Can my type II Diabetic Boyfriend do 5:2 Fast?

This topic contains 9 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Apricot 8 years, 6 months ago.

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loverochelle

10:31 pm
15 May 16
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Boyfriend is taking Metformin for Type II diabetes 2x’s a day. he is also walking, etc. but it seems to me when he doesn’t eat enough is when his sugar drops and he gets “off” and has to get sugar into his system right away…. please let me know!! thanks

bigbooty

10:52 pm
15 May 16
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I would find a doctor that understands diet control as a means of reversing type II diabetes and tell them that you would like to reduce your metformin dose by eating the correct foods. If they don’t think this is possible FIND another doctor. It almost sounds like your boyfriend is taking too much if he has to eat to bring his sugars up. Metformin does not treat the root cause of diabetes, which is insulin resistance, it just helps the symptoms by getting rid of excess sugar. It stores the sugar as fat, so you end up getting fatter which means you need to take more metformin. Vicious circle.

Watch videos by Jason Fung.
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/type-2-diabetes-lecture-series/

loverochelle

11:12 pm
15 May 16
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Thanks bigbooty. I doubt we are going to find a damn dr. In this town who will help with fasting. I personally just need to lose weight and take care of myself before I have health complications. He is type II and had triple bypass because of it a year ago (never actually had a heart attack thank God). Sucks. Wish I knew a dr that could help as I believe
With this diet he could get off meds all together and would be so much easier to do together.

bigbooty

2:14 am
16 May 16
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Im assuming you have a blood glucose meter to monitor the situation? If not get one, they are pretty cheap and lots to choose from. Maybe ask for help if youre not sure what brand to buy. I went to a diabetic shop and they recommended a Freestyle Optium Neo, but there were others to choose from.

Monitor you boyfriends blood glucose for two week before and after taking the metformin without changing your eating habits to get an idea of what your blood glucose levels are like. Then change your diet to eliminate ALL sugar (basically any junk food or stuff that comes in a box will have loads of sugar) and stop eating simple carbs like bread, rice, pasta, pizza, potatoes. Eat lots of green veggies, meat and fish, cheese. Take your BG before and after metformin for a few weeks. How do the blood glucose levels compare? Are they generally a lot lower than before? If they are then reduce your metformin dose a little bit and see what happens to your blood glucose levels.

Do this very slowly, say a 10% reduction in dose and monitor for say one month. If youre heading in the right direction reduce again, but do it gradually. This may take the best part of one year to significantly reduce your metformin dose.

Good luck and do it gradually and monitor it closely.

loverochelle

2:28 am
16 May 16
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Bigbooty- thank you. Yes he has one. Sadly I don’t think I could get him to be that regimented. I will suggest all you said as it makes perfect sense. He has to want to get off the meds more than eat crap. I was just hoping something like 5:2 might work for him as it’s a little more realistic and I think he could do fasting pretty easily. ;(

HappyNow

7:46 am
16 May 16
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There are people who have reversed their type 2 diabetes using 5:2, and low carb/ sugar diet, but it would take discipline. Another alternative would be the 8 week blood sugar diet (there is a book and separate website, also by Michael Mosley). That seems to give very good results.

Good luck convincing your boyfriend to take responsibility for his own health!

bigbooty

10:24 pm
16 May 16
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Not sure how much more incentive to change your eating habits your boyfriend needs? His pancreas will eventually stop working. Metformin does not treat the disease, it just treats the symptoms. You just keep getting worse and worse.

Not sure why eating healthy is so hard to do for some people? Good luck.

loverochelle

10:53 pm
16 May 16
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Bigbooty to be fair my boyfriend was in a state of depression for a while after loosing both of his parents within a very short timeframe. Once we stared dating his mood elevated and he really is doing waaaay better at eating correctly and moving etc. we all have vices. His is sugar. He’s numbers are much much better now but I want to help him get off the meds. He has to be the one to want that more than anything. 😉

bigbooty

11:00 pm
16 May 16
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In our household we made a decision to stop buying junk food about a year ago. No chocolate, biscuits, lollies, cake, ice cream etc. My three sons all complained for about a week and now none of them miss all that junk food at all. My eldest (21 yo) has lost 46 pounds, Ive lost 44 pounds. Its do-able but you have to want to do it.

I suppose you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink.

Apricot

1:00 am
18 May 16
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For a short while after I kicked the sugars and starches I ate fruit when I felt the sweet craving, especially clementines and oranges with lots of pith, which I didn’t remove. It did help and now I rarely have any sugar except for some jam last night! If I crave bread I try to have oat biscuits with butter or cheese instead as they are taken up as sugar more slowly. But I don’t have metformin to contend with.