Dr. Fung’s novel contribution is his insight that treatment in type 2 diabetes focuses on the symptom of the disease—an elevated blood glucose concentration—rather than its root cause, insulin resistance. And the initial treatment for insulin resistance is to limit carbohydrate intake. Understanding this simple biology explains why this disease may be reversible in some cases—and, conversely, why the modern treatment of type 2 diabetes, which does not limit carbohydrate intake, worsens the outcome.
