Would you know, or even want to know, that Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is on the rise worldwide? Well, it is and does so big time. Both the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation have sounded the alarm, as “Diabetes now affects one in 10 adults worldwide” (1). This is disheartening, to say the least! Here I share my type 2 diabetes reversal success story!
I somewhat knew as I had read snippets of information. Yet, I assumed that it all had to do with our increasing lifespan: live longer and you’ll have more of the inevitable conditions that come with old age, right?
Going the typical route of the previous generation in my family, I hence developed high blood pressure, and high blood sugar, was prescribed a pill, then more pills, followed by seeing specialists, and getting on insulin…. “Fact of life of getting older”, or so I thought. Born in the Netherlands and having lived in Haiti for a few decades among expats from various corners of the world, I saw a similar pattern wherever I went: come age 40-ish, the pounds and the pills come marching in.
And comparing myself with many friends my age, I wasn’t doing all that bad: sure, I was overweight, but not obese. Sure, I ate too much, but at least it was homemade and every day I included some vegetables and fruits. However, I was sedentary, spending long hours at the computer and then in my car.
Every now and then, a doctor would hint that my weight kept going up slowly but steadily and that I wasn’t in the best shape I could be. But the doctors always found another pill or shot to add to my growing list and at least I was above reproach in taking them on time. So I felt very responsible.
Responsible, yet also worried. Especially when something Big happened (an earthquake, a hurricane, political turmoil) and people started asking if I could still find the medication. Or that one doctor’s visit, where the cardiologist asked if I wouldn’t be better off leaving Haiti and going back to the Netherlands “in case you need urgent care”.
One hot and sunny day, I was on a work assignment in New York City. I didn’t feel right, and my blood sugar levels were clearly off. I reported to First Aid, who sent me to an Emergency Clinic, who in turn sent me to the ER at Mount Sinaï Hospital. And as much as I was relieved that I didn’t have the heart attack I thought I had, I was troubled by the doctor’s instruction to make changes in my lifestyle. Major changes.
Back in Haiti, I tried, really tried. I started walking on a treadmill, lifted some weights, tried to limit my intake of cookies and other home-baked goodies, and saw my blood values somewhat improve. Somewhat, but not good enough.
Then an article in the newsletter from my Dutch health insurance caught my attention: they were considering adding the “Reverse Diabetes 2 Now” program (2) to the list of programs they covered. Wait a minute: reversing type 2 diabetes??? Can diabetes reversal be my success story? I looked it up, read, read even more, and decided I wanted to give it a try. As I live and work in Haiti, I needed some patience before I could lay my hands on the program’s content. But the next time I traveled to the Netherlands, I bought the books and absorbed them all.
Back in Haiti again, I started applying the principles and saw my blood sugar stabilize and my need for insulin minimize. From the start, I checked in with my doctors, as I wanted to be responsible for all the changes. They were skeptical at first but let me try it on the condition I would keep them abreast of my blood sugar levels and blood pressure throughout the weeks and months that followed.
First my evening long-term insulin dropped to half the original value, then the pre-meal insulin (which I took twice a day) could be discontinued and the Metformin pills halved. I started losing weight and gaining energy, and people began noticing the difference. I had hopes now for the possibility of my success story of diabetes reversal.
I became hungry for knowledge and started studying from online courses to books and videos, gradually becoming knowledgeable in the field and obtaining certificates to prove it. As a former physical therapist, I had a bank of prior medical knowledge to build on, so it came relatively easy to understand and embrace the new thinking of not treating the condition with medication, but rather avoiding illness by making (drastic) lifestyle changes as my body doesn’t behave like the overall accepted “normal”.
Long story short: I am now no longer insulin-dependent (I have in fact not used any insulin since August 2019) and am off all other type 2 diabetes medication, while also discontinuing most of my impressive collection of cardiovascular medication. I lost 25 pounds (12 kilos) and gained energy enough to pass my latest stress test at the cardiology center with flying colors. My doctors, both the Diabetes specialist as well as my cardiologist, now are excited. I just had my regular check-up, and both confirmed that all of my blood values were perfectly in the healthy range! This is my diabetes reversal success story!
People started asking me about my type 2 diabetes reversal success story and what I had done, and my own doctors started connecting some of their patients with me, so I set up a small class to teach people how they too could reverse their T2D. When the political situation in Haiti deteriorated to the point where some people no longer felt confident coming to class, I recorded the classes and sent the recordings to them by email. That opened the door to those who had already asked me if my teachings would be available outside of Haiti. And subsequently, I transitioned to fully online teaching, with participants from several countries on 4 continents.
So what did I do? I started treating my type 2 diabetes as an allergy: I learned that people with T2D do not process carbohydrates too well. And where that previously was “cured” by medication, I now cured it at the root cause: by no longer consuming all these carbs. So, I had to overhaul my nutritional habits, and I learned to cook differently. That was a blessing in its own right, as I never liked being in the kitchen and my meals showed that (just ask my family J). The “Reverse Diabetes 2 Now” course books had some recipes, and from there I went on the internet and started Googling for “low-carb recipes”, and enrolled on a few online forums – and before I knew it I started to love experimenting and cooking all these new dishes! My family enjoyed most of my new recipes as well, although sometimes I added some “regular” side dishes for them.
But it’s not just about food….. I always tell people that MOVING is even more important, especially moving throughout the day. That can be a challenge when you live in a shelter-in-place situation for weeks like we often do in Haiti, but I see it as a challenge indeed: I have coached people to simply walk around the kitchen table, or even create movement while you’re lying in bed or when you’re hiding on the floor. And during the pandemic as well as with the recent wave of evacuations of missionaries and other expats in Haiti, I have had to coach people to literally “keep moving, even when the moving gets tough”.
In these circumstances, stress management and sleeping hygiene are also aspects to look at, as your blood sugar levels tend to react to stress and sleep deprivation as well. So, this was my type 2 diabetes reversal success story and I hope you liked it!
My dream for the future is to provide quality training to reverse T2D for the often-forgotten group of expats worldwide, especially those living in very difficult circumstances: missionaries, relief workers, and other global personnel. I have seen so many of them having to leave the field prematurely due to poor health and now know I can help prevent an important part of that. They often keep running on empty, helping everyone and every need around them, until they collapse and are medevacked to safer places, taking all of their knowledge and experience with them.
References
1. https://www.idf.org/news/240:diabetes-now-affects-one-in-10-adults-worldwide.html
2. https://reversediabetes2now.com/
Sources
“The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally”, Dr. Jason Fung
https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/cardio-using-functional-medicine-reverse-type-ii-diabetes/
https://www.foodinspiration.com/us/healthy-village-leende-202/
https://ancora.health/diabetes-2-reversal/
Evelien de Gier
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