Exercise and healthy diet can reverse diabetes: Doctors

It was a double whammy for 52-year old Kuldeep Bachani. After being admitted to Hinduja Hospital, Mahim for a bypass surgery in February, he was told that he had a serious case of diabetes.

It was a double whammy for 52-year old Kuldeep Bachani. After being admitted to Hinduja Hospital, Mahim for a bypass surgery in February, he was told that he had a serious case of diabetes.

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Diane and Ian Thompson, ou“I was shocked at the time. I asked the doctor what my options were. He told me to change my lifestyle and eating habits,” said Bachani, a marketing consultant, who was asked to inject himself with insulin twice a day.

Through regular exercise (yoga and walking) and improving his eating habits (eating more of raw than cooked food), Bachani was able to go without insulin administration in a month’s time. Bachani has lost over 20 kilos is now off medication too.

“It is important for patients to know that they can be off insulin if the patient flips his diet and starts exercising,” said Dr Roshani, Sanghani, consultant endocrinologist, Hinduja Hospital.

Another patient, Dinesh Tiwari, 50, has managed to go off insulin by making lifestyle changes. “I hated taking insulin injections twice a day. After giving up chewing tobacco (pan) and walking every day, I have managed to lose seven kilos in two months,” said Tiwari.

Dr Sanghani said that most patients are very averse to starting insulin treatment and are resistant to medication. "Most people believe that once they are on insulin, they can never get off it. People are very casual about walking about with high diabetes. They do not realise that diabetes is a silent killer," said Dr Sanghani. Endocrinologists agreed that the myth that a patient, once on insulin, will have to continue the treatment for a lifetime is well spread. "If the diabetes is lifestyle related, the patient can reverse the disease by making lifestyle changes. However, a patient who is deficient in insulin will need the dosage," said Dr Shehla Shaikh, consultant endocrinologist, Saifee Hospital, Charni Road.