Type 2 Diabetes - Will Using Insulin Help Rest and Repair Your Pancreas?

If you have recently received a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, you may have heard of using synthetic insulin via injection for a short period of time to rest your pancreas and help in its recovery. As well, using insulin will help you take control of your blood sugar and then you can go off of it and your pancreas will be "rested" so it will be healthier, and you'll be able to control your blood sugar without using insulin.

This concept is partially true. When you use synthetic insulin, your pancreas doesn't have to work as hard. In many people Type 2 diabetes develops first through increasing insulin resistance. So your body is still making insulin but your cells aren't responding to it. This makes your blood sugar levels become higher and higher because the insulin is not moving the sugar or glucose into your body's cells. Then your pancreas starts working harder, producing more insulin to try to combat the high blood sugar level. Over time, the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, become worn out and can stop working altogether. As the beta cells slow down, your body produces less and less insulin - or none at all. When you start taking insulin injections, your blood sugar levels become better controlled, and the cells of the pancreas don't have to work as hard to try to produce a large amount of insulin.

So it's true using insulin makes things easier for your pancreas. But, does this mean after your pancreas is rested, you'll be able to go off of insulin? Maybe not. When your beta cells stop working altogether, they won't start producing insulin again. If you stop taking insulin without making other lifestyle changes, your body won't produce enough on its own to manage your blood sugar.

However, it is possible to...

• become more responsive to insulin,


• improve the health of your pancreas, and

to be able to stop taking insulin and still control your diabetes.

Studies have shown the best way to do this is through...

• adopting a lower calorie diet that eliminates simple carbohydrates, and


• by losing weight. Losing weight helps rid your body of fatty particles that help prevent your pancreas working effectively, and not enable sugar to enter the cells normally. Losing even 10 pounds can make a big difference.


• and exercise helps too - it makes it easier to lose weight, and it allows your body to use glucose for energy, even without insulin.

Overall, diet and exercise, plus using synthetic insulin when prescribed by your doctor, are effective ways to heal your body and manage or possibly help to reverse your Type 2 diabetes.