I am type 2 diabetic and so far have lost a stone doing the 5:2. My GP is very proud of me 🙂

I am also suffering from the same and using a normal diet with healthy exercise on daily basis.
Any more precautions Do I need to take

Hi Daniel:

I am aware of four pretty much proven methods to reverse Type 2 diabetes.

1) Long term water fasting, as practiced by the True North Clinic in Santa Rosa, CA USA. Depending on the severity of the diabetes, it usually takes two to four weeks and for the reversal to be maintained a strict plant based diet must be followed after the fast. The fast requires medical supervision and training on the diet is essential. Most people cannot afford the time and/or money it takes for this solution.

2) Eat a ketogenic diet. There are many, and some are way better than others. This method is often the slowest and depending on the severity of the diabetes, this method can take up to a year (or more) to reverse the diabetes. We are now learning that ketogenic diets also have many long term dangers.

3) Re Fung, follow a plan that combines water fasting and a form of Keto diet. He often starts his patients with water fasts lasting for one week or more, and follows that initial fast with alternate day fasting, with water fasting one day and eating the keto diet the second. Infinite combinations are possible depending on the severity of the diabetes and what the patient wants to eat, and using the method can reverse the diabetes within weeks, or many months. I think Fung offers relatively inexpensive over the phone counseling for those following his diet plan.

4) Follow the Longevity Diet (Valter Longo). The diet is plant based with the addition of some fish, combined with monthly five day water fasts until the diabetes is reversed. Thereafter, just follow the food part of the diet, with five day fasts as needed. Care must be taken not to take any glucose lowering drugs when fasting. In lab studies on mice, this diet has also been shown as possibly beneficial to those suffering from Type 1 diabetes, but there are no human studies to verify this.

Given the long term negative impacts of most keto diets, I would suggest looking into the plant based options. But it really is up to you what kind of foods you want to eat, and being able to stick with the diet is the most important because if you revert to eating what you have been eating and what caused your diabetes in the first place, it may come back and you will be right back where you started.

Good Luck!

Could you please explain what is 5:2 fast diet? I have heard 5:2 diet is too restrictive to be sustainable for long term. People say it works only for small number. What are the factors which will decide whether it will work for me or not?

@danielpatrik there are many of us here that don’t waste time counting calories and instead just focus on healthy eating. Many more only count calories on fast days if they eat on fasts days, if you don’t need eat though you don’t have to.

5:2 is the least restrictive diet I’ve ever tried. I actually eat well above the calculated TDEE and I’m still losing fat, but well below the average 1 pound / week level. I’m more focused on building some muscle too so that requires one to eat enough. Still I’m losing around 100g / week over the long run. It is maybe 25% the average but I’ve also seen large increases in strength and muscles. That isn’t easy, but the fasting seems to allow it to work. Not super fast, but losing fat while building lean body mass is difficult.

I think you are type 1. Well, i am type 2 patient. I prefer to manage my diet and exercise regularly. My GP has recommended the metformin.