A new study found that no more than 3 months of intermittent fasting is able to reverse type 2 diabetes in almost 50 percent of cases.
Of course, this was observed in the study’s participants which is why there is a need for further research in broader populations in order to truly understand just how useful intermittent fasting can be to those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Either way, the results are promising and really good news given the fact that the number of people with diabetes has increased by nearly 5 times since 1980.
More precisely, according to estimates, there are over 537 million patients worldwide, 95 percent of them being diagnosed with type 2.
While the general consensus is that type 2 diabetes is not reversible, there is plenty of research that suggests the opposite.
For instance, a 2019 study showed that about 46 percent of participants were able to achieve remission by just restricting their caloric intake.
Another study from 2020 showed that serious lifestyle changes could lead to remission in more than 60 percent of cases.
With that being said, newer studies have now proven that intermittent fasting can improve insulin resistance in animals and controlled trials have also shown that it’s related to weight loss which is known to reverse type 2 diabetes.
But the true health benefits of intermittent fasting in humans have barely been explored before so more research in this area could prove revolutionary.
The closest step to this was made by researchers in China, who evaluated the effects of intermittent fasting, learning that no less than 47.2% of participants in the trials were able to heal from diabetes after following this diet for only 3 months.
18 out of the 36 participants in the intermittent fasting group as well as one person from the control group no longer needed their medication.
12 months later, 16 people in the intermittent fasting group were still in remission while the control group registered no such instances.
The study has been published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and is gaining a lot of attention thanks to its impressive results.
Courtney Peterson, Ph.D, who was not involved in the study, explained via Medical News Today how it all works.
“What we have learned over the past decade is that if people lose weight really rapidly — by eating the equivalent of a meal per day — about 45 percent of people in the very early stages of type 2 diabetes can get off all of their medications and reverse diabetes. Losing weight fast rids the body of fat accumulating in the liver, pancreas and in muscles, and this helps the pancreas produce more insulin – which lowers blood sugar — and helps the liver and muscle do they jobs of regulating our blood sugar,” Peterson explained.
