“Yes, it is possible to reverse type 2 diabetes!”

Stefan was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and went on a keto diet. He reversed his diabetes in less than ten months and lost so much weight that his bariatric surgery was cancelled. Here is his fantastic health journey and his best advice:

The email

Hello Andreas!

I wanted to tell you about the successful low-carb journey I’ve been on since January 2012 and to which I’ve since then added 16:8 intermittent fasting since 10 months back. I’ve achieved the greatest weight loss during the last year when I’ve lost a little bit over 30 kg (66 lbs) since last summer. My low-carb journey started at Diet Doctor.

In January 2012, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when they discovered that my HbA1c was at 11.0 % and my fasting blood sugar at 19.6 mmol/L (353 mg/dl). At the time I had a doctor who I questioned both at the time and later. I had told him for about 6 months that I suffered from a range of symptoms typical for diabetes. My doctor didn’t take any notice of this and they didn’t even measure my blood sugar. At this time I weighed 155 kg (342 lbs) and I had been sent off to get bariatric surgery. It was in connection to an examination prior to the surgery that they discovered my sky-high blood sugar. I told my doctor and his reaction was, OK, haven’t we measured your blood sugar before!? After they measured my blood sugar I received a prescription for Metformin. At about the same time, I was scheduled for a gastric-bypass surgery. I was very concerned about my blood sugar, but also the upcoming surgery. Is this the only possible way out?

About a year before, I had tried low carb for a couple of months and with ok results. Could low carb be something that could help me avoid the surgery and medications? I dug deeper into what low carb was and in what ways it could help me. Pretty soon enough was clear to say no to the surgery and I also skipped the Metformin. I was convinced that low carb could help me achieve better health and as a bonus I would lose weight. I had decided to give low carb an honest chance. I started a strict low-carb diet and in less than 10 months I had reversed my type 2 diabetes to a normal blood sugar with an HbA1c of 5.7% and a fasting blood sugar of 5.4-5.6 mmol/L (97-101 mg/dl) and in addition lost a couple of kilos, all this without medication, only through changing lifestyle. At this point someone probably thinks that this is temporary, but I can assure you it is not. Today I have the same nice blood sugar of a healthy person with an HbA1c of 5.7% and a fasting blood sugar between 5.4-5.6 mmol/L (97-101 mg/dl) and my other health markers are better than they’ve been for the last 25-30 years, in addition I’ve gotten rid of over 60 kg (132 lbs) of overweight! So yes, it is possible to reverse diabetes!

When I started eating low carb, I had a lot of use for the information at Diet Doctor. I recommend people to start reading the page “Low carb for beginners“. When I started eating low carb in the beginning of 2012, I immediately quit all carbs and sugar and dove straight in to strict low carb. When I had endured the “detox period”, the transition from burning carbs to burning fat lasted for about 5-6 weeks, and I started noticing that on the scale. During these years, I’ve been through plateaus where I haven’t lost any weight, but most importantly, my health markers are the ones which have showed me that I’m on the right path. Nowadays I don’t weigh myself. Since a while back, I’ve started doing 16:8 intermittent fasting. 16:8 means that I fast 16 hours per day and have a “feeding window” of 8 hours where I eat what I need. Since I started with 16:8, I don’t need to eat breakfast anymore, for lunch I usually eat a couple of teaspoons of coconut oil, sometimes an omelet or left overs from yesterday’s dinner. Dinner is the largest meal which sustains me, and I don’t get hungry between dinners, I just feel that I need to refuel with more energy. It is a pretty fantastic feeling I must say. This has boosted my weight loss, which I’ve noticed as my clothes have become bigger at an increasing pace.

Another good piece of advice is to stop trying to find substitutes for bread, candy and such. If you do that, you keep fooling your brain and yourself. I do know that it can be hard for some people to break old habits, but make an effort to truly do so. You’ll win a lot by doing so. I never eat anything sweet, except for a piece of dark chocolate with 70% cocoa or more. I stay away from all carbs except the ones that come from above-ground vegetables. I seldom eat more than 10 grams of carbs per day. I’m never hungry and I never have any cravings or miss sugar and carbs and my stomach and the rest of the body is calm and harmonic.

A lifestyle with bad food (a lot of sugar and carbs) will make you sick, there is no doubt about that today, but the best thing is that you can do something about it. The sooner the better!

Comment

Stefan, congratulations to your fantastic results and thank you for sharing!

Stefan’s blog (in Swedish).

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More

Low carb for beginners

How to lose weight

How to reverse type 2 diabetes

Intermittent fasting for beginners

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