Diabetes Month Tip of the Day

Question
Can Type 2 diabetes be controlled with diet and exercise alone?
Short Answer
Yes, if the person with diabetes is diagnosed early enough and they have the resources to follow the diet and exercise plan that works best for them.

Long Answer

While everyone with diabetes can benefit from following a carb controlled diet and exercising as much and as safely as they can, lifestyle changes alone may not work for everybody.  The ability to control Type 2 diabetes with lifestyle changes alone depends on a lot of different factors, like:

• How high the blood glucose was when you were diagnosed.
• Other medical problems you have.
• What symptoms of diabetes you are having.
• The ability of the person to follow a carbohydrate controlled plan.  And by “ability” I mean the financial resources, access to healthy food, cooking skills, access to cooking facilities, the physical ability to cook, etc.
• The desire to follow a carbohydrate controlled plan. For some folks abstention from certain foods is not conducive to their quality life; this is especially true for the elderly home bound population that I work with.

Some people walk around with undiagnosed diabetes for several years and by the time they are diagnosed they have to take medication or insulin to control their blood glucose levels because their bodies physically cannot make or use insulin.  Some people cannot or will not change their lifestyle in such a way to control his/her blood glucose by diet alone.  Some people need medication or insulin when they are diagnosed and don’t need it after changing their lifestyle.  It’s ultimately up to each individual and his/her medical team to decide what is the best way to control their blood glucose levels.
Over the years, I have had some people who were afraid to take insulin or medication to control their blood sugars, even though they were feeling miserable, because they thought they would be “shamed” for “failing” diabetes. I told them to them to think about it this way—if someone is having a heart attack, I am not going to stand over her and say “You know, you really ought to stop smoking, eat more vegetables, etc.”  I’m going to help that person get the best medical care possible, than once she is stable, we’ll work on the eating better, etc.  It’s the same thing for a very poorly controlled diabetic—get them stable medically to preserve his/her internal organs, then work on the lifestyle part if he/she is willing and able.
Please remember that people with Type 1 MUST have insulin or they will develop a serious condition called diabetic ketoacidosis and they could die within a week or two if not treated.  Before insulin was “discovered” in 1920 (and tested on humans in 1922), doctors would attempt to keep people alive by having them follow a very low calorie diet—most people starved to death within a year.
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Will diabetes go away?

History of Insulin.