Is it possible to break up with diabetes?

If diabetes or pre-diabetes looms over your head like a bad relationship (despite your efforts to count carbs and take medications as prescribed) you’ll be happy to know that research may have discovered your pathway out.

According to a 2017 University of Southern California study, the key to ending the progression of diabetes—and even getting rid of the disease—may be as simple as changing your approach to food.

“Diabetes is a dietary disease,” says Dr. Tony Hampton, a family medicine physician at Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago. “Fine-tuning your diet and meal times to manage your body’s unique level of resistance to insulin can treat the root cause of Type 2 Diabetes and put you on a course towards healing.”

Traditionally, diabetes treatment focuses on managing the disease with oral medications to control glucose levels. Yet tight control of glucose does not decrease microvascular disease and other complications associated with diabetes. As a result, diabetes becomes a chronic, progressive disease for most patients managing their condition with medication, he explains.

Dr. Hampton says that in his practice, “I use diabetic medicines to control the symptoms of diabetes. And I use a low-carb, high-fat diet to lower glucose without raising insulin, which leads to better outcomes and reversal of the disease.”

In addition to switching away from a low-calorie, low-fat diet, Dr. Hampton recommends intermittent fasting to reduce insulin levels and manage body weight more effectively. He adds that the primary focus of most office visits between patients with diabetes and their physicians should focus on providing dietary advice and guidance.

Want to learn more about your risk for diabetes? Take our free, quick online assessment by clicking here.