Studies conducted on participants who adhered to an intermittent fasting diet treatment demonstrated 100% diabetes remission as measured by an HbA1c level of under 6.5% at least one year after discontinuing medication for diabetes.
Intermittent fasting diets have recently gained in popularity as an effective weight-loss strategy. When intermittent fasting occurs, meals must only be eaten within certain time windows to remain effective.
Fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating only one meal two or three days each week can help the body shed fat faster. Studies have demonstrated how intermittent fasting can also lower heart disease and diabetes risks.
Researchers claim that type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to be a permanent, lifelong condition. Remission may be possible if affected individuals work towards weight loss by adapting their exercise and eating patterns accordingly.
This study shows that intermittent fasting can assist those living with type 2 diabetes with their attempts at remission, making a substantial impactful statement to those over 537 million worldwide who suffer from this condition.
Researchers conducted an intermittent fasting diet treatment over 3 months on 36 diabetic individuals and observed that 90-95%, including individuals taking insulin or blood sugar-reducing drugs, decreased their dosage after fasting intermittently.
55% of these individuals achieved complete diabetes remission, stopped their medication for diabetes and kept it off for at least a year without needing another dose.
The results of this study challenge the traditional view that only individuals with a shorter diabetes duration of less than 6 years can achieve diabetes remission. Around 65% of participants who experienced it in this study had 6-11 year durations of their condition.
Researchers acknowledge the difficulty and expense of managing diabetes can be daunting for many individuals, making medication costs a barrier to care. They discovered that medication costs decreased by 77% for people following intermittent fasting therapy.
