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After decades of vehement denial that type 2 or adult onset diabetes can’t be reversed, modern medicine has now come full circle by admitting that this kind of diabetes is indeed reversible in most patients by significant changes in diet and other lifestyle factors, which reduce insulin resistance, the key underlying mechanism behind type 2 diabetes. Accordingly, several diabetes reversal programs have been cropping up across the country, which are often led by doctors themselves, which is indeed a welcome change.
But not all of these programs are similar, and their real success rates also vary significantly. If you or someone dear to you is a type 2 diabetic patient who wants to go in for a reversal program, it pays to understand what all should ideally go into a scientific and research based program. Understanding these factors is also required for the success of such a reversal program, whether you do it with an institution or attempt it by yourself. Let us look at these factors one by one.
Diabetes reversal programs differ very much by this first factor itself. There are some reversal programs that insist on severe calorie restriction, then there are others which advocate moderate calorie restriction, and still others that maintain the normal 2000 calories per day standard.
While severe calorie restriction to the tune of 1100 calories or even less may give some rapid results, it is not advisable for most people, due to its adverse effects on health. The second option of moderate calorie restriction is safer, but advisable only to those diabetes patients who are obese or overweight and need to shed many kilos too.
For most others, it is better to stick with a standard 2000 calories per day diet. One doubt that can crop up readily with this option is won’t such a diet be like maintaining the status quo, and whether it can cause meaningful diabetes reversal in most people. To address this doubt we need to look at the calorific value of some common Indian foods first.
Most people, whether they are diabetic patients or not, tend to believe that since an average adult diet is only around 2000 calories, they too must be taking only 2000 calories a day. Let us do a reality check in this regard. There used to be a pioneering diabetic reversal program, where the doctor used to shock his patients by suggesting just half an idli for their breakfast, for the first week. It was to drive home an important point, regarding how much the most humble and most benign idli can contribute to your sugar level.
A single 40 gm idli delivers around 60 calories. And many people are known to take around 5 such idlis for breakfast, placing the calorific load from breakfast idlis at 300 calories! Add the coconut rich chutney and the dal rich sambhar, and calories edge up even higher.
Even worse, some of us replace one or two idlis with a ghee-fried dosa or an oil-fried vada, and there goes your calorie count over the roof to 500 or 600 calories for the breakfast itself! The North Indian favourite of chapati is equally loaded, with one 100 gm roti delivering 300 calories, with the sabji and dal extra!
Some may still think what is the big deal in this, as you have only one breakfast, one lunch, one afternoon snacking/tea and one supper daily. This reminds of yet another doctor who has been into diabetes reversal with some peculiar advice. He used to say that for breakfast, have as much as you want, and for supper, have as much as you want. Since he leaves the afternoon meals unmentioned, patients would ask, what about it, and he would say 2000 calories are already over, so no lunch, just some vegetable salad in case you feel hungry! Jokes apart, the real load indeed comes from the rice based or chapati based meals. A normal plateful of rice alone can add up to 400 calories, and two chapatis can deliver even more. Mind you, these are figures from just the staple rice and wheat flour, and all side dishes like your favourite aloo gobi, raita, fish fry, butter chicken etc deliver even more calories. Similarly, a full serving of chicken biriyani adds up to 500-600 calories.
Then there are those little things that we all overlook. 50 gms of bhujia for afternoon tea delivers a whopping 300 calories. The tea or coffee itself with milk and sugar provides 200 calories a cup. Then there are the fruits and desserts, with a full banana delivering 135 calories and a small kaju katli giving 150 calories.
In theory, a consistently balanced diet of 2000 calories or slightly lesser, consisting of lower carbohydrate content and higher levels of proteins and healthy fats, and with overall low to medium glycemic index should contribute meaningfully to reducing insulin resistance and promoting diabetes reversal. Then there are other required lifestyle changes like an early supper as our insulin producing pancreas is not as active at night as during the day. There was also a recent study which found that exercising in the late afternoon or evening is essential for reducing insulin resistance, the key mechanism of diabetes reversal. De-stressing by way of meditation, yoga, breathing exercises etc is similarly found to be of immense help in diabetes reversal. However, for many people, even all these generic approaches won’t be enough for sure. The reason lies in the unique genetic and metabolic makeup of each individual. For instance, some type 2 diabetic patients may have either a hard-coded genetic risk for the disease and / or a heightened metabolic chance too for getting this genetic risk triggered. This is why for effective diabetic reversal a detailed geno-metabolic assessment is essential. Fortunately, such assessments are now easily accessible even in India, and can help in formulating personalized diabetic reversal diets that take into account the science of nutrigenomics, that is how our genes affect our food and how our foods affect our genes.
Author credit: Sajeev Nair, Founder & Chairman, Vieroots Wellness Solutions
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