When it comes to diseases that most modern Americans deal with, only a few controlled by what you eat… or what you don’t eat.
One of those is Type 2 Diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes originates when a person’s natural insulin production can’t help deal with the supply of blood sugar in the blood.
Most people manage their Type 2 Diabetes by way of insulin injections.
Some people manage their Type 2 Diabetes by changing their diet.
And now research says that there’s another way you can manage your Type 2 Diabetes… and that’s by skipping a meal or two.
Intermittent fasting is commonly used by overweight individuals to help reduce the number of calories they consume and control appetite for weight loss.
It would appear based on some new research that one of the added benefits of intermittent fasting is also great at controlling blood sugar.
Intermittent fasting is the practice of skipping a meal or two. A person who practices intermittent fasting will only eat 8-10 hours out of the day. Or, doesn’t eat for 24 hours 1-2x a week.
Canadian scientists attempted to see what would happen to insulin and blood sugar when a person practiced intermittent fasting. Their ultimate goal was to see if they could reduce Type 2 Diabetes symptoms and maybe even help wean people off diabetes medications.
In this study, the researchers asked 3 men who were between the ages of 40–67 and who were already on diabetes medications, used daily insulin injections and had high blood pressure and high cholesterol to fast.
“The scientists asked two of them to fast for 24 hours every other day, while the third fasted for 3 days each week.
During fasting days, the men could drink low-calorie beverages such as water, tea, or coffee. In addition, they could eat a low-calorie meal in the evening.
The trial lasted 10 months in total, and the three men stuck to their schedule without encountering any difficulties. After the fasting period, the team measured their weight and blood glucose.
The results revealed significant improvement: all three lost weight, blood glucose was lower, and they were able to stop using insulin after a month from the beginning of the trial. In one case, the person stopped after only 5 days.
Two of the men also discontinued all diabetic drugs, while the third participant stopped 3 out of 4 drugs.
The authors concluded that intermittent fasting may help people with diabetes, but the study was limited to three participants. More research is needed to confirm these findings, but they are encouraging.”
The results the study produced led to the researchers concluded that intermittent fasting could become a worthwhile treatment for Type 2 Diabetes.
They said it was an effective strategy for helping reduce or even reverse symptoms.
