Raj, a lifelong vegetarian, felt that he was in peak health 10 years ago when he began his career on Wall Street. However, the stress of his fast-paced job began to wear him down as he put his health on the backburner.
As a Wall Street professional, Raj felt that he was too time-pressured to live a healthy lifestyle. Instead of going to the gym, he worked long hours and indulged in rich, fatty meals for comfort.
At this point in his life, Raj was hyperfocused on building a successful career on Wall Street, and he had convinced himself that there simply wasn’t time to focus on his health.
Although many of his family members have type 2 diabetes, and 70% of urban dwellers in South India (where Raj’s parents were raised) have type 2 diabetes, Raj’s weight steadily increased from 170 pounds to 249 pounds.
Raj’s doctor diagnosed him with an enlarged liver based on a liver ultrasound and routine laboratory blood work. That’s when Raj realized that it was time to change his lifestyle immediately.
He tried a vegan diet, juice fasts, and a low-carbohydrate diet to try to lose weight, but nothing seemed to work. Despite his efforts to drop excess body fat, Raj was unable to do so, and was subsequently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
One day, Raj overheard his two sons talking about him while playing basketball. His younger son said:
"Forget asking Dad to join us. He's lazy and too overweight to play basketball with us anymore."
Hearing this comment broke Raj’s heart. He thought to himself:
I’m not just losing my health. I’m losing my family, and I’m only 39 years old.”
That was the turning point.
Raj began researching how he could reverse type 2 diabetes and an enlarged liver using his lifestyle. Having heard from his doctor that both conditions were “irreversible,” Raj instinctively believed that he could transform his health.
Eventually, he discovered that with the appropriate dietary strategy, he could absolutely reverse an enlarged liver and type 2 diabetes simultaneously.
After watching the documentary What The Health, which features a segment with Neal Barnard, M.D. explaining how to reverse type 2 diabetes using a low-fat, plant-based, whole-food diet, Raj immediately typed the words diabetes reversal into YouTube and found this Mastering Diabetes video.
This presentation gave him tremendous hope.
In February 2018, Raj signed up to watch the Mastering Diabetes Online Summit, and in March 2018, he joined the Mastering Diabetes Program.
This momentum motivated him to make the lifestyle changes necessary to reverse type 2 diabetes and an enlarged liver.
In order to follow the program to a tee, Raj would have to eliminate a few foods from his diet which he previously thought were healthy, including ghee, cheese, and olive oil.
In substitution for these foods, he would have to eat more plants and start moving his body every day. “Simple,” he thought to himself. “I can do this.”
After only 6 months, Raj successfully shed 64 pounds, and reduced his A1c to a non-diabetic 5.2%, normalized his fasting blood glucose, reduced his cholesterol to 149 mg/dL, and reversed his enlarged liver.
Take a look at his blood biomarkers over a 9-month period below:
Biomarker | December 2017 | September 2018 |
|---|---|---|
Weight (lbs) | 249 | 185 |
A1c (%) | 7.4 | 5.2 |
Fasting Blood Glucose (mg/dL) | 170–190 | 80–95 |
Total Cholesterol (mg/dL) | 215 | 149 |
LDL (mg/dL) | 147 | 94 |
HDL (mg/dL) | 38.2 | 41 |
Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 64 | 30 |
Aspartate Aminotransferase (U/L) | 48 | TBD |
Alanine Aminotransferase (U/L) | 121 | 16 |
Green = In range
Yellow = Slightly elevated
Red = Significantly elevated
A typical breakfast for Raj is four to five pieces of fruit such as mangos and bananas, which works great for him since he just happens to work next door to the world’s largest produce market!
His lunch is usually a large salad with either potatoes or beans and rice, and his evening meal is typically similar to his lunch.
Raj loves adding an Indian flair to his meals using spices instead of using ghee, oil, and cheese.
The best part of Raj’s story is that he feels that he’s reconnected with his family. Now that he has control over his health and physical fitness, he has the energy to play with his kids and take part in activities in his community.
Take a moment and congratulate Raj for his incredibly hard work at reversing type 2 diabetes and an enlarged liver.
We’re extremely proud of him, and know that his health will continue to improve over time.
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