medication to the latest medication at a cost of hundreds of dollars each month.

If you were a thin diabetic (Yes, there are such people!) you may have begun to put on weight. If you were already overweight, you probably were lectured about losing weight, but found that you put on even more weight. Despite the medications, the continued strain on your pancreas may mean that it can not put out enough insulin to suit your needs. At that point, you may have been started on insulin injections.

Our program is different!

Through dietary change, your body quickly reduces its' need for insulin. By doing so, your resistance to insulin may begin to heal. As it does, your need for diabetic medication is reduced or totally eliminated. In fact, it would be dangerous to continue diabetic medications as your body returns to normal. Will it work for everyone? No, but it will work for most people. When will it not work?

We do not recommend this program if:

1. Your pancreas has been damaged to the point that you produce no natural insulin.
2. You are not willing to monitor your blood glucose faithfully.
3. You have no control over your own food selection and preparation.
4. You have a history of behavioral, psychological, or emotional issues that will prevent you from following our plan.

Most type 2 diabetics are overweight. As your diabetes comes under control, you should find yourself losing weight at the same time. You have probably been told that losing weight will control your diabetes. Actually, it is the other way around. Your diabetes should come under improved control within a matter of days, even though your weight loss may just be a few pounds in those few days. The two work together, so that the dietary change that will bring your diabetes under control will also allow you to lose weight safely and effectively.

You may have tried to lose weight unsuccessfully in the past. Do not be discouraged. Theoretically, anyone can lose weight on most diets. Unfortunately, this is usually true only if you are a rat in a cage. When you try to follow ineffective diets where you have free-will, you may be constantly hungry and find it impossible to lose weight. Such ineffective attempts to lose weight may have left you feeling trapped or discouraged. Our program puts you back in control. We evaluate you and teach you dietary methods that don’t leave you hungry, while you regain control over your diabetes. This will become something more than a diet, it will become a way of life.

We DO NOT sell you food, supplements or diet drugs.

If you want to learn if this program is right for you, schedule an informational appointment with us. This short session provides an overview of the program and will answer many questions.

Are you ready to start now or have questions?

Schedule an individual appointment with us today.
Call 785-783-7779 for details or CLICK HERE for our ONLINE CONTACT FORM.
Outside Topeka? Call toll-free 1-888-933-9833

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**This site is intended to provide information about programs and services available through Preventive Medicine Associates LLC. This website is not intended to offer individual medical advice. If you require care, contact us or consult your personal physician.