Intermittent Fasting May Reverse Type-2 Diabetes And Lead To Weight Loss In Patients: Study

Intermittent fasting diet has become popular across the world as a weight loss diet. However, it may have other benefits as well, particularly to people suffering from type-2 diabetes. A new research study has shown that planned intermittent fasting may be able to reverse Type-2 diabetes. Doctors from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine and Scarborough Hospital in Canada were able to cut out the need for insulin treatment for three patients in their care. The men aged between 40 and 67 were put on a planned regimen of the intermittent fasting diet, to see if it eases the symptoms. This is a novel approach toward treating Type 2 diabetes, the management of which does require some major lifestyle changes. The results of the research were published in the journal BMJ Case Reports and they showed that the use of 24-hour fasting regimens can significantly reduce or completely eliminate the need for use of diabetic medicines.

Previously, the patients in question were taking a number of drugs to control their diseases, as well as daily doses of insulin. Apart from type 2 diabetes, these men were also suffering from high blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Two of the three men fasted for a full 24 hours on alternate days, while the third one fasted for three days a week. On the days of the fast, the men were only allowed to drink very low calorie drinks like tea or coffee and broth, as well as were allowed to eat just one very low calorie meal in the evening. The three men were put on this regiment for a total of 10 months and their average and fasting blood glucose (HbA1c), body weight and waist circumference were measured before and after this period. The changes were evident within a month of starting the fasting schedule and all three men were able to stop injecting themselves with insulin in just a month.

Two of the men could stop taking their diabetes drugs, while the third discontinued three out of the four medicines he was taking. The patients were able to lose weight as well by as much as 10 to 18 per cent. The doctors also reported that the three patients reduced risks of further complications, at the end of the period of following the intermittent fasting regimen. However, the doctors have cautioned that this is an observational study and refers to positive changes in only three subjects and all of them were men. This is why it's difficult to draw conclusive and definite inferences from this particular research alone, about the success of the fasting diet approach for treating type-2 diabetes.