Although most people think injected insulin is reserved for type 1 diabetes, more than one in four people also use insulin to treat type 2 diabetes. And, in most of those cases, it just makes things worse.
For starters, insulin use increases weight gain. A patient of mine, let’s call him Bill, had type 2 diabetes for 10 years prior to coming to my clinic. At the time of diagnosis, his physician started him on a drug that stimulates insulin production.
This method of treating diabetes worked for a while, but slowly and surely his blood sugar—and his weight—began to increase. His doctor responded by upping his medication dose. Again, this temporarily made living with diabetes easier for Bill, but eventually both his blood sugar and his waistline inched up.
In time, Bill was no longer able to keep his diabetes under control with oral drugs, so his doctor prescribed a low dose of insulin.
Over the next few years, his insulin dose was periodically ratcheted upward to keep pace with his rising blood sugar levels, and with every increase, he gained more and more weight. Soon he came to me asking, “Dr. Whitaker, what can I do now?” You see, when I first saw Bill, he was taking 100 units of insulin daily and had put on 100 pounds!
Folks, that’s just bad medicine. Bill’s “diabesity” (diabetes plus obesity), which was contributing to a number of health problems, was clearly exacerbated by insulin. After following my treatment program, which included, among other things, a healthy diet and blood sugar supplements, Bill lost those 100 extra pounds over the course of several years, and his blood sugar normalized without any prescription medication at all.
Another testament to the link between insulin use, diabetes and weight gain is the fact that 90 percent of teenagers with type 1 diabetes sometimes skip their insulin doses in order to prevent weight gain. I certainly don’t advocate this practice (especially since type 1 diabetics need insulin to survive), but it goes to show just how many people have experienced this potential downside to taking supplemental insulin.
In my next blog post, I’ll reveal another reason why I’m down on supplemental insulin for treating diabetes.
For more information diabetes and weight, visit www.drwhitaker.com.
For starters, insulin use increases weight gain. A patient of mine, let’s call him Bill, had type 2 diabetes for 10 years prior to coming to my clinic. At the time of diagnosis, his physician started him on a drug that stimulates insulin production.
This method of treating diabetes worked for a while, but slowly and surely his blood sugar—and his weight—began to increase. His doctor responded by upping his medication dose. Again, this temporarily made living with diabetes easier for Bill, but eventually both his blood sugar and his waistline inched up.
In time, Bill was no longer able to keep his diabetes under control with oral drugs, so his doctor prescribed a low dose of insulin.
Over the next few years, his insulin dose was periodically ratcheted upward to keep pace with his rising blood sugar levels, and with every increase, he gained more and more weight. Soon he came to me asking, “Dr. Whitaker, what can I do now?” You see, when I first saw Bill, he was taking 100 units of insulin daily and had put on 100 pounds!
Folks, that’s just bad medicine. Bill’s “diabesity” (diabetes plus obesity), which was contributing to a number of health problems, was clearly exacerbated by insulin. After following my treatment program, which included, among other things, a healthy diet and blood sugar supplements, Bill lost those 100 extra pounds over the course of several years, and his blood sugar normalized without any prescription medication at all.
Another testament to the link between insulin use, diabetes and weight gain is the fact that 90 percent of teenagers with type 1 diabetes sometimes skip their insulin doses in order to prevent weight gain. I certainly don’t advocate this practice (especially since type 1 diabetics need insulin to survive), but it goes to show just how many people have experienced this potential downside to taking supplemental insulin.
In my next blog post, I’ll reveal another reason why I’m down on supplemental insulin for treating diabetes.
For more information diabetes and weight, visit www.drwhitaker.com.
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