A Type 2 Diabetes Remission Story Through Fasting

Introduction and Betsyu2019s Background 0:00

Hi, everyone. This is Dr. Joseph Antoun, and I'm here with you to talk with Betsy, who has been trying the diabetes remission program. And probably Betsy, you have remitted your diabetes. I just heard that you are no more medication, which is which is amazing to think about how that is how the disease was prescribed and thought of as a progressive disease. And now a few months later, we're talking about you being free of medication. But I want to I want to ask you about all of that. First of all, do you mind introducing yourself and what do you do?

And then I'm going to ask you a few questions about it. I mean, it's the remission program. Sure. My name is Betsy Abney. I worked in the financial services industry and education and let me see, I live in Texas where it's hot. But I just got back from Utah where it's cool for vacation.

Diabetes History and Medication Challenges 1:08

Fantastic. And how long? How long have you been living with diabetes? Oh, probably 16 years or so. And how many? How many drugs? What are you taking for it? I was taking two. I've always tried to keep myself really tight control. My A1Cs have never been really high. Six is really been high for me. I was 8.1 when I found that I was diabetic, but I was taking metformin forever and then I also have tried some of the various and sundry short ones by Dorion and some of those often on recently too. What's the really popular one right now that's recoding it?

Something else that I oh living yes but it maybe so nauseous I couldn't even get past the .25. Yeah you know my doctor is like, oh this will help you lose weight. And it's like it's I know I was so sick on it and every time I tried to increase it, I couldn't work, I couldn't function on it. So. So I stayed at the .25 and yeah. Then helped in. How many cycles of fasting mimicking diets you've done now consecutively? I've done six. Okay, so a total of six months, then once every month for a six month.

Right. And how many medications for diabetes

Fasting Mimicking Diet and Remission Progress 2:51

now you take after zero? Now I was doing some intermittent fasting prior to that. So but this is easier than intermittent fasting. I will tell you. No medications now. And that's again, are you staying within the program to maintain? Yes, that's the thing I sound the most, is that it has really helped me with controlling without medication, still controlling where my diabetes numbers are. So I'm in the fives now. I don't want to freak anybody out, but I mean, the phones and have been for my last blood test.

I have another one coming up in October. So we'll see where that goes. But in person. And you said you just came back from a vacation and you walk in Utah and you visited the parks. Is that something that you were able to do last year? I would say a year ago, I definitely I probably could have done the little level by the river walks. But we did one in Bryce Canyon where you go down the Navajo Loop and up the Queen's Garden Trail. It's three miles, 800 feet, over 800 feet change on one side, over 650 change over the other.

It was tough. It was really tough. They said it was a three mile hike and it should take you 3 hours. And I went, why would three miles take you 3 hours? Yeah, I would not I would not have survived this previously. I don't know how they that got me out of that canyon. I'm not sure I would have gotten down, actually. So what was the weight difference? What was the weight difference before you started intermittent fasting and then the fasting mimicking diet versus today. I've lost just over 60 pounds. Wow.

Weight Loss, Mobility, and Travel Improvements 4:47

Where do you thinking? For a while. But my blood sugar numbers, even with no more weight loss, my blood sugar numbers have been really good. And, Betsy, are you talking to your doctor? You're doing this directly with the diabetes remission program. Now, my I actually talked to my doctor. I have both rheumatologist. I deal with and I hepatologist because I also have liver disease and and then I have a I'm moved from my endocrinologist to my general practitioner because my my endocrinologist wanted me to stay on medication.

And I said, well, I wanted to do fasting and you can't do that on Ozempic because it makes you sick. And then you're like, No, we want you to stay on the ozempic. And I'm like, No, no, I wanted to do the fasting. I wanted to lose the weight, I wanted to get control of my body. So isn't that amazing? I mean, I am. an MD, PhD we get trained to give drugs for people, although the drugs are not getting people out of diabetes. Right. They just actually for most people, what people don't realize they pushed you forward in the disease, right?

Because by improving insulin sensitivity and getting or producing more, depending on which drug you take, you're shifting more carbs. They don't disappear to the air, they go to the cells and then they get more stuck into reserve and the increase instead of resistance.

Doctor Discussion on Diabetes Reversal 6:12

And then you need more medication. More medication. And, you know, we're talking with you. We just lost the program a little a few months ago. And we still see some some doctors do jump in and say, my mission in life is to help people be out of diabetes in some doctors, they they panic. Right. They're like, no, I should I've been taught to give you the meds. You should stay on your meds. And and they forget that the reason you're here is because of overeating, insulin resistance, because of the aging process on top of it, and because you lose muscle.

But these are the three causes of diabetes, the genetic predisposition for sure. But it's the aging process, losing muscle with age and lifestyle change and weight gain and insulin resistance. And that will go away. And in ozempic is not going to reverse your age. They will go in ozempic is not going to optimize yourself and rejuvenate them. When you do the fasting, mimicking diet, you're rejuvenating yourself. This is why fasting is so powerful. It's not just the weight loss but the cell rejuvenation.

You're younger biologically, so you deal better with diabetes. It protects your muscle. That's the biggest pitfall with what we'll be in with that pig. And so you keep burning these carbs, you don't lose that muscle. And I'm happy you're able to walk and go visit so many sites in number three. Obviously, you lose weight fasting, you lose a lot of weight with it. So it's hitting at the core of the disease. And this is why we're seeing fast regression or remission in your case at full remission. So I want to congratulate you because it takes it takes focus.

It takes a will. Right. And it takes a pioneering mindset to say, you know what, I don't want you to take me to the drugs for the rest of my life. I just want to go back and reverse it the natural way and fasting lived with us for all our lifetime. It was a checks and balances, right? We gain weight. We fast, we lose it. And now it's just gain weight, gain weight, get diabetic and then die. And we're reversing that better than today. So I really want to thank you for your time. I really want to thank you for your courage to testify here to help others and inspire them to join the program.

And I hope you stay out of diabetes for the rest of your life.

Encouragement and Closing Remarks 8:12

Thank you. That is my goal. And intention and I really want to encourage people. My last birthday, during this vacation, I turned 65. So this is a place where they tell you you often can't reverse. You know, you've had it too long. You've gotten too old. You can do it. You can. Yes. Well, I appreciate you very, very much. This is life changing. And I really, really thank you for your courage today. I hope everyone is encouraged and and we'll go forward with it. I think it really does help. Thank you very much.