Betsy Abney
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.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Fantastic. And how long have you been living with diabetes?
Betsy Abney
Oh, probably 16 years or so.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
And how many drugs were you taking for it?
Betsy Abney
I was taking two. I’ve always tried to keep myself really tight control. My A1C have never been really high. Six has 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 shot ones Bydureon, and some of those off and on. And recently too, that’s the really popular one right now. Something else that.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Ozempic.
Betsy Abney
Ozempic. Yes, but it made me so nauseous I couldn’t even get past the .25. 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 I stayed at the .25 and yeah. Then helped.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
How many cycles of fasting mimicking diets you’ve done now consecutively?
Betsy Abney
I’ve done six.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Okay, so a total of six months, then once every month for a six month.
Betsy Abney
Right.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
And how many medications for diabetes now you take after?
Betsy Abney
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.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
And that’s again, are you staying within the program to maintain?
Betsy Abney
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 fives and have been for my last blood test. I have another one coming up in October. So we’ll see where that goes.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Fantastic. And you said you just came back from a vacation and you walked in Utah and you visited the parks. Is that something that you were able to do last year?
Betsy Abney
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 got me out of that canyon. I’m not sure I would have gotten down, actually.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
So what was the weight difference? What was the weight difference before you started intermittent fasting and then the fasting mimicking diet versus today?
Betsy Abney
I’ve lost just over 60 pounds.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Wow.
Betsy Abney
They were kind of stable for a while. But my blood sugar numbers, even with no more weight loss, my blood sugar numbers have been really good.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
And, Betsy, are you talking to your doctor? You’re doing this directly with the diabetes remission program.
Betsy Abney
Now, my, I actually talked to my doctor. I have both rheumatologists I deal with and a hepatologist because I also have liver disease and then I have a, I moved from my endocrinologist to my general practitioner because 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 they are 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.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
So isn’t that amazing? I mean, I am an MD, PhD and we get trained to give drugs to people, although the drugs are not getting people out of diabetes. 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 into the air, they go to the cells and then they get more stuck into reserve and increase instead of resistance. And then you need more medication, more medication. And, you know, we’re talking with you. We just launched the program a little a few months ago. And we still see some doctors do jump in and say, my mission in life is to help people be out of diabetes. And some doctors they panic. Right. They’re like, no, I’ve been taught to give you the meds. You should stay on your meds. 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 the Wegovy and Ozempic is not going to reverse your age. The Wegovy and Ozempic is not going to optimize yourself and rejuvenate them. When you do the fasting mimicking diet, the original 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 muscles. That’s the biggest pitfall with Wegovy and Ozempic. 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. And 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. 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 paradigm 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.
Betsy Abney
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.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Yes. Well, I appreciate you very, very much. This is life-changing. And I really, really thank you for your courage today.
Betsy Abney
I hope everyone is encouraged and we’ll go forward with it. I think it really does help.
Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP
Thank you very much.
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