I’d never before put into perspective that the ten year survival of type 2 diabetes is worse than many cancers. Today, we get into what can be done about this, once and for all.
Mike Lean MA, MB, BChir, MD (Cambridge), FRCP (Edinb), FRCPS (Glasgow), FRSE holds the chair of Human Nutrition, is an acute medicine consultant physician, and has completed extensive research in obesity, nutrition and diabetes. In more recent years, his work as joint Principle Investigator with Prof Taylor and team has uniquely proven that diabetes is a reversible disease process. The DiRECT trial is the first of its kind to have focused on remission of diabetes as its outcome, by calorie restriction alone. Almost 50% of those recruited reversed their diabetes, with 9 in 10 people who lost 15kg achieving complete remission and coming off all diabetes medication.
In this episode, Prof Lean tells us where he thinks we have gone wrong with diabetes and its management. We learn what actually causes diabetes, the relation of body weight and fat to this disease, and why those who seem to be of a normal weight can still get diabetes. Prof Lean tells us why just focusing on good blood sugar control may not be adequate, the findings of the DiRECT trial, and how YOU or your patients can actually reverse your diabetes, and come off medications completely. We hear about the ins and outs of approaches such as low carbohydrate, fasting and calorie restriction for diabetes management, and is there such a thing as a ‘healthy food’?
This was a real privilege as Prof Lean is at the absolute forefront of diabetes research and management, and is in great demand internationally to share his work. He was kind enough to steal some time to talk with me during a busy working day when he had just finished his morning ward round, and so I’m grateful for the opportunity.
Let me know what you thought! Do you have diabetes? Do you care or work with people with diabetes? Get in touch at julian@strongermedicine.com
Further links: https://www.directclinicaltrial.org.uk where the ‘no doubts diet’ and other resources can be found, as well as Prof Taylor’s area on https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#publicinformation.