Reversing Type 2 diabetes starts with ignoring the guidelines | Sarah Hallberg | TEDxPurdueU

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Can a person be "cured" of Type 2 Diabetes? Dr. Sarah Hallberg provides compelling evidence that it can, and the solution is simpler than you might think.

I have the best job in the world.

I'm a doctor.

No! Believe me that's not why.

I'm an obesity doctor.

I have the honor of working
with the group of people

subject to the last widely
accepted prejudice: being fat.

These people have suffered a lot
by the time they see me:

shame, guilt, blame
and outright discrimination.

The attitude that many take,
including those in healthcare,

is that these people
are to blame for their situation.

If they could just control themselves,
they wouldn't be overweight,

and they are not motivated to change.

Please let me tell you
this is not the case.

The blame, if we've got
to extend some here,

has been with our advice.

And it's time we change that.

Obesity is a disease, it's not something
created by lack of character.

It's a hormonal disease,
and there are many hormones involved.

And one of the main ones
is a hormone called insulin.

Most obese individuals
are resistant to this hormone, insulin.

So, what does that mean exactly,
to be resistant to insulin?

Well, insulin resistance is essentially
a state of pre-pre-type 2 diabetes.

Insulin's job is to drive glucose,
or blood sugar,

into the cells where it can be used.

In a nutshell, when someone
is insulin resistant,

they are having trouble
getting blood sugar where it needs to go,

into those cells.

And it just can't hang out
in the blood after we eat

or we would all have a diabetic crisis
after every meal!

So, when someone is resistant to insulin,

the body's response to this
is to just make more of it.

And insulin levels will rise and rise,

and for a while, years even,
this is going to keep up,

and blood sugar levels can remain normal.

However, usually it can't keep up forever,

and even those elevated levels of insulin

are not enough to keep blood sugar
in the normal range.

So it starts to rise.

That's diabetes.

It probably won't surprise you to hear

that most of my patients
have insulin resistance or diabetes.

And if you are sitting there thinking,
"Phew, that's not me,"

you actually might want to think again,

because almost 50% of adult Americans
now have diabetes or prediabetes.

That is almost 120 million of us.

But that's hardly everyone
who has issues with insulin.

Because as I was saying,

people have elevated insulin levels
due to insulin resistance

for years, even decades,

before the diagnosis
of even prediabetes is made.

Plus it's been shown that 16-25%
of normal-weight adults

are also insulin resistant.

So, in case you're keeping track,
this is a heck of a lot of us.

So, the trouble
with insulin resistance is:

If it goes up, we are at great risk
for developing type 2 diabetes.

But also, insulin makes us hungry,

and the food we eat
much more likely to be stored as fat.

Insulin is our fat storage hormone.

So we can start to see
how it's going to be a problem

for diseases like obesity
and metabolic issues like diabetes.

But what if we traced this problem
back to the beginning,

and we just didn't have
so much glucose around

that insulin needed to deal with?

Let's take a look at how that could be.

Everything you eat

is either a carbohydrate,
a protein or a fat,

and they all have very different effect
on glucose and therefore insulin levels,

as you can see on the graph.

So when we eat carbohydrates,

our insulin and glucose
are going to spike up fast.

And with proteins it looks a lot better.

But take a look at what happens
when we eat fat.

Essentially nothing, a flat line.

And, this is going to wind up
being very important.

So, now I want to translate
that graph for you

into a real-world situation.

I want you to go back

and think about the last time you ate
an American version of Chinese food.

We all know there's rules
associated with this, right?

And the first rule is:
You're going to overeat.

Because the stop signal doesn't get sent

until you are literally
busting at the seams.

Rule number two is:
In an hour you're starving.

Why?

Well, because the rice in that meal
caused glucose and insulin to skyrocket,

which triggered hunger,
fat storage and cravings.

So, if you are insulin
resistant to begin with,

and your insulin levels
are already higher,

you really are hungrier all the time.

And we have this setup:

Eat carbs, your glucose goes up,
your insulin goes up,

and you have hunger and fat storage.

So, how do we recommend
to these people to eat,

because it seems like that would be
really important, and it is.

Let's focus just on type 2 diabetes,

because the general recommendations
are to tell patients with type 2 diabetes

to consume 40 to 65 grams
of carbohydrates per meal,

plus more at snacks.

Trust me on this, that's a lot of carbs.

And remember what's going to happen
to glucose and insulin,

blood sugar and insulin,

when we eat them?

Yes, we are essentially recommending

that they eat exactly
what's causing their problem.

Sound crazy?

It really, really is.

Because, at its root, diabetes
is a state of carbohydrate toxicity.

