[ollysb]

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about a year and a half ago, at the time I had an HBA1C of 8.2 (6.0 is the top end of normal). The first thing I did when I got home was google "cure for diabetes", the newcastle diet is what came up. After 6 months of the usual medication (metformin etc.) I decided to give it a go. You can see my log, which includes medication, supplements, exercise, total calories per day and BG readings 5 times a day[1]. You can see that it took me just 12 days to come off the medication and that in the following 2 months I was able to maintain excellent BG control.

A year later I'm still off the medication, my last HBA1C was 5.7 which is considered normal. Maintaining that does require daily exercise (and I do mean _every_ day) and good diet management but I've found it a fairly easy regime to follow (half an hour of 80% intensity is enough most days).

My quality of life is now excellent (it was terrible on the medication) and I'm able to eat a little more freely. The only big differences regarding diet are that I now only drink a couple of times a month and I don't go near anything with wheat flour in it.

EDIT: google docs doesn't seem to allow me to share the docs publicly (I can only share with specific email addresses or within my domain) so I've made them available as csv and excel files.

[1]

CSV - https://www.dropbox.com/s/tr1xwd3l6ziiows/newcastle_diet.csv...

Excel - https://www.dropbox.com/s/12tjf23oz7ihq4d/newcastle_diet.xls...

[exelius]

Given that Type 2 diabetes is generally believed to be caused by diet, it makes sense that diet could fix it as well.

My personal hypothesis is that some people have intestinal bacteria that are really, really good at breaking down sugar very quickly. So when you eat high GI foods, your gut turns them into glucose very quickly releases them into your blood, and your body has to deal accordingly. IMO that would help explain why people who are very obese get type 2 with some regularity, but how otherwise healthy adults who are simply moderately overweight can also develop it.

A corollary to this hypothesis is that the ability of your (personal) intestinal bacteria to break down different types of foods at different rates means that there is no such thing as a "universal diet". Some people will be healthiest eating large amounts of red meat, some will be healthiest on a high-carb diet, while others may need something more fiber-rich (assuming appropriate calorie control, of course). This appears to be borne out anecdotally, with diet plans having different efficacy on different people.

Intestinal flora is something the medical community is just now beginning to research and understand. There's something unique that happens in our intestines, and while there's obviously a genetic component to it, the genes your intestinal flora carry may be just as important. We don't understand the system or the feedback loops (maybe eating too much sugar causes these bacteria to over-populate the intestines in some people and crowd out other bacteria?) The point is, there's a whole lot we don't know about how our bodies process the nutrients we take in. There are a lot of studies underway, but holistic medicine is pretty obviously a real thing -- we just don't understand the science behind it yet.

[maxerickson]

The standard human digestion system is really really good at breaking down sugar very quickly. Enzymes dominate the process, not microorganisms.

[wdewind]

But the word "dominates" should really be emphasized there because there is growing evidence that gut microbiota can help with breaking down lactose even when you lack the ability to produce lactase.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17927751 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11157352

[maxerickson]

It isn't that nuanced; lactose intolerance is uncomfortable because there are microorganisms breaking down the lactose and releasing gas (and what not). Those studies are looking at whether bacteria that do not produce as much gas can colonize our digestive systems.

If the lactose passed through intact, it wouldn't be a problem. If enzymes weren't responsible for breaking down sucrose and there were bacteria doing it, HFCS would probably be even more popular.

[wdewind]

Interesting, thanks for the correction that does change my mental model slightly and I appreciate it!

[leonroy]

> Intestinal flora is something the medical community is just now beginning to research and understand.

What's interesting is that intestinal flora can take time to adjust in response to dietary changes (wish I could find some good figures on precisely how long, but the whole field of research on the subject is so new). This means that those on a seemingly unhealthy diet can initially do far worse switching over to 'unfamiliar' healthy food as their gut flora are presented with something they have little 'experience' digesting.

In my own experience, cutting out grains and milk from my diet resulted in a good few months of problems before things settled down again which seemed very counter intuitive until I read up on the significant role gut bacteria play in digestion.

[spinlock]

I know when I started eating paleo, I had really painful gas (to me and everyone else) for a few months. Then, after a while, I could eat all the broccoli I could stand and it was fine.

[dualogy]

> My personal hypothesis is that some people have intestinal bacteria that are really, really good at breaking down sugar very quickly. So when you eat high GI foods, your gut turns them into glucose very quickly releases them into your blood

Are there such bacteria? I only know about intestinal bacteria breaking down indigestable carbohydrate (also called soluble "fiber") into short-chain fatty acids. Other carbs except fructose (handled by liver) should be broken down into glucose via digestive enzymes prior to colon throughout the digestive tract starting in your mouth.

> IMO that would help explain why people who are very obese get type 2 with some regularity, but how otherwise healthy adults who are simply moderately overweight can also develop it.

Well many obese also never develop T2DM either. The non-fat people who become T2 might have been on a high-carb-low-fat regimen rather than a high-carb-high-fat regimen.

> A corollary to this hypothesis is that the ability of your (personal) intestinal bacteria to break down different types of foods at different rates means that there is no such thing as a "universal diet". Some people will be healthiest eating large amounts of red meat, some will be healthiest on a high-carb diet, while others may need something more fiber-rich (assuming appropriate calorie control, of course).

