Intermittent Fasting vs Diabetes Drugs: Sulfonylureas

Posted on by Jesse Santiano, M.D.

What is Sulfonulyrea?

Sulfonylureas are prescribed for Type 2 diabetes. The common ones are glyburide, glibenclamide, glipizide, and glimepiride.

How Do Sulfonylureas Work?

Sulfonylureas work by making the beta cells of the pancreas release more insulin.

Why Do You Need Sulfonylureas for that? Isn’t Insulin Release Normal and Automatic?

Usually, when the body senses a high level of sugar and amino acids after a meal, it gets motivated to store them. Insulin is the primary hormone for that and does its job well.




In Type 2 diabetics, the beta cells of the pancreas are beat-up and cannot produce enough insulin to lower the blood sugar. That is because high blood sugar, a high-fat diet, and a high protein diet are toxic to the cells of the whole body. That includes the beta cells of the pancreas. If excessive food is eaten many times in a day, the beta cells cannot recover and start to suffer.

Sulfonylureas squeeze out whatever insulin is there in those beat-up beta cells.  Kinda gives another meaning to “Beating up a Dead Horse.” Eventually, it will be hard to “squeeze blood out of a rock,” and not enough insulin will be produced.

That is when the blood sugar rises, and more diabetes medicine will have to be prescribed.

1024px-Man_sitting_on_a_dead_horse_(1876_-_1884)_(retouched)
Beating on a Dying Horse Doesn’t Do Nuthin!

Enter Intermittent Fasting

During the period of fasting, the beat-up beta cells of the pancreas recover. In the absence of food, the beta cells undergo natural cell death (apoptosis) and auto-recycling (autophagy). What happens next is that new beta-cells are made that are ready to produce the right amount of insulin for the next meal.

That is it for Round 1 of Intermittent Fasting versus Sulfonylureas. Stay tuned for Round 2.

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You May Like the following:

  1. How to Do Intermittent Fasting
  2. If you want to start intermittent fasting slowly – The Kaizen Way of Fasting 
  3. The eating period in IF can be early in the day till afternoon and is discussed here – Early Time-Restricted Feeding is Intermittent Fasting In Sync with the Circadian Rhythm
  4. This addresses a common misconception about IF – Will Fasting Make My Muscles Shrink?
  5. Is it wrong to miss breakfast? No, it is not. – Are You Skipping Breakfast?
  6. How can doing little make significant health changes? – The 80/20 Rule for Health
  7. 10 Unbelievably Easy Ways to Screw Up Intermittent Fasting!
  8. Autophagy is explained here – Autophagy – How to Recycle Yourself
  9. A Case Report of 3 Diabetic Patients that are Weaned Off Insulin
  10. 12 Ways to Have a No-Weight-Gain Holiday Season!

 

References:

  1. Ashcroft FM. Mechanisms of the glycaemic effects of sulfonylureas. Horm Metab Res. 1996 Sep;28(9):456-63.
  2. Liu et al. Intermittent Fasting Preserve Beta-Cell Mass in Obesity-induced Diabetes via the Autophagy-Lysosome Pathway. Autophagy. 13. 00-00. 10.1080/15548627.2017.1368596.

Image Credit:

Man Sitting on a Horse By Unknown – http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/SHE0101/612150642/1973 (direct link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29154384

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