By Suleiman Furmli, Rami Elmasry, Megan Ramos, and Jason Fung
The Bird’s Eye View:
- A case study of 3 patients with insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes
- Shows the effective use of therapeutic fasting to reverse the patients’ insulin resistance
- Patients were instructed to follow a scheduled 24-hour fast 3 times a week for several months
- Over this time period, they were evaluated to glycaemic control and other measures related to diabetes
- There were five outcome measures used in the case study
- Time to discontinuation of insulin
- The most important takeaway from the study was that all three patients were able to completely discontinue their insulin use
- Two of the patients discontinued all their diabetic medications and the third patient discontinued three out of four of their diabetic medications
- Time to discontinuation of insulin ranged from 5 to 18 days
- Fasting blood glucose levels
- Serum A1C level (measures the percent of hemoglobin in your blood are coated with sugar, higher levels indicated poorer blood sugar control)
- Reduction for all patients
- Patient weight
- All patients lost a specific amount of weight
- This weight loss will likely reduce the risk of further complications from diabetes
- Patient waist circumference
- Decreased in all patients
- Time to discontinuation of insulin
Type II Diabetes Background Info:
- Chronic disease that’s closely linked to the current obesity epidemic
- Requires life-long medical attention due to its many microvascular, macrovascular, and neuropathic complications
- Microvascular complications are those that affect small blood vessels
- Retinopathy
- Nephropathy
- Neuropathy
- Macrovascular complications are those that affect large blood vessels
- Ischemic heart disease
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Microvascular complications are those that affect small blood vessels
- These complications arise due to the combination of insulin action resistance, lack of insulin secretion, and excessive glucagon secretion
Problems with the current treatments for Type II Diabetes:
- Insulin costs are rising, so therapeutic fasting as a treatment could save patients a significant amount of money
- Reduced use of syringes and blood glucose monitoring can increase patient comfort
- Lifestyle modifications are understood to be important for Type II Diabetes but are often difficult in real-world application
- Other modifications have had little success in achieving adequate glycaemic control
- Alternatives include bariatric surgery, but it can be invasive, costly, and has many associated risks
- Plus, the long-term effects of the surgery are minimized by a lack of lifestyle modifications
- Medications can help manage diabetes symptoms, but don’t do much to prevent or reverse the progression of the disease
How fasting fills the gap in diabetes care:
- Similar intensive caloric and hormonal benefits as bariatric surgery without having to go through intensive surgery
- Can help reverse the progression of type II diabetes without the negative side effects and financial burden associated with many medications
Other Fasting Flamingo resources related to Type II Diabetes:
- James Cracknell is running 100 miles in five days, while fasting
- In September of 2020, James Cracknell and a group of seven other runners completed a 100 mile run over 5 days. Plus, they consumed only water and did the entire run in a fasted state. Their goal was to prove that our bodies can, and maybe should, run on little-to-no carbohydrates.
- The Obesity Code – Book Summary
- Struggling to lose weight? Or reverse obesity? If you want to understand why you gain weight and how to reverse it — this is the book for you. Don’t get what the big deal is about fasting and why reducing insulin is game-changing, this is for you.
- Fung disproves the calories in calories out model of weight gain and thoughtfully explains how hormones (particularly insulin) m
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