On the occasion of the celebration of World Diabetes Day, which falls on November 14, we offer a diet to treat diabetes, conducted by researchers from Qatar, with special statements by Al-Jazeera Net about it.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin, or when the body is unable to effectively use the insulin it produces.

Insulin is a hormone that regulates the level of sugar in the blood, and hyperglycaemia or high blood sugar level is one of the common effects that occur due to uncontrolled diabetes, and over time leads to severe damage to many body systems, especially nerves and blood vessels, according To the World Health Organization.

Researchers from Qatar conducted a study on the effect of weight loss on diabetes, and it was published last June in the medical journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

The participants followed a low-calorie diet that leads to rapid weight loss by replacing everything they eat with 3 liquid meals, totaling 800 calories per day only, and after 3 months the regular food was gradually introduced for a period of 3 months, then the regular food.

The result was that diabetes was reduced without any drugs in 61% of patients who underwent the diet.

Al-Jazeera Net interviewed Professor Abdul-Badi Abu Samra, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolic Diseases in Qatar, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at Hamad Medical Corporation, who participated in the study and answered Al-Jazeera Net's questions in private statements.

Professor Abdul-Badi Abu Samra: Diabetes decline was associated with weight loss (Hamad Medical Corporation)

What is the nature of the experiment that was conducted?

The study is funded by the Qatar Scientific Research Fund, and it aims to find out the results of weight loss by 10-15 kg through an intense diet for 3 months in patients with type 2 diabetes who have recently started the disease.

The researchers in this study are from Hamad Medical Corporation, Cornell Medical College, Primary Care Foundation and Qatar Diabetes Association.

How many participants were there?

What is their health condition?

The study participants are patients with type 2 diabetes who are over the age of 18 and have overweight (body mass index over 27), and who have had the disease during the previous three years.

The BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters.

The weight is considered normal if the body mass index is from 18.5 to 24.9, and from 25 to 29.9, this means that the person is overweight, but if the body mass index is 30 or more, this means that the person is obese.

And 158 patients were recruited from primary health care centers and referred to the research team that educated them about a healthy lifestyle.

And they were divided randomly into two groups: a group that was treated with appropriate medicines according to the latest guidelines and international standards for treating diabetes, and another group, all diabetes drugs were completely stopped from them and were obligated to a low-calorie diet for a period of 3 months, then 3 months in transition and then they were followed up by the research team With an emphasis on maintaining an appropriate healthy lifestyle, the two groups were studied for two years.

What kind of diet they followed?

A low-calorie diet leads to rapid weight loss by replacing everything they eat with 3 liquid meals, totaling only 800 calories per day.

After 3 months, regular food was gradually introduced for 3 months, then normal food.

Each patient was subject to the study for two years, and a comprehensive examination was performed during and at the end of the study to determine the effect of the diet on weight, diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, and liver and kidney functions.

Did the study find that diet can treat diabetes?

At the end of the two years, diabetes was reduced by 61%, meaning that diabetes was reduced without any medication in 61% of patients who underwent the diet.

Also, patients who were subject to the diet and their diabetes did not decrease, their sugar level was much better than others who were treated with drugs according to the guidelines followed globally, and in addition to improving diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides improved in patients who were subject to the diet compared to others who did not follow it.

Should a person lose weight in order to treat diabetes?

Yes, the decline in diabetes was associated with weight loss, and the greater the weight loss, the greater the percentage of diabetes decline.

For those who lost weight more than 15 kilograms, for example, their diabetes decreased significantly more than others who only lost 5 kilograms.

As for those who did not lose weight, their diabetes did not decrease.

What advice do you give to diabetics?

Based on this study, we say to diabetics, as Arab wisdom says, that the stomach is the home of disease and diet is the head of medicine.

An overweight diabetic will improve a lot if he follows a weight-loss diet.

It is not necessary for the patient to follow a diet similar to the one we did, but he should remove foods that have many calories and replace them with healthy and low-calorie foods such as salads and vegetables, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, grilled or boiled white chicken meat, and the like.

The patient, whatever his physical condition, must move as much as he is able.

Walking is good, and if the patient gets tired, he can rest and walk.

Walking an hour a day or 10,000 steps helps to strengthen muscles, bones and blood circulation.

What advice would you give to those with a family history of diabetes or risk factors for disease such as obesity?

Many people in Qatar have a number of family members with diabetes, this does not mean that diabetes will inevitably affect all members of this family.

We have research that we have not published yet confirming that families in Qatar, most of whose members suffer from diabetes, do not have more pathogenic genes than others, and we began to think that the members of these families share habits, temperament and lifestyle, perhaps more than they do the genes.

These families have a tendency to develop diabetes if they follow an unhealthy lifestyle, but if their members maintain a healthy weight and move actively, diabetes does not affect them.

There are also international studies that have shown that a healthy lifestyle protects individuals with a family history of diabetes as it protects others.

Nobody gives up and says my family has the diabetes genes.

In Qatar, we have cases of patients who had newly acquired diabetes and have a family history of diabetes, but diabetes has regressed with the diet.

Professor Abu Samra concluded that the patient must educate himself about diabetes, its causes, prevention and treatment, and take the initiative himself for prevention and treatment and not leave this matter to the doctor only, and the more the patient is proactive and educated about his disease, the therapeutic goal is achieved for him.

Multiples

According to the World Health Organization, diabetes can cause the following complications over time:

  • Damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

  • Double or triple the risk of heart attacks and strokes in adults with diabetes.

  • Poor blood flow and neuropathy (nerve damage) at the level of the feet increases the risk of foot ulcers and infection, and ultimately the necessity of amputating the limbs.

  • Diabetic retinopathy is one of the main causes of blindness, and is caused by the long-term accumulation of damage to the small blood vessels in the retina.

    2.6% of blindness in the world is attributed to diabetes.

  • Diabetes is one of the main causes of kidney failure.