Is this a good idea?

Question

I'm not diabetic but my husband and mother-in-law both are (Type II). Both will routinely go all day without eating anything. This doesn't seem healthy to me, but my MIL (who is a nurse) insists that it's perfectly fine because fasting keeps the blood sugar levels low.

It would seem to me that the sudden fluctuation you're going to get when you finally eat, late in the day, would be more detrimental than just eating moderate amounts throughout the day. Am I way off base?

Thanks for those medical references, but neither is obese.

Answer 1

Going all day without eating is not good at all. They need to eat six small meals a day. If they are type two then they have to be taking a pill which helps regulate their sugar. Without eating they can become hypoglycemic. Tell that nurse that she needs to go back to her books. She should not be giving advice that she has no full understanding of.

Answer 2

its ok for the blood sugar, but its not ok overall. It seems that they're just avoiding the problem of eating right by not eating at all. Living with diabetes requires a change in lifestyle. Not eating is just taking the easy way out. If they change they're lifesyle and eat right and exercise, they can actually reverse the effects of diabetes, even to the point that they no longer have diabetes.

Answer 3

Small, frequent meals are the best, especially in diabetics. You want to maintain a constant glucose level in the body. Constant highs and lows can be as damaging as always being high.
Being a nurse your MIL should know the importance of accurately managing the disease. You can't do anything to make her follow this rule, but try to persuade your husband to eating in a more timely fashion.

Answer 4

I don't think it's ok to not eat all day regardless, and that a Nurse would advise you that it's fine, I don't know though, my son has D 1, and he has to eat thoughtout the day.
Hopefully, someone on here has a good answer for you! Then, I'm sure it will be a chore to get them to listen, I'm sure they have made a long habit of not eating during the day.

Answer 5

You have a good thinking.For diabetic patient its better to take four or five small meals rather than one big meals this will prevent the post prandial increased level of sugar

Answer 6

Physiol Res. 2005;54(1):33-9.
Short-term very low calorie diet reduces oxidative stress in obese type 2 diabetic patients.
Skrha J, Kunesova M, Hilgertova J, Weiserova H, Krizova J, Kotrlikova E.
Third Department of Internal Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U nemocnice 1, 128 08 Prague 2, Czech Republic.

Oxidative stress is higher in obese diabetic than in non-diabetic subjects. This pilot study evaluates oxidative stress during short-term administration of a very low calorie diet in obese persons. Nine obese Type 2 diabetic patients (age 55+/-5 years, BMI 35.9+/-1.9 kg/m2) and nine obese non-diabetic control subjects (age 52+/-6 years, BMI 37.3+/-2.1 kg/m2) were treated by a very low calorie diet (600 kcal daily) during 8 days stay in the hospital. Serum cholesterol, triglycerides, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), beta-hydroxybutyrate (B-HB), ascorbic acid (AA), alpha-tocopherol (AT), plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in erythrocytes were measured before and on day 3 and 8 of very low calorie diet administration. A decrease of serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations on day 8 was associated with a significant increase of NEFA (0.30+/-0.13 vs. 0.47+/-0.11 micromol/l, p<0.001) and B-HB (0.36+/-.13 vs. 2.23+/-1.00 mmol/l, p<0.001) in controls but only of B-HB (1.11+/-0.72 vs. 3.02+/-1.95 mmol/l, p<0.001) in diabetic patients. A significant decrease of plasma MDA and serum AT together with an increase of SOD activity and AA concentration (p<0.01) was observed in control persons, whereas an increase of SOD activity (p<0.01) was only found in diabetic patients after one week of the very low calorie diet. There was a significant correlation between NEFA or B-HB and SOD activity (p<0.01). We conclude that one week of a very low calorie diet administration decreases oxidative stress in obese non-diabetic but only partly in diabetic persons. Diabetes mellitus causes a greater resistance to the effects of a low calorie diet on oxidative stress.






Metabolism. 2005 Jun;54(6):705-12.
Two days of a very low calorie diet reduces endogenous glucose production in obese type 2 diabetic patients despite the withdrawal of blood glucose-lowering therapies including insulin.
Jazet IM, Pijl H, Frolich M, Romijn JA, Meinders AE.

Abstract The mechanism of the blood glucose-lowering effect of a 2-day very low calorie diet (VLCD; 1890 kJ/d) in combination with the cessation of all blood glucose-lowering agents was studied in 12 (7 women, 5 men) obese (body mass index, 36.3 +/- 1.0 kg/m 2 [mean +/- SEM]) type 2 diabetic patients (age, 55 +/- 4 years; HbA 1c , 7.3% +/- 0.4%) undergoing insulin therapy. Endogenous glucose production (EGP) and whole body glucose disposal (6,6 2 H 2 -glucose), lipolysis ( 2 H 5 -glycerol), and substrate oxidation (indirect calorimetry) rates were measured before and after the intervention in basal and hyperinsulinemic conditions. After 2 days of a VLCD and discontinuation of all blood glucose-lowering therapies, fasting plasma glucose levels did not increase (11.3 +/- 1.3 vs 10.3 +/- 1.0 mmol/L). Basal EGP significantly declined (14.2 +/- 1.0 to 11.9 +/- 0.7 mu mol/kg per minute; P = .009). Basal metabolic clearance rate of glucose and rate of basal lipolysis did not change. During hyperinsulinemia, EGP (5.5 +/- 0.8 to 5.2 +/- 0.5 mu mol/kg per minute), whole body glucose disposal (12.1 +/- 0.7 to 11.3 +/- 1.0 mu mol/kg per minute), the metabolic clearance rate of glucose, and the rate of lipolysis did not change after the 2-day intervention. Cessation of blood glucose-lowering therapy in combination with a 2-day VLCD does not lead to hyperglycemia and is associated with a reduction in basal EGP. Insulin-stimulated whole body glucose disposal did not improve, nor did insulin suppressibility of EGP and lipolysis.