ConditionsDiabetes & insulin resistance
If your HbA1c keeps creeping up, the doses keep stacking up, and no one has shown you a way out, this page is for you.
You are walking every morning. You have cut the obvious sugar. You take the metformin. The number still goes up at every six-month review. There is a reason, and it is rarely about willpower.
The actual story.
Type 2 diabetes is the late stage of a story that has been running for ten or fifteen years. Long before your fasting sugar crossed the line, your insulin was already high. The pancreas was working overtime to keep glucose down. By the time the diagnosis arrives, the pancreas is exhausted, and the muscles, liver, and fat tissue have all stopped listening to insulin properly.
This means treating the sugar number alone is not enough. If the underlying insulin resistance is not addressed, you can have a textbook HbA1c on a stack of medications and still feel terrible, gain weight, and watch your liver enzymes climb. We see this pattern weekly.
The drivers of insulin resistance are mostly knowable: a refined-carbohydrate-heavy diet, poor sleep, chronic stress, low muscle mass, and fatty liver. Each one is testable and addressable. Treat the drivers, and the sugars usually come down on their own. The medication is then a temporary tool, not a life sentence.
Reversal is real for many patients with type 2 diabetes, especially within the first five to seven years of diagnosis, and especially if there is still a meaningful c-peptide response. By reversal we mean an HbA1c in the non-diabetic range, off most or all medication, sustained over time. We do not promise it for everyone. We will tell you honestly within the first month whether the picture supports it.
Type 1 diabetes is a different story. There the pancreas cannot make insulin, and insulin therapy is non-negotiable and lifesaving. Our work in type 1 is supportive: better glycaemic stability, fewer hypoglycaemic events, less reliance on correction doses. We do not, ever, take patients off insulin in type 1.
The work is to address the upstream insulin resistance.
Most patients arrive on metformin (often for years), some on insulin, some on statins. Our work is to address the upstream insulin resistance so that dependence on those medications can come down where the clinical picture allows.
Type 1 diabetes is a different conversation. Insulin in type 1 is non-negotiable and lifesaving. Please flag this on the application so we can discuss what the work looks like for you specifically.
The longer version of this thesis lives in our blog post on type 2 diabetes reversal, including the c-peptide question and the honest limits of the approach.
The panel that should have been ordered in the first place.
HbA1c alone is the headline. The story underneath needs more than one number.
HbA1c
Three-month average blood sugar. The headline number, but only one piece of the picture.
Fasting glucose
A snapshot from one morning. Less informative than HbA1c on its own, more informative when paired with fasting insulin.
Fasting insulin
How hard the pancreas is working. The earliest signal of metabolic trouble, often raised for years before sugars rise.
HOMA-IR
A calculated insulin-resistance score from fasting insulin and glucose. Useful for tracking improvement.
Lipid panel
Triglycerides and HDL together tell a metabolic story. A high triglyceride to HDL ratio is a strong sign of insulin resistance.
ALT, AST, GGT
Liver enzymes. Raised values, especially ALT, are often the first hint of fatty liver, which both drives and is driven by insulin resistance.
Vitamin D
Low vitamin D worsens insulin resistance. Most Indian patients are deficient.
Vitamin B12
Long-term metformin lowers B12. Worth tracking and replacing as needed.
Ferritin
Iron stores. Raised ferritin can also reflect fatty liver and inflammation. Low ferritin worsens fatigue and exercise tolerance.
Urine albumin/creatinine ratio
An early kidney marker. Catches diabetic kidney involvement years before creatinine rises.
C-peptide
When indicated. Tells us how much insulin the pancreas is still able to make on its own, which directly affects whether reversal is realistic.
Diagnostic, then Ascend, then Elixir where the picture asks for it.
The first step is the Diagnostic. We run the full metabolic panel, look at the liver, kidneys, vitamin status, and where indicated the c-peptide. Inside the first month we will tell you honestly what your numbers and history support. For most patients within the first five to seven years of a type 2 diagnosis, with reasonable pancreatic reserve, meaningful reversal is on the table. For others, the goal is steady control and fewer medications, which is also a win.
