New research published today says that an intermittent fasting diet could be an effective way to reverse type 2 diabetes without medications.

In recent years, intermittent fasting diets have risen in popularity as one of the most talked-about approaches to losing weight safely and healthily.

Intermittent fasting requires restricting your eating to a certain time frame. You can help your body burn fat by fasting for a certain number of hours every day or by eating just one meal a couple of times a week.

Multiple studies have shown that intermittent fasting may help reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that following an intermittent fasting diet intervention, patients achieved complete diabetes remission, defined as an HbA1c (average blood sugar) level of less than 6.5% at least one year after stopping diabetes meds.

In recent years, intermittent fasting diets have risen in popularity as one of the most talked-about approaches to losing weight safely and healthily. Intermittent fasting requires restricting your eating to a certain time frame. You can help your body burn fat by fasting for a certain number of hours every day or by eating just one meal a couple of times a week. Multiple studies have shown that intermittent fasting may help reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

“Type 2 diabetes is not necessarily a permanent, lifelong disease. Diabetes remission is possible if patients lose weight by changing their diet and exercise habits,” explains Dongbo Liu. “Our research shows an intermittent fasting, Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy (CMNT), can lead to diabetes remission in people with type 2 diabetes, and these findings could have a major impact on the over 537 million adults worldwide who suffer from the disease.”

The researchers undertook a 3-month intermittent fasting diet intervention with 36 adults with diabetes and discovered that over 90% of participants, including those using blood sugar-lowering medicines and insulin, decreased their diabetes medication consumption following intermittent fasting. For 55% of these patients, diabetes went into remission, meaning they no longer needed their diabetic medication.

The findings of the research cast doubt on the widely held belief that those with longer histories of diabetes are unable to attain remission (0-6 years). Sixty-five percent of those who reached remission in this trial had diabetes for more than six years (6-11 years).

“Diabetes medications are costly and a barrier for many patients who are trying to effectively manage their diabetes. Our study saw medication costs decrease by 77% in people with diabetes after intermittent fasting,” Liu adds.

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