Type 2 Diabetes & Weight Loss

At Metabolic Health Solutions we’re passionate about improving metabolic health. We believe there are issues affecting so many Australians that nobody seems to want to talk about, let alone address. An elephant in the room we would like to expose, and we think it’s a BIG one, is type 2 diabetes and weight.

It is clearly a big issue, with 1 in 4 Australians having diabetes or pre-diabetes (Diabetes Australia, 2017). Our concern is that over 75% of people with type 2 diabetes experience shame around their diagnosis and the majority of people (55%) with type 2 diabetes avoid talking about it (Virta Health, 2017). Yet they aren’t being given all the information they need to make an informed choice when it comes to managing their disease and weight. So let’s start practicing empathy and compassion for people living with type 2 diabetes—whether that’s for ourselves or for someone else.

Unfortunately, those with Type 2 diabetes aren’t always being told that...

• Carbohydrates end up as glucose in the blood stream and high amounts cause a rise in blood glucose levels, regardless of whether they are low ‘GI’ or not
• Low fat products often have a significant amount of added sugar to improve palatability
• We don’t need to eat 3 meals plus snacks to maintain stable blood sugar levels
• Insulin is a fat storing hormone and a side-effect of excess insulin is weight gain, and weight gain causes insulin resistance which will mean they will require even more insulin in the future
• It’s not only about blood sugar levels, the fluctuations in them throughout the day is emerging as a strong independent risk factor for complications (Tay, 2015 & CSIRO 2015)
• Exercise, particularly high intensity exercise and weights training can help improve insulin sensitivity for some individuals (Borghouts, 2000)
• For certain individuals a lower carbohydrate diet may help with diabetes management (Diabetes Australia, 2015 & CSIRO 2015)
• And they aren’t being told, there is another approach to managing their metabolic disease.

The good news is that there is strong evidence showing that type 2 diabetes can be prevented in up to 58% of cases in the high risk, pre-diabetic population (Diabetes Australia, 2017). More recently, it has also been shown that diabetes is not always progressive, and can in fact be reversed with weight loss following an intensive lifestyle program reducing visceral fat without medications (Lean et al, 2017).

Even a weight loss as small as 5% is considered clinically significant in reducing the risk of diabetes. At MHS, 74% of our advanced clients achieve this result in 2017.

We understand the one size fits all approach when it comes to weight loss for diabetics doesn’t work and recognise that an individualised approach based on your unique metabolism is required to achieve your weight loss and diabetes management goals. Through our state of the art testing and evidence-based protocols, we can ensure that your body is burning the right fuels, that you are losing fat not muscle and that you maintain your metabolic rate so that results are long term. The only thing you will have to worry about is your GP asking you how you did it!