A team of researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center recently launched HEAL Diabetes (Healthy Eating and Active Living to Address Diabetes), a program for people in Memphis with early diabetes to determine if intensive weight loss through healthy eating can reduce their blood sugar levels and push their diabetes into remission.
The HEAL Diabetes program encourages participants to eat a mostly plant-based diet comprising vegetables and fruits, lean meats like chicken and fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds to help them lose enough weight to discontinue medications and put their diabetes into remission. Recent studies have shown when people with early diabetes lose 30 pounds, about half experience long-term remission of the disease. However, many people with diabetes often lack access to healthy food and the multicomponent weight-loss programs that are most effective. The goals of this program include an average weight loss of 22 pounds, diabetes remission in 40% of participants, and measurable increase in knowledge and self-efficacy over baseline measurements.
Working with University of Memphis researchers, the HEAL Diabetes team is recruiting 72 individuals from the Memphis area who are willing to change their eating habits and make regular visits to the UTHSC Health Hub to participate in program activities including cooking classes and check-ins. The program is led by the Tennessee Population Health Consortium at UT Health Science Center and supported by a $550,000 grant from UnitedHealthcare’s Communities of Health initiative, as well as by CashSaver Memphis, a regional grocer.
Read more at our UTHSC news site.