I am fasting every Sunday and my blood sugars have lowered...

[pbmus]

Link to tweet

[Ms. Toad]

1. I agree as to the bottom line -

the 800 calorie diet for 8 weeks can reverse diabetes. I wasn't able to complete it, because cancer intervened. But in the ~ 6 weeks I reversed from full-blow diabetes to pre-diabetes (where I remain today - 2 years later - despite not eating consistently with a diet to manage diabetes during the A1C look-back period. (In other words the A1C reflects a change in how my body processes sugar, not just how well I'm managing my sugar intake.

I disagree that it is weight related. It is the dramatic reduction of calories for a relatively brief period of time that seems to reverse the change.

I combined mine with 16 hour daily fasts - which seemed to help, as well. I'm gearing up to go through it a second time (we hope with no intervening cancer that forces me to eat to support my body through cancer rather than eat to reverse diabetes.

In addition to reversing diabetes, diabetes can be managed merely by a reduction in carbohydrate consumption. Mine was under control with 2 weeks - with my weight well into the obese range (the earliest I was brave enough to test it, post diagnosis), just by limiting my carb intake to what my body could process without my blood sugar venturing out of the normal range.

[pbmus]

2. Fantastic news about your sugar levels...congrats

I also got a cancer scare...colon cancer...but was able to get tumor removed thru colonoscopy without major surgery or chemo....

I hope yours is under control...

[Ms. Toad]

10. Yup.

Two years out, graduated to "survivorship" care by all but my radiological oncologist.

Hate that term. I prefer NED (no evidence of disease). I'm not sure cancer ever vanishes, and survivor implies it is a thing of the past.

Congrats to you, as well!

[shanti]

3. I'm diabetic too

A1C was last tested at 5.2, so it's under control (most of the time). I've found that not eating anything after about 7pm greatly reduced my fasting numbers. If you think about it though, if you stop eating at 7, and don't eat again until 11am the next day, that's 16 hours of fasting.

I have a strict breakfast regimen, which is: 1 hardboiled egg, a small tangerine, a buttered english muffin, and a piece of string cheese or one of those small fresh mozzarella packs. I don't eat lunch, but breakfast seems to be enough to stave off hunger until dinner. I like all of my breakfast foods, so it's not a problem to eat the same thing all the time. I used to have 1/4 c of oatmeal with stevia and ground flax seed in it, maybe a tablespoon full of blueberries, but haven't done that for awhile. The only thing that throws me off is if I have to travel, but it's still pretty doable.

Also, I'm a bit overweight, but not obese, and my weight doesn't flucutate except during the holidays. I have also found out that if I drink alcohol in the evening, my fbg is much lower.

[Ms. Toad]

9. More carbohydrate than my body can handle.

Alcohol shuts off the sugar production factory in your liver, temporarily dropping your BG - which is why it is so dangerous for Type 1 diabetics and people taking meds that increase insulin production.

I have a glass of wine when I want to have a bit more carbohydrates than my body can tolerate (like a single piece of bread), or I'm uncertain of the carb content of what I am about to eat.

I have pretty severe dawn phenomenon - so even when my blood glucose is in he perfectly normal ranges all day long, it hovers around 100 in the morning. (And the alcohol effect doesn't last long enough in me to lower morning AM readings)

[uponit7771]

12. Does metformin help Dawn phenomenon?

By

[Ms. Toad]

13. I can't tell that it does.

My doctor diagnosed me with Hashimotos hypothyroidism, vitamin D deficiency, and diabetes all in one visit. Our compromise on meds was that I would start taking 500 MG Metformin daily (a quarter of the dose considered standard), and thyroid medication, and he would not immediately impose lower cholesterol and blood pressure limits on me (which would have also put me on statins).

He did not believe that I would be able to lower BG with diet alone, and expected to increase it at my next visit. He's never mentioned it again, and there are some benefits from Metformin so I haven't objected to continuing to take the low dose.

But I've never been able to tell that it has any impact on my BG.

The only thing that seems to help my dawn phenomenon is a very low calorie diet (to pull it down initially), followed by sensible eating at normal calories thereafter.

[shanti]

4. How long do you fast?

[pbmus]

5. On Sunday always 24 hrs...and during the week I will do the 16 hr..

Fast every other day....

Congrats on your 5.2....

[safeinOhio]

6. Google BBC, Eat, Fast, live.

One hr documentary.

[Awsi Dooger]

7. I've done the every other day method many times

All my numbers improve dramatically. I eat so much during the "Go" day that I never even think about eating during the "No" day.

The 800 calorie stuff doesn't work for me. Either I go full blast or nothing.

Longest I've gone is a 9 day fast. I had no intention of stopping at 9 days but my friend had a comp to the Caesar's Palace buffet and invited me, not knowing I was fasting. I have to say that was the strangest meal of my life. I couldn't taste the food at all. The roast turkey tasted exactly like the pumpkin pie. Then everything went right through me in liquid form as soon as we left the buffet. Luckily I sensed the need in time.

My last A1C was 4.7 last September. I am not diabetic but there is a family history so I'm careful. My leg skin is very thin so scars don't heal fully. Doctors always think I am diabetic based on those "sugar marks" on my legs and are surprised when the tests reveal otherwise. But my dad had the same thing and was not diabetic.

[empedocles]

8. 'Sugar handling' can be helped

by berberine, chromium supplements
Also, with the introduction of intensive interval training to my schedule, I can eat whatever I want and maintain my weight target and pre-diabetes A1C numbers.

[workinclasszero]

11. I've been doing 5:2 for 3 weeks

The two days are water fasts. I’d like to work up to OMAD.

I always feel better after a 24 hour fast, it’s funny.