We can't get the blood sugar
into the cells,

and that causes a problem
in the short term.

But the long-term consequences
are even greater.

And insulin resistance is essentially
a state of carbohydrate intolerance.

So why, oh why, do we want to continue
to recommend to people to eat them?

The American Diabetes
Association guidelines

specifically state that there is
inconclusive evidence

to recommend
a specific carbohydrate limit.

But those guidelines go right on
to say what we all know:

Our carbohydrate intake is the single,
biggest factor in blood sugar levels,

and therefore need for medication.

These guidelines then go on to say:

Hey look, if you are taking
certain diabetic medications,

you actually have to eat carbs,
otherwise your blood sugar can go too low.

Okay, so let's take a look

at the vicious cycle
that that advice just set up.

So it's: Eat carbs so you have
to take medicine,

then you have to eat more carbs

so you avoid the side-effect
of those medications,

and around and around we go.

Even worse is that nowhere
in the ADA guidelines

is the goal of reversing type 2 diabetes.

This needs to be changed,

because type 2 diabetes can be reversed,
in many, if not most, situations,

especially if we start early.

Not only do we need
to let people know this,

but we have to start giving them
the practical advice so they can do this.

Consider carbs.

First, here's a shocker for you:
We don't need them.

Seriously! Our minimum daily requirement
for carbohydrates is zero.

We have essential amino acids,
those are proteins,

essential fatty acids,

but, nope, no essential carb.

A nutrient is essential

if we have to have it to function,
and we can't make it from something else.

We make glucose,
plenty of it, all the time,

it's called gluconeogenesis.

So, we don't need them,

the overconsumption of them
is making us very sick,

yet we are continuing
to recommend to patients

to consume close to, if not more than,

half of their total energy intake
every day from them.

It doesn't make sense.

Let's talk about what does.

Cutting carbs, a lot.

Yes, in my clinic we teach patients

to eat with carbs
as the minority of their intake,

not the majority.

So, how does that work?

Well, when our patients
decrease their carbs

their glucose goes down,
and they don't need as much insulin.

So those insulin levels drop, and fast.

And this is very important,

because a study

looking at our National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey data,

better known as NHANES,

showed that the single,
biggest risk factor

for coronary artery disease

is insulin resistance.

It is responsible
for a whopping 42% of heart attacks.

Low-carb intervention works so fast

that we can literally pull people off
of hundreds of units of insulin

in days to weeks.

One of my favorite stories
is a very recent one.

A young gal, but who had an almost
20-year history of type 2 diabetes,

came in when a physician from another
clinic told her she was just sick,

and she'd probably get used to it.

Her diabetes was way out of control.

This despite the fact that she
was on multiple medications,

including almost 300 units of insulin,

that was being injected into her
continuously every day via a pump.

All of this, remember,
blood sugar still out of control.

So we put her on a low-carb diet,
and now let's fast-forward four months.

She lost weight, yes,
but, better than that, sick no more.

Her blood sugar levels
were now normal all of the time.

This on, get this, no diabetes medication.

Gone was the 300 units of insulin,

no more insulin pump,

no more pricking her finger
multiple times each day,

gone, all of it, no more diabetes.

One of the greatest joys of my job
is to be able to tell a patient like this

that they no longer have diabetes,

and we ceremoniously take it off
their problem list together.

So, are they cured, is this a miracle?

We'll leave that grandstanding
to Doctor Oz.

Cured would imply that it can't come back.

And if they start eating
excessive carbs again, it will.

So no not cured, but they don't have
diabetes any longer.

It's resolved, and it can stay that way
as long as we keep away the cause.

So, what does this look like then?
How does somebody eat this way?

Well, first, let me tell you
what it's not.

Low-carb is not zero carb,
and it is not high protein.

These are common criticism
that are so frustrating

because they are not true.

Next, if we take the carbs out,
what are we going to put in?

Because, remember,
there's only three macronutrients:

if one goes down, one has to go up.

My patients eat fat, and a lot of it.

"What!?" you say. What's going
to happen when you eat fat?

Well, let me tell you, you're
going to be happy,

because fat tastes great,
and it is incredibly satisfying.

(Applause)

(Laughter)

But, remember, fat
is the only macronutrient

that's going to keep our glucose -
blood sugar - and insulin levels low,

and that is so important.

So, I want you to now hear
my simple rules for eating.

These rules, you have to remember,
are even going to be more important

if you are one of the tens
of millions of Americans

who have trouble with insulin levels.

Rule number one: If it says light, low fat
or fat-free, stays in grocery store.

because they took the fat out,
they put carbs and chemicals in.

