Treating Adult Onset Diabetes

It's basically common knowledge that once you get adult-onset diabetes, you will have it forever, but common knowledge has been known to be erroneous. After all, everyone used to believe that the Earth was flat, and you know how that turned out. The fact is that scientists and doctors have discovered three different ways to treat diabetes.

Low-Carbohydrate Eating Plans

Low-carb diet plans such as South Beach and Atkins are marked by controversy, especially among dieticians. However, a lot of doctors have used these types of weight loss programs with their patients and discovered them to work. By dramatically reducing the quantity of carbs consumed, the body must use protein for fuel and start eliminating the fat deposits that have developed. The explanation for how and why this type of diet works is rather long and complicated, but the bottom line is that it really does work. And these diet programs are not only good for overcoming adult-onset diabetes, but for weight loss too.

Extremely Low-Cal Diets

Research recently revealed by Diabetologia studied 11 people who had adult-onset diabetes. These individuals were given a 600 calorie per day diet program for eight weeks. Their diets were made up only of Optifast meal replacement drinks and non-starchy vegetables. After the very first week, their fasting glucose levels were normal again, and by the time the study ended their insulin sensitivity levels had had normalized. You'll need to get medical supervision if you would like to try this diet plan, because severe restriction of calories is not safe for just anyone.

Bariatric Surgery

For type II diabetes patients with a body mass index over thirty-five, bariatric surgery is an option. Depending upon the kind of procedure that is done, about 60-80% of diabetic patients who get weight loss surgery are able to stop taking their medication within a few weeks or days after having the operation performed. Although the effects are not necessarily lasting, they last a minumum of one or two years in most diabetes patients, and more than 35% of the patients who were examined had good blood glucose control several years later. Weight loss surgery is extremely costly, though, so it is probably best if you attempt one of the diets prior to considering surgery.

Diabetes is a really serious disorder that can cause major complications, so it is necessary to take action to keep it under control. As a result of implementing a diabetes elimination diet with your healthcare provider's supervision, you might even manage to overcome the disease entirely.