Can You Reverse Diabetes Fast with Better Food Choices?

Even though many people struggle for years with type 2 diabetes, there is real hope that you can reverse type 2 diabetes quickly by making better food choices. To illustrate this point, I want to share a 2024 study that was conducted in the Marshall Islands, one of the world’s hotspots for diabetes. The results are not as dramatic as the Roy Taylor approach. Still, we clearly see that our choices of foods and the quality of our overall diet do make a significant impact on blood sugar control, inflammation, and type 2 diabetes.

The Diabetes Crisis in the Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has one of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes globally—about 10.5% of adults worldwide are affected, but in the RMI, it’s even more pressing, ranking seventh highest. This Pacific nation has seen a shift from traditional diets rich in local plants and seafood to imported processed foods like white rice, refined flour, sugary drinks, and canned meats. This is precisely the kind of diet transition that Weston Price was talking about in the 1930s. Whole cultures shifted from their traditional diets to a modern, refined-food diet that was very tasty but simultaneously destroyed their health.

Brenda Davis, a real-life advocate for WFPB diets, and colleagues conducted a study here, using a culturally appropriate, whole-foods, plant-based diet, to help reverse the diabetic trend.

How the Study Was Set Up

In this 24-week randomized controlled trial, 169 adults with type 2 diabetes were randomized to standard medical care (SMC) or an intensive whole-food plant-based diet with moderate exercise (PB+Ex).

The PB+Ex group received hands-on support for the first 12 weeks, including prepared meals, group exercise sessions, and weekly classes on healthy eating, cooking, and stress management. Then in the second half of the trial, they worked independently, getting less prepared meals and figuring out how to continue on their own. The intervention was culturally adapted, featuring local foods.

The whole-foods plant-based diet was high in fiber, low in fat and salt, and emphasized whole plants, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and intact whole grains, with only minimal animal products and processed foods. The diet was rigorous at first and then allowed people to make more of their own choices after the 12th week.

The Results: Better Sugar Control, Fewer Meds, and Some Remissions

Compared to SMC, the PB+Ex group saw some good results, even if most of them did not reverse their diabetes:

• Glycemic Control: A1C levels dropped by 1.3% at 12 weeks, and at the end of 24 weeks, it was still 0.7% below the starting level of 10.7. This high level of A1c showed that their diabetes was very uncontrolled.
• Medication Reduction: 63% of the people taking diabetes medications were able to reduce their doses. Overall, the use of medicines for diabetes and heart health decreased.
• Weight Loss: Average weight loss was about 6 pounds, which isn’t much, but it did help a little.
• Other Perks: People in the PB+Ex group had lower inflammation, as shown by lower C-reactive protein, better cholesterol and triglyceride numbers, lower blood pressure and heart beat rate, especially during the first 12 weeks of the intervention.

What I really want to know is how many people were able to go into diabetic remission.

Overall, 8% of the Pb Plus EX group (5 out of 66) achieved full diabetes remission (HbA1c below 6.5% without meds for at least 3 months). For those who started with their A1C under 9%, remission was 23%.

In comparison, the DiRECT trial, led by Dr. Roy Taylor in the UK, achieved a 36% remission rate overall at 2 years, using rapid initial weight loss. But 68% of those who lost more than 15 kg of body weight achieved diabetic remission.

But here is what we can learn from this trial….

Remission Without Major Weight Loss?

The people in the Marshall Islands study who reversed their diabetes didn’t lose very much weight, like in the DiRECT trial. They lost little to none. In fact, one person even gained weight while still dropping their A1C level into remission levels. How did they do this?

I suspect that their diet quality was actually very low to start with. So, a whole-foods, plant-based diet was a huge improvement for them. This would have reduced inflammation in their liver. If they had gotten rid of sugar-sweetened beverages, this would have taken a load off their livers and probably reduced liver fat. After all, liver and pancreatic fat are the driving factors behind high fasting blood glucose and uncontrolled post-meal blood sugar levels. Their diets were so bad to start with that simply improving them improved the health of their liver and pancreas. So their internal organs actually started working much better even before they lost any weight.

The Takeaway: Diet Quality Does Matter—But So Does Weight Loss

Do you want the best results for reversing diabetes? This study shows that diet quality matters and can significantly improve your internal organ function. You can reduce medications and improve your heart health at the same time, even before you lose weight.

But if you want the best results, you need three things:

1. Weight loss (for long-term remission, 35 pounds of weight loss is recommended to significantly reduce fat in the liver and pancreas)
2. High-quality foods (diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh vegetable juice, nuts, seeds, organic intact whole grains, and legumes, like the Hallelujah Diet)
3. Targeted supplements (to fill in dietary gaps, lower inflammation fast, and speed up results)

So, why suffer so long with type 2 diabetes? This study shows you that in a very short time, like 12 weeks, using a high-quality plant-based diet, you can be symptom-free of type 2 diabetes and well on your way to completely reversing diabetes for the rest of your life.

It may seem overwhelming to start everything at once, but can you take just one small step right now toward health freedom? What step is that for you?