Can Diabetes Be Reversed?
Diabetes is a condition that causes your blood glucose level to get too high. Even though blood glucose is your body’s primary energy source, having excess amounts circulating in your system is unhealthy and can damage your organs.
There are multiple types of diabetes, including:
Of these conditions, you can improve type 2 and prediabetes through diet, exercise, and other interventions. You can only treat and manage type 1 diabetes (which develops earlier in life and is less common than type 2) and gestational diabetes (which occurs during pregnancy and typically resolves afterward).
How to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
If you have type 2 diabetes, your body either doesn’t produce enough insulin (a hormone that controls your blood glucose level), or your cells don’t respond appropriately. Can diabetes be reversed? Yes, although you need to be clear about what that means.
Type 2 diabetes can’t be cured. But you can reverse it to the point that it’s in partial or complete remission by working with your physician, possibly a nutritionist, and others to develop and execute a plan for addressing the condition. That plan likely will include specific changes to your eating, exercise, and sleeping habits. It may also involve you quitting smoking and taking medication to help control your diabetes.
Can you reverse prediabetes? The same tentative “yes” applies to that question. With the right plan, a consistent effort on your part, and the support of your care team, you can improve your health and reverse prediabetes.
There’s no set timeline for reversing type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. However, it’s not uncommon for people to stabilize their blood sugar in approximately a month and see additional improvements in their condition in three to six months. But a better approach is to not focus on the long-term outcome but rather on sticking to your plan one day at a time.
Things That Cannot Get Rid of Diabetes
If you have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, it’s crucial that you also understand behaviors that won’t help you reverse it or go into remission. That includes actions like:
- Continuing to do what you’ve always done. If it’s been your habit to eat large portions and get little or no exercise, sticking with those behaviors won’t improve your condition.
- Using “miracle cures” for diabetes. If there were a simple treatment that could quickly, safely, and effectively treat diabetes, your doctor would know about it and share it with you.
- Following the latest diet trend. To enjoy lasting improvements in your diabetes or prediabetes, you must avoid shortcuts. They rarely work, and if they produce any change in blood sugar levels, it will be short-lived. You simply have to “do the work” to get the results.
Learn About Diabetes Care at Baptist Health
Can you reverse type 2 diabetes? Yes, especially with help from the diabetes specialists at Baptist Health. And if you have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, it’s essential to take action right away. The longer your blood sugar level remains high, the more damage the condition does to your body.
Learn more about diabetes and how Baptist Health helps you manage it.