Rule number two: Eat food.

The most important rule
in low-carb nutrition:

Real food does not come in a box,

and no-one should have to tell you
real food is natural.

You should know that when you look at it.

Don't eat anything you don't like.

And eat when you're hungry;
don't eat when you're not,

no matter what the clock says.

And number five is a simple way
to remember what we want to avoid.

No GPS: no grains,
no potatoes and no sugar.

That last one is a biggie,
right, no grains?

Na, no grains.

But we have to have them.

Nope, they're a carb.

But whole grains are so good for us.

Well, first of all, there are actually
very few foods out there

that are truly whole grain
even when they say they are.

Most foods that purport themselves
to be wholegrain

are highly processed
and the fiber benefit ruined.

Or they're coming
with highly refined flour,

usually both of these things.

So if you are one of the truly
insulin-sensitive people,

you can eat real, whole grain.

But if you're in the enormous slice
of our population with insulin issues,

it's making things worse.

So what if you are one
of the real insulin-sensitive people?

Can you still eat this way?

Yes! I am a great example.

Over a year ago I decided
I would cut my carbs

as low as I recommend
to my diabetic patients.

Now, it's not mandatory for my health
like it is for theirs;

I'm not insulin resistant,
so would this be a problem?

No! That's just the thing.

Unless you have
an exceedingly rare syndrome,

then cutting carbs
is going to be good for you,

even if it's not necessary.

I want to show you a couple of pictures
of my radical food.

So, this is a common breakfast
in my house.

So does it look like
I just broke my own rule?

I didn't because this muffin
is made with coconut flour.

I bake all the time still.

I just use non-grain-based flours:
coconut, almond, hazelnut, flax.

They make delicious things.

And this is a typical dinner in my house
with a typical starch.

That would be the sautéed mushrooms.

No, my patients and I eat delightful food
all of the time and enjoy it.

But what about the research on this?

I mean is this just anecdotal
evidence now from my clinic?

No!

There are dozens of
randomized controlled trials

looking at low-carb intervention

for things like diabetes,
cardiovascular risk factors, obesity.

They're consistent. It works!

There are even a large number
of studies showing

that low-carb nutrition
decreases inflammatory markers,

which is making it really exciting
for diseases like cancer.

We just finished a study in our clinic.

And what we did is,

we took 50 type 2 diabetic patients

that were treated with
our low-carb-high-fat-based program,

and we compared them to 50 patients

who were treated with the ADA guidelines.

And after six months,

not only did we find
a significant metabolic advantage

for the low-carb group,

but, and let's face it, this is important,
a huge cost savings.

Our analysis showed that our patients
could save over $2,000 a year

just on the diabetes meds
they were no longer taking.

Just think how fast that adds up.

We are in a diabetes epidemic now

that we are spending
$250 billion a year on in this country.

So, I want to show you a slide now

that demonstrates where
those savings are coming from.

So this is looking
just at the insulin difference

in the two groups after six months.

And what we can see is

that the low-carb group
was able to decrease their insulin

by almost 500 units a day.

Whereas in the ADA treated group,

they had to increase their insulin
by almost 350 units a day.

Two important things.

Number one: Insulin is expensive.

And number two: Not all the people
in this study were even on insulin,

which makes these results
even more impressive.

But what I would say is
that this graph really represents

two different approaches
to treating this disease.

The first, our group,
with the goal of reversing disease,

meaning they need less medicine.

And the second group, which very clearly
aligns with the ADA guidelines,

which state that diabetes
is a progressive disease,

requiring more medicine over time.

Progressive unless we take away the cause.

So, what's the problem then?

Why is this not everywhere?
Why isn't low carb the norm?

There's two big reasons.

Number one: status quo.
It is hard to break.

There are many agendas involved.

We got this notion that low fat
was the way to go decades ago.

But a recent study just came out

showing that there was
zero randomized control evidence

to recommend to Americans
to remove the fat from our diet.

And that's how the carbs got added in.

It was essentially a huge experiment
on millions of people,

and it failed miserably.

The second reason we don't
see it everywhere is money.

Don't be fooled, there's a lot of money
to be made from keeping you sick.

And what we see is,
with these specialty guideline panels,

they are stacked
with conflict of interest.

So, the solution to the diabetes epidemic
in my clinic is exceedingly clear:

Stop using medicine to treat food.

And for a disease
whose root cause is carbohydrates,

take away the carbohydrates,
or at least cut them,

so we can remember
what we used to know.

We knew it a long time ago,

this was said thousands of years ago,

and we need, in this day and age,
to get back to that notion.

Thank you.

(Applause)