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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Dr. Ken Berry says type 2 diabetes can be cured by fixing your diet first, ideally starting with a ketogenic diet and then moving toward a paleo diet, with the goal of getting your hemoglobin A1c below 5.7. He argues that starches, sugars, and sugary drinks drive the condition, and that diabetes medications mainly lower blood sugar rather than curing the underlying disease.
Key Points
- Hemoglobin A1c thresholds: 5.6 or below is acceptable, 5.7 to 6.4 is pre-diabetic, and 6.5 or higher is type 2 diabetes. Berry says anything 5.7 or above carries serious risk.
- Berry says roughly 90 percent of the time the cause is starches and sugars, and that there are no essential sugars, starches, or carbs in the diet.
- Diabetes medications, including metformin, are described as lowering blood sugar, which he compares to Tylenol lowering a fever without curing the flu. He says some studies show these pills do not lower mortality or morbidity.
- Exercise is helpful for overall health and blood sugar control, but Berry says it is unlikely to cure diabetes or produce weight loss on its own.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Stop drinking calories on a daily basis, including regular soda, sweet tea, sugar in coffee, and fruit juice, even organic or unsweetened versions. Berry says an occasional treat is fine, but daily calorie drinks worsen diabetes.
- Concrete instructions: Remove starches, grains, grasses, and sugars from the diet. Start with a ketogenic diet, then transition toward a paleo diet. Berry says some people can stay ketogenic long term.
- Concrete instructions: Ask your doctor whether your C-peptide or insulin level has been checked, to confirm you still make insulin. If you are a type 2 diabetic and still make insulin, insulin is not the answer for you.
- Concrete instructions: Get your hemoglobin A1c below 5.7 so you are no longer pre-diabetic. Berry says this is achievable through diet alone, though he prefers you have a doctor check labs to rule out type 1 diabetes.
- Concrete instructions: If your doctor or dietitian recommends more whole grains for type 2 diabetes, Berry suggests seeking other advice.
- Recommended reading named by Berry: The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung, Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore, and The Paleo Diet by Cordain.
- Berry links ongoing kidney problems and fatty liver disease in some patients to elevated insulin and sugar, and says these should be addressed through diet rather than only saturated fat restriction. He presents these views as his own opinion from clinical experience, not as professional medical advice.
Bottom Line
According to Dr. Ken Berry, type 2 diabetes is driven mainly by diet and can be reversed through a low-carbohydrate, sugar-free approach, with medication treated as a temporary measure rather than a cure.
