Intermittent Fasting And Type 2 Diabetes

Intermittent fasting has exploded in popularity in recent years, as scientists have discovered that the practice can have many health benefits. Not only could fasting help us to live longer and lose weight but it may even help to prevent serious diseases such as cancer and diabetes. 

Type 2 diabetes is unfortunately increasing in prevalence across the developed world at an epidemic rate. It is a complex disease affecting many parts of the body and can lead to serious illness.  

Not to mention that type 2 diabetes has also been linked with heart attacks and stroke. This disease has also even been associated with memory loss and dementia later in life. A poor diet high in sugar and carbohydrates, which has a high risk of leading to obesity, are known to be major causes of type 2 diabetes.

How diabetes develops

We naturally produce a hormone called insulin from an organ called the pancreas.  When we eat any kind of food, we produce more insulin, especially in response to sugary or high-carbohydrate foods.  This is because insulin is necessary for the sugar in the blood to get into our cells, where it is needed to produce energy.  But insulin has a lot of other effects too.  It stores excess glucose (sugar) as glycogen (a starchy substance) in our muscles – which can readily be converted back to glucose by another hormone whenever we need it.

Insulin also prevents the breakdown of fat to use as energy, and causes fat cells to take up glucose and store it as fat.  In other words, the more food - especially sugary food - we eat, the more insulin we produce, and the fatter we become. 

But it gets worse too as after a while the body’s cells become so used to being awash with insulin all the time that they stop responding to this crucial hormone. 

If not corrected, insulin resistance will almost inevitably lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, and the problems that go with that disease.

Downward spiral

In an attempt to overcome insulin resistance, the pancreas pours out increasing amounts of insulin, which has less and less effect. In the end the pancreas is completely exhausted and stops producing insulin altogether. Eventually the cells which make it will wither away and lose the ability to produce insulin.  At this stage a person with type 2 diabetes would then become dependent on daily injections of insulin. (Until this point their diabetes would be managed by diet and exercise, with or without tablets).

The Effects Of Diabetes

Diabetes affects the body's basic functions in countless different ways – and contrary to popular belief, diabetes is not just about sugar. Type 2 diabetes is associated with high levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood.  These high cholesterol levels clog up our arteries, stopping blood from getting to the heart muscle, leading to a heart attack, or stop blood reaching the brain, causing a stroke.

Excessive sugar in the blood affects the eyes, leading to blindness and destroys the kidneys, leading to the need for dialysis. The blood supply to the legs is reduced, and damage to the feet coupled with infection and poor healing often leads to amputation of feet and legs.

How can fasting affect diabetes?

• Weight reduction

This strategy has been proven to be effective in reducing weight. We know that reducing weight leads to a reduction in insulin resistance.

• Reversing insulin resistance

In a two-week study, healthy men fasted for 20 hours on alternate days and were told to eat plenty on the non-fast days to ensure they did not lose weight. After two weeks the insulin sensitivity (cells responding to the effect of insulin) of the men had increased, which lowered blood glucose levels and prevented fats being broken down in their bloodstream. This would be very beneficial for someone on the way to developing insulin resistance and diabetes, but also help those already diagnosed with diabetes to gain better control of blood sugar levels.

• Heart health

As mentioned, part of the metabolic disturbance that occurs in people with type 2 diabetes is an increase in the levels of cholesterol and other fats circulating in the blood.

• Prevention of diabetes

By bringing about weight loss, reducing fats in the blood and preventing insulin resistance, intermittent fasting can help us all avoid the development of diabetes.

What’s involved in intermittent fasting?

The two fasting days are best split up over the week, for example a Monday and Thursday. The fast is a modified one in that you are still allowed some food on the fast days – about a quarter of normal intake, so about 500 calories for a woman and 600 for a man. You should aim to have one or two reasonably long fasting periods within the fast day. So some people breakfast on part of their calorie allowance at say 7.30am, and then do not eat again until 7.30pm.  Others find it easier to not eat at all until the evening, when they can have all their calorie allowance for an evening meal.

Can everyone try it?

No. Children, pregnant women and people with type 1 diabetes should never fast.  Anyone with type 2 diabetes should speak first to their doctor before considering any kind of fasting.