As I understand it, the story here is DM2 has recently been shown to be "put in remission"[1] by lifestyle changes and Virta Health pairs type 2 diabetics with doctors and a system to help patients make those changes. Primarily that involves a low-carbohydrate diet from what I read about the startup online. In my opinion, Virta can help people who (1) can afford it, and (2) are motivated to implement the changes long-term. This system could scale, for sure-- there are enough people with DM2 and enough of them will be motivated and affluent. Reaching the non-affluent would be harder, but not impossible with say, charity care or medicaid reimbursement. In my mind, seeing all the sequelae of diabetes in my patients, even moving the needle a little bit can do a great good.
[1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
51–60 of 88 posts
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#52Does this read like an ad to anyone else? I can't help but notice their average BMI was 40. That's in the "extremely obese" category - pretty sure we're out of the "massively muscled" category (exception - monsters like Ronnie Coleman, but let's be honest here, his blood serum reading come back "minotaur" and the muscle is probably doing damage). I'd always assumed that for the majority of the population going from a…
Reads like an ad to me. I was diagnosed with T2D last November (Tuesday before Thanksgiving...bummer). At the time of my diagnosis I was certainly not obese and have lost weight since as I have become aware of sugar/carb intake whereas before I didn't pay any notice. My situation is due to genetics which may be outside the scope of the article, but there is no mention of that fact. I came in with high hopes reading t…
Yeah, that's the unfortunate bit if you're regular weight already, you make the usual lifestyle adjustments and hope for the best. It's much easier to solve the T2D problem when it's co-morbid with obesity than someone with bad luck.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#53"...based on highly individualized carbohydrate restriction and nutritional ketosis" That's really the key to what is fixing the diabetes. And it's just a brief mention in the article. Nothing else about the nutritional aspects. This was extremely light on actual, real information. That being said, I'm also not sure why this stuff is still considered news. Many people, myself included, have been saying for some years…
> They know french fries are bad, but think it's because they are deep fried. When I tell them that a regular baked potato or red potatoes have glycemic index values of around 85-89 and that potato ships are around 50-55 they are stunned. Having T1D and a CGM I can say the normal potatoes are much easier to control compared to the french fries. The fat is really a huge problem if you dose your own insulin. It is guar…
Yes, fats slow the absorption rate of carbs so that makes sense that you will see a longer, protracted amount of time for the elevated blood sugar levels. You don't get the same spike and subsequent crash because it's more drawn out.
I also don't know if the fact that you are Type 1 instead of Type 2 affects anything I said. I don't know enough about Type 1 to comment. Anything I said is specific to Type 2.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#54Does this read like an ad to anyone else? I can't help but notice their average BMI was 40. That's in the "extremely obese" category - pretty sure we're out of the "massively muscled" category (exception - monsters like Ronnie Coleman, but let's be honest here, his blood serum reading come back "minotaur" and the muscle is probably doing damage). I'd always assumed that for the majority of the population going from a…
Doesn't do a thing for me - I'm underweight as it is.
When were you diagnosed / have you adjusted your lifestyle since? I'm curious as to the circumstances and how your life has changed.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#55"...based on highly individualized carbohydrate restriction and nutritional ketosis" That's really the key to what is fixing the diabetes. And it's just a brief mention in the article. Nothing else about the nutritional aspects. This was extremely light on actual, real information. That being said, I'm also not sure why this stuff is still considered news. Many people, myself included, have been saying for some years…
Boiled potatoes are becoming more popular as fuel for competitive endurance athletes specifically because they have a high glycemic index.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fat + Carbs makes you fat. Cut out one and you lose weight. I'm on a plant based diet which is high carb (no highly-refined carbs) and I'm very fit. If your body's glycogen stores are full from carbs then YES fat you consume goes straight to fat. EDIT: and WFPB (whole food plant based) also reverses type 2 diabetes.
I've been on keto for a > 1 year now, but feeling like I want to cut out meat products. Any resources that you can point to, to research the physiological effects behind WFPB, and for getting started?
Not OP, but https://old.reddit.com/r/vegan/wiki/veganscience#wiki_health... is a good starting point.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#57Remission is more accurate term. Remission is the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity. I'm relatively sure that if patients quit their new lifestyle, they get to back to diabetes symptoms faster than those who didn't develop diabetes. It's also possible that they just delay the progress and after 5-10 years changes of nutrition is…
I dropped my a1c to non-diabetic levels using low carb and intermittent fasting. If I drop the diet and eat badly, I'm right back where I was with regards to blood sugar levels. Getting back on the diet drops me back quickly, though. So, yes, it's remission and not a reversal. I'm hoping that keeping my blood sugars low for long enough will help my pancreas heal so that this isn't so much the case. Time will tell, I guess.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#58this is a thinly disguised ad for virta health! why is it on HN first page?
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#59Gary Taubes and Peter Attia where championing Ketogenic diets at a time when people where violently opposed to it. In fact, they are a big reason why my doctor now tells everyone working with weight loss to start there. There have been reports for years on /r/keto and other places of people "accidentally" forcing diabetes into remission. So none of this is surprising. Yes, there is a lot of marketing here, but Taubes and Attia have earned the right to try and change people's minds about things.
Re: Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible at Scale?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
The same goes for oil which is all fat and no carb. Refined food is the real culprit, not just refined carbs.
There are some healthy and natural oils, but yes the vast majority of the oils we use are cheap, processed garbage. The real issue is that our bodies aren't designed to consume, for example, vegetable oil in mass quantity because the amount of actual vegetables you would need to consume to get that same amount of the oil is simply impossible to do. Those refined oils aren't handled in the same way the healthy, natura…
Plain old lard contains over 100 calories per tablespoon.
It's not really a battle between processed and unprocessed. It's just simple math. Oil and sugar pack a lot of calories in a very small package.
We eat multiple times every day. We have the entire variety of food at our disposal multiple times every day. I can have a feast for every meal. Most people eat like royalty of the past. This is new. Most of us live post-scarcity. We're having a hard time adapting because our instincts and behaviors come from times of scarcity.