Fasting – a miracle cure for diabetes

Intermittent fasting can help even long-term type 2 diabetics to such an extent that they no longer need insulin after just five days and feel “great”.

BMJ Case Reports

21 May 2024

Table, clock, food
“It's better for diabetics to do this fast under medical supervision”, advised Suleiman Furmli, one of the authors of the study. (Photo: Pexels)

A 40-year-old man had been living with type 2 diabetes for 20 years. He needed three different medications to manage his blood sugar. One of these was insulin, which he had to inject morning and evening – until he fasted for five days, at the end of which he was able to stop taking insulin and shortly afterwards his other diabetes medication as well. After losing ten kilos between January and October 2016, he felt “great” and ended up cutting 13 centimetres off his hip measurement. 
 
No trouble with fasting 
This impressive improvement was reported by a group of doctors in Canada, who even followed it up with two additional patients: one was a 67-year-old man who had been living with diabetes for ten years and was able to stop taking insulin after 18 days of intermittent fasting, and the other a 52-year-old man who had had type 2 diabetes for 25 years and was able to stop taking insulin after 13 days. All of them had no trouble with the fasting regime. 
 
Two of those affected fasted three days a week over a period of between seven and eleven months. On the days they fasted, they ate a meal in the evening only. They could drink as much as they wanted, although this was limited to water, coffee, tea or broth. 
 
Increased energy, fewer cravings 
A fasting day was followed by at least one “non-fasting day” on which they would have lunch and dinner, with all meals being low in carbohydrates. 
 
The third patient opted to fast every other day over a period of eleven months. He not only felt more energetic, the bouts of ravenous hunger that he used to experience also disappeared. A further side effect: all three men also saw an improvement in their hypertension and high cholesterol levels. 
 
Twice weekly visits to the doctor at first 
Before starting the fasting programme, the three men took part in a six-hour seminar on diabetes and nutrition. As long as they were still having to inject insulin, they were examined by a doctor twice a week. They also measured their blood pressure themselves once a day and their blood sugar four times a day. 
 
The doctors instructed them to stop fasting immediately if they felt unwell, but that did not happen. All three of them coped extremely well with the fasting programme. None of the three men had ever done anything like this before. 
 
Have a doctor supervise you 
“It's better for diabetics to do this fast under medical supervision”, advised Suleiman Furmli, one of the authors of the study. This is because the dosage of insulin and other medication must be properly adjusted to prevent dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels. 
 
Suleiman says that anyone who wishes to fast like this “simply” for the sake of their health or to lose fat around their abdomen can do so without consulting a specialist.