A change in diet aimed at reducing carbohydrates would be very effective in reversing the insulin resistance that is a sign of prediabetes. And so to avoid taking diabetes medication afterwards.

Why it matters
The number of people suffering from type 2 diabetes around the world is steadily increasing. In France and in most countries elsewhere, official care is currently limited to teaching patients how to cope with their disease by adapting their diet to the treatments available.

The “Diabetes, a salty addition” health survey of March 2, 2021 on Arte reviewed what type 2 diabetes represents in the eyes of the pharmaceutical industry. The phenomenal benefit of the latter lies in the fact that still too few doctors and patients know that this disease is not irreversible.

Studies, such as those conducted at Newcastle University, show that simple weight loss can often overcome the disease. For this, low carb diets (Atkins, ketogenic, paleo) which induce a state of ketosis (where the body no longer produces its energy from glucose, but from fats and more precisely from ketone bodies) seem the most effective.

But it seems that it is possible to act earlier, from the stage of prediabetes in order to avoid the disease and the chronic medication it induces. In a long-term observational study recently published in the journal Nutrients, researchers evaluated the effects of a low-carbohydrate and high-fat diet on the course of prediabetes and metabolic syndrome.

The study
Scientists recruited 96 participants aged 21 to 65 with prediabetes or metabolic syndrome. Of these, 75% completed the study scheduled for 2 years of intervention. This first result is a positive indication as to the adhesion offered by this feed.

Thanks to an application (the manufacturers of which sponsored the study), the participants benefited from diligent and personalized support while the researchers were able to have real-time access to information about them.

The dietary intervention consisted of following a rather high protein ketogenic diet: 30 g of carbohydrate / day and 1.5 g of protein / kg / day.

Result: After two years of intervention, more than half of the participants achieved normal blood sugar levels and maintained a weight loss of 7%. Only 3% of them have seen their situation progress to type 2 diabetes.

In practice
The Newcastle Protocol is the first study to demonstrate the effectiveness of a lifestyle change. Since then, many other dietary regimens have emerged against diabetes, including the Reversa protocol that Dr. Bourdua-Roy applies in his clinic in Quebec. Unfortunately in France, no structure yet offers such programs. Traditional treatment is limited to teaching diabetics to adapt their insulin dose to the amounts of carbohydrates ingested.

To go further, here are books that combine practice and theory to finally understand type 2 diabetes and apply the solutions that exist:

• Keto revolution
• The Reversa protocol
• The Newcastle Protocol
  Warning ! Any change in diet should be supervised by a healthcare professional, especially when taking medication, especially anti-diabetics, to adjust their doses as needed.