This is a question I see being asked in support groups and in ebooks throughout the internet. I even have a book that I purchased when I was first diagnosed titled, “How to Reverse Diabetes”. I remember seeing that book in the book store and thinking to myself, this is it! Someone has the answer! Many years, and many similar books later, I realize the undeniable answer to the question is a resounding no.

That’s right, no. I’m sorry to rain on your parade if you thought I was going to say something else, but diabetes is a disease for which there is no known cure. Once you have the disease, that is it, you have it for life. And yes, I know that sucks. A lot. But with almost everything in life, this is not the end of the story. No, diabetes cannot be reversed. There isn’t a cure. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t live a long and healthy life.

We have been told for many years that diabetes is a progressive disease, meaning that the affects of diabetes will continue to progress throughout your life, and complications from diabetes will probably be the reason for your death. This is still the case for many people, but for some, they have found a way to put diabetes into a type of remission. Similar to cancer patients, some diabetics can lead full and happy lives free from any medication. Now, some would call that a reversal of the disease, but that is not the case.

To truly be able to say that you have reversed the disease you would need to be able to go off of all drugs and be allowed to eat a carb and sugar heavy diet without fear of your blood glucose levels soaring out of control. I have yet to hear the story where this has been the case. I have heard awesome accounts of people going off of drugs entirely, but it is always associated with a change in their diet. Most of the time these folks are following a low carb, high fat diet, and continue to follow this type of diet for the rest of their lives. This is a wonderful result, and something to be celebrated, but there is currently no evidence to suggest that this type of success then leads to a repair of our bodies insulin resistance.

I’m willing to be wrong about this, but I doubt I am. But if anyone reading this knows of a case where a person actually reversed their Type 2 Diabetes, please let me know about it.