The next step is Ascend. This is where the daily inputs get rebuilt. Food first, in a way that fits an Indian plate. Sleep next, because a few weeks of poor sleep raises insulin resistance more than most patients realise. Then movement, with an emphasis on building muscle and walking after meals, not punishing cardio. Stress and breath work sit alongside, because cortisol drives sugar up just as reliably as a sweet does.
For patients who need the deeper unwind (long history, fatty liver, multiple medications, or a stubborn HbA1c that does not move), Elixir is the longer programme. We give the body the time it actually needs. We coordinate with your diabetologist for any dose changes. Tapering medication happens slowly and only when the labs say it is safe.
About timelines. HbA1c moves slowly, because it is a 90 day average of your blood sugar. The first repeat at month three tells us the direction of travel, not the final number. Most patients land in the non-diabetic range by month six to nine. Full reversal, by which we mean stable non-diabetic numbers off most or all medication, takes 6 to 12 months for most. Weight follows. The pancreas usually thanks you a few months in. The deeper read on the mechanism lives in our piece on insulin resistance, the silent driver, if you want the longer explanation before you apply.
What you can actually expect.
Most patients see HbA1c drop noticeably within the first three months and stabilise in the non-diabetic range by month six to nine. Many come off most or all of their oral medication during this window. Weight typically follows, not leads. We will not promise reversal for everyone. We will tell you honestly within the first month whether your numbers and history support it. The goal is steady improvement, fewer medications, and a metabolic picture that holds without daily pills, where the clinical picture allows.
Patients who walked this same path.
Six months back HbA1c was 8.4. I had been on metformin for 11 years, my doctor told me I will be on insulin soon. Now it is 5.9, off metformin completely. The food part was the hardest, my wife had to cook two meals for the first month and we had a few fights about it honestly. But it is paisa vasool. Worth all the trouble and the supplement bills.
Type 2 for nine years, three medicines a day. After seven months on the protocol I am on one medicine, half dose, with my diabetologist's full sign off. I had been told for a decade that diabetes only goes one way. Glad I was wrong.
62 years old, diabetic for 18 years. Family had given up on changes, said I am too old. After six months HbA1c is from 9.1 to 6.8. My grandchildren can keep up with me on walks now, not the other way around.
The questions patients actually ask.
Can I really come off metformin?
Often, yes. Many patients taper off metformin over three to nine months once HbA1c is in the non-diabetic range, fasting insulin has come down, and the pattern is stable on repeat testing. We do this slowly and only with proof from the labs, never on hope.
What about insulin?
If you are on insulin for type 2 diabetes, we look at the dose and the c-peptide. Many patients can reduce or come off insulin over time, especially if the pancreas still has reserve. We coordinate with your endocrinologist for any dose changes. If you are on insulin for type 1 diabetes, we do not stop it. The work there is about smoother control.
Is keto necessary?
No. Strict keto is one tool, not the only one. For most of our patients, a moderately lower-carb Indian plate with the right protein and fibre order works just as well and is much easier to sustain over years. We tailor the carbohydrate level to your numbers and your life.
How do I keep my blood sugar steady through Indian festivals?
We plan ahead, we do not pretend you will skip Diwali. There are sequencing tricks (protein and fibre first, sweet last), a few non-negotiables (no sweets on an empty stomach), and the use of a continuous glucose monitor for two weeks across a festival period to learn your patterns. Festivals are part of the plan, not a crisis.
What if I have type 1?
Our work is supportive, not curative. We focus on lowering total insulin requirement, reducing hypoglycaemic events, improving sleep and gut health (both affect glycaemic stability), and addressing common type 1 comorbidities like thyroid disease and coeliac. We do not take type 1 patients off insulin.
Your HbA1c is one number. It is not your verdict.
Applications are reviewed personally. Tell us what your numbers have been doing, what medication you are on, and what you have already tried. We’ll write back with whether The Root Method is the right fit. If you have type 1 diabetes, please mention it on the form so we can have the right conversation.