Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Sarah Hallberg discuss a study showing type 2 diabetes can be reversed with a low-carb, high-fat diet, and why the medical establishment largely ignored it. The research challenges conventional diabetes treatment despite clear evidence of patient recovery.
I thought this study would come out as front page of the New York Times, cover Time magazine, greatest breakthrough in science in a hundred years.
Hi, I'm Kasia Perowicz, one of the producers of the Doctors Pharmacy. Last year, Dr. Hyman sat down with Dr. Sarah Hallberg to discuss the groundbreaking results of a study she published examining the impacts of a low-carb, high-fat diet on type 2 diabetes and why it was largely ignored by the media and the medical community. Before diving into that episode, let's listen in on a conversation between Dr. Hyman.
And author Nina Teicholz, about the study.
And about food politics.
One of our colleagues, Sarah Hallberg, just published a paper on diabetes. Now, this is a condition that in medical school I learned once you had it, you got it. There's no reversing type 2 diabetes. Type 1 for sure not, but that's an autoimmune disease. Type 2 is really a disease of carbohydrate intolerance. And in this study, which was remarkable, showed by using a very high fat diet with lots of saturated fat, you literally could reverse 60% of type 2 diabetes in a year. You can get 100% of people off the main diabetes medication, which potentially is harmful and has been linked to heart attacks, and you can get people off insulin or dramatically lower insulin in 94% of the people. That is unprecedented. And the average weight loss was 12%, which is unheard of in dietary studies or about 30 pounds. This is radical, and yet it's not mainstream. It's not something that doctors use or recommend, but there's an increasing awareness that different kinds of diets that actually restrict carbohydrates and increase fats may actually help with certain metabolic conditions. And we're seeing this across the board in terms of diabetes, obesity, even things like cancer, fatty liver disease, Alzheimer's, autism, epilepsy, brain tumors. I mean, it's pretty interesting, this data is starting to come in at a rapid rate. And now I go on Amazon, look at the best selling books, and a lot of them are ketogenic diets, which I find really fascinating.
Yeah, well, and just to emphasize one of the numbers that you just said about that Sarah Hallberg study, that was at one year, 60% reversal. That means they no longer have a diagnosis of diabetes. There was zero mainstream press coverage of that study, which should be, if, you know, headline news. We can reverse 60% of our nation's diabetes in a year. Everybody ignored it. Just speaking to the politics of this field, you know, when I talk about my work and or my book, I, you know, yes, it is about science, but really the story here is really about politics, right? I mean, this is really so much more about politics than it is about science, because as we have seen, the science is ignored so much of the time, and that is politics. And the story of Sarah Hallberg's diabetes study is like the current day version of that.
So why did this happen? And what is the takeaway? Let's turn now to Dr. Hyman's conversation.
With Dr. Sarah Hallberg. I thought this study would come out. It's front page of the New York Times, cover Time magazine, greatest breakthrough in science in 100 years, reversing diabetes, 60% of patients getting them off insulin. But like there was one dinky newspaper in Detroit that picked it up under much duress. Right.
So, you know, I mean, it goes to say that it's hard to push back against the status quo because you're right. I mean, this is a landmark study, right? I mean, reversing a disease that we thought was not reversible in not just anecdotes here and there, right, but in a substantial large clinical trial. And it just goes to show you that pushing back against the status quo is going to take some doing.
Since we published the study, there has been interest from industry, from insurers, But there's been crickets from the medical community. It's just the most bizarre thing. And what's the resistance? Is it just ideological? Is it political? Is it economic?
It's status quo. Yeah. And there's a lot of intellectual bias. I mean, this is what we've been recommending for our patients with type 2 diabetes for years. Why would we change? And the answer to why we would change is things keep getting worse because our recommendations make no sense. But it's not only financial bias, but it's more important, I mean, absolutely more important, it's intellectual bias. This is what people have been saying for a long time. And to make someone pause and say, wait a minute, look at the evidence here. There's no evidence for what you're recommending. And there's a lot of evidence for a low carbohydrate approach in type 2 diabetes. We're at that point where we are calling We're calling them on it.
We have believed forever that type 2 diabetes is a chronic, progressive, incurable disease that has to be managed. You have suggested and not only suggested, but seemingly proven that type 2 diabetes is a reversible disease, which is complete heresy in the medical world.
That's right. That's right. But I think it's becoming less heresy as we move on and the data become even more robust. So, you know, first I'll go back to that original idea of it being a chronic and progressive disease and just how terrible it is that that has been pushed out not only on Americans, but the globe for a very long time. You know, you get this disease and there's nothing you can do about it.
There's no going back.
There's no going back. And, you know, that paralyzes people. It takes away their hope and it takes away their control. And so, you know, as we move forward to looking how we can touch and reach more people, the idea of just allowing people the knowledge that this is something you can reverse, you can back out of type two diabetes, empowers people. It motivates them. And we just need to at least agree and embark on that very first step. Number one, reversal is possible. There are several ways to do it. You need to choose the one that's best for you. But most importantly, the idea of reversal is a discussion that needs to be had with every patient who struggles with type 2 diabetes and their healthcare provider.
The secret sauce seems to me to be the ongoing level of coaching support and the monitoring that keeps patients accountable, connected, and actually being able to succeed.
You really have to surround a person with support because making a lifestyle change, let's face it, Mark, right? I mean, you know this. It's hard. A lifestyle means that it doesn't matter what phase of your life you're in or what you happen to be doing that week, that we can work this into the life you're living and not try to change that. I think that We're seeing this grow. I think the momentum is behind really allowing patients to take control of their health and reverse out of this disease. And I just think step one, I really wish would be a complete consensus that reversal is a thing. It's possible. I think that we could get agreement from all aspects of experts in nutrition and chronic disease management on that. And we just need to push that into the public arena so that people can be aware, not only the people who are suffering from type 2 diabetes, but the healthcare providers who are taking care of them. Anyone who's listening, you know, who is, I'm sure if they're listening to your podcast, they're not hearing this for the first time. But, you know, tell your family, your friends, your neighbors that are struggling with type 2 diabetes that reversal is something that they need to discuss. They need to demand to discuss with their healthcare provider.
So where can they go to find out about your study and can they print it and bring it to their doctor?
They absolutely can and I would encourage them all to go to virtahealth.com that's V-I-R-T-A-Health.com and there they can read our blog which is written by experts in the field. They can have access to our papers and our research and other research as well. So, you know, it's a good landing place for more information and That's right, they should be printing out these papers if their physician is resistant to it, bringing it in and say, I need support on this.
By using Food as Medicine and providing individuals with the right support, we can take steps toward recovery. If you enjoyed this mini episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy podcast, please consider sharing it with your friends and family. Together, we can reverse the epidemic of chronic disease. Thanks for tuning in.