This seems to assume an unduly large role for intestinal bacteria in digestion. Stomach acid and digestive enzymes do the bulk of the work prior, and colon bacteria get leftovers that our bodies don't handle "natively" AFAIK. Exception is some cause or other flushing stuff down the tract prematurely prior to absorption, perhaps something dangerous that stomach acid didn't neutralize, enzyme problems, overstuffing or what not..

> Intestinal flora is something the medical community is just now beginning to research and understand. There's something unique that happens in our intestines

I agree but people shouldn't forget bacteria only get the leftovers and if bacteria are found to be the cause of weight or health issues, maybe one should first evaluate whether enzymes are broken or too much (improperly preprocessed) cellulose is being consumed?

[spinlock]

> Exception is some cause or other flushing stuff down the tract prematurely prior to absorption, perhaps something dangerous that stomach acid didn't neutralize, enzyme problems, overstuffing or what not..

I've read some advice about not drinking water with meals for this reason. The idea is that it will dilute your stomach acid making it more basic and less effective.

[vonmoltke]

> There are a lot of studies underway, but holistic medicine is pretty obviously a real thing -- we just don't understand the science behind it yet.

"[W]e just don't understand the science behind it yet" because there is none. Holistic medicine is quackery that has failed scientific tests if efficacy time and time again.

[exelius]

I don't mean that the current "practice" of holistic medicine is quackery -- but that the principles behind it (what you eat can cause/treat certain diseases), when proven with proper scientific methodology, aren't entirely crazy.

[methehack]

Times article (from 5 years ago) describing an emerging awareness of gut-bacteria types much like blood types: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/science/21gut.html?_r=0

[lexhaynes]

Are there any particular probiotics you'd recommend? I've heard many good things about General Biotics.

[melling]

People who use metformin seem to live longer than those who don't. Studies are about to be done to see if it actually works:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/fountain-of-youth-drug-trial-has...

"Behind the mania is a widely used, inexpensive generic pill for Type 2 diabetes called metformin. Scientists are planning a clinical trial to see if the drug can delay or prevent some of the most devastating diseases of advanced age, from heart ailments to cognitive decline to cancer. To test the pill, gerontologists at 14 aging centers around the U.S. will follow 3,000 seniors for six years. Half the seniors involved would get the drug, while the others would receive a placebo."

[ollysb]

There's no doubt about it that metformin does lower your BG. Depending on the person though the side-effects can be pretty nasty. Personally I had a lot of stomach problems (which I've never had before or since) and I found that I was unable to exercise because I would have a hypo after just 10 minutes. I also had trouble staying awake, I'd often be slumped in my chair and would need to take a 20min siesta after lunch. I'm a fit 36 year old who's used to exercising a lot and having good energy levels so I found this situation difficult to get used to.

[1123581321]

You needed to reduce your insulin to compensate for the metformin.

[ollysb]

I've never taken insulin personally, I was on metformin and linagliptin.

[nabla9]

Excuse my ignorance, but this does not seem any way unconventional.

It seems to me that you are treating your condition without medication, not reversing it. Exercise and regulating your blood sugar using diet is what doctors suggest but not many people follow it. You still have permanently increased insulin resistance and you must stay on your exercise and diet to prevent it getting worse.

[ollysb]

Note they're using the term "reversed" not "cured".

> So, nearly four years down the line, is my diet still successful? Yes – but it takes close monitoring and willpower. We all know that diets are notoriously hard to stick to – unless the incentive is powerful enough. In my case, it is.

> …and the 1,750-calorie diet he follows now

As the theory goes some people are genetically predisposed to accumulating fat within the pancreas which causes insulin resistance. The (hypothesised) reason that the diet works is that it causes the body to use up fat from within the pancreas to the point where it begins to function again. Unfortunately the tendency remains, without continued management the pancreas will accumulate the fat again and the diabetic symptoms will return. This is borne out by the fact that a year later many of the original participants were experiencing diabetic symptoms once again.

[nabla9]

How does one differentiate between keeping blood sugar low with low calorie diet and exercise and the better functioning pancreas?

[ollysb]

Speaking from personal experience, with the same diet and level of exercise I see vastly different numbers. I've been through the process twice, the second time because I injured my back and wasn't able to exercise for two months. When I restarted my previous regime I found that my numbers stabilised at a far higher range than I'd achieved previously. I went through the same diet process again (for 2 weeks) after which I returned to the same regime. My numbers are now stabilised at the lower level that I'd achieved before.

[vonmoltke]

> You still have permanently increased insulin resistance and you must stay on your exercise and diet to prevent it getting worse.

Dr. Taylor's research, along with other research currently being done, is demonstrating that insulin resistance is not permanent as was once believed. The problem is, as ollysb noted below, getting people to make the lifestyle changes necessary and stick to them. Most people are not willing and able to make the changes required to keep the disease from progressing, let alone increase their insulin sensitivity again.

[coldpie]

Thanks for sharing your specific numbers. My A1cs as a Type 1 Diabetic are usually in the low-to-mid 6s. My latest just a few months ago was 6.4. My doctor's happy with that, and described it as the levels typical of a pre-Diabetic. That seems pretty good to me, considering the constant attention I have to pay to it and the ease with which it can go badly.

[needcaffeine]

Can't access the document. Permissions need to be changed.

[147]

I've requested access to this doc. Please make it open it up, as I have type 2 diabetes too!

Edit:

Thanks!