Looking for tips to reverse type 2 please

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Califgirl

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Type 2
Hi everyone, I’m recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes with an A1c level 53, i have to have another test in 3 months, i would appreciate any tips or advice on how to hopefully reverse my diagnose before my next test please.. many thanks
 
If you have a lot of weight you could lose then do exactly that, but only at a steady pace. That will give you the best prospects for true remission, that is, clearing excess fat from liver and pancreas. Reducing carbs while increasing fats, all within a net calorie deficit, will help that weight loss by reducing hunger pangs and carb addiction. Walking briskly after meals will reduce glucose spikes but generally it’s advised not to exercise much while you’re eating less. The above is what I did and it worked for me, from a much worse A1c starting point than yours, and I am approaching my 3-year remission mark.
 
Hi @Califgirl and welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis and struggle to lower your blood glucose levels... Obviously, the support forum can offer tips from lived experience and not actual medical advice (I def don't claim to have studied medicine or be a doctor) but I followed simple advice from diabetes nurse of cutting out all high sugar drinks and foods (fruit juice, fizzy drinks, pop, alcohol, sweetened tea/coffee/hot chocolate, milkshakes, fruit yoghurts, ice cream, cake etc) and replaced them with herbal teas, diet sugar-free drinks, coconut water, iced water, sparkling water, plain yoghurt, and using stevia sweetener instead of loose sugars including refined sugar, agave syrup, molasses, concentrated fruit juice, rice syrup, maple syrup...

My experience has been at the start swapping out unhealthy foods for low sugar low carb versions wherever you can, as obviously starving yourself isn't healthy, or making huge dietary changes in 24 hours isn't good for us, so try to read ingredients, check the amount of carbs and sugars on nutrition section of labelling, but also be kind to yourself and enjoy healthy snacks like mixed nuts or in moderation, dried fruit, or sugar-free lime soda!

I'm not an expert, but my blood glucose levels in HbA1c tests dropped ten points from around 95 to around 85 in one month by making dietary changes and walking every day, but I need to lose excess weight with goal of remission and the next stage for me will be low calorie low sugar low carb diet of soups and shakes and sugar-free drinks snacking on fresh fruit in moderation, so Good Luck, Bon Chance! 😉
 
I also did it by losing a bunch of weight.

HbA1c 89 in March 2018; mid 30's for the last 5 years.
 
I lost 3 stone in around 2 months and cut out things like rice, potato (*), sweets, crisps and bread from my diet. Hba1c has been in the thirties for two years (500mg of Metformin, which was reduced 2 years ago from 1000mg, and I was told I could stop it if I wanted)

(*) I did occasionally eat potato, just a small portion.
 
Hi everyone, I’m not massively overweight, maybe 8/10 pounds tops, thank you for all
the advice, I think adjusting my diet is probably the way to go.. I will check out the links and read all your advice, hopefully my next test will show reversal, fingers crossed, thanks again
 
Califgirl said:
Hi everyone, I’m not massively overweight, maybe 8/10 pounds tops, thank you for all
the advice, I think adjusting my diet is probably the way to go.. I will check out the links and read all your advice, hopefully my next test will show reversal, fingers crossed, thanks again
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Just to note that I was less than 5kg above "normal" BMI at diagnosis. Losing 10kg was enough to put me in remission. Lots of T2D's are like this - check https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/dukpc-digest-day-5-retune-study-lower-body-weight
 
Just a thought for you @Califgirl. Don't get too wound up if your HbA1c in three weeks is a couple of units higher than it was at your last test and maybe don't hang out all the bunting if it is a couple of units lower. I'm not sure about the error on the HbA1c test but there will be some. Either way it is unlikely that anything you do in the next couple of weeks will make much difference.

The much more important thing is to take on board all the suggestions made, figure out which you are most comfortable with, implement them and then look forward to a test in 6 months time when there is a fair chance you could get your HbA1c under the diagnosis level of 48.

Think of getting things under control as a having more in common with a marathon than a sprint and unless you are a rarity, you will get there.
 
Welcome to the forum @Califgirl

The ‘at risk’ range for diabetes in 42-47, with a diagnosis at 48 or above. So you are not too far over the line at 53, so you may find that some fairly modest tweaks to your meals, along with cutting out the obvious treats/sweet things will make a significant difference.

And yes, as @Docb says, it’s a marathon not a sprint 🙂
 
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