How I beat diabetes without drugs

Health stakeholders during World Diabetes Day organised by Kakamega county Health Department at the Approved School of Kakamega, on November 14, 2023. [File, Standard]

On the night of February, 23 2025, Abednego Mutua barely slept. He rushed to the toilet again and again, 14 times before dawn. His heart thumped violently, his body felt weak, his left side ached and his vision blurred into patches.

“That is when I realised something was very wrong,” the 36-year-old father of two recalls. He felt his body slipping into a crisis.

Just weeks earlier, Mutua had ignored the warning signs. He had blamed the constant headaches, fatigue and swelling around his eyes on his weight, which had crept close to 90 kilogrammes. He excused the pain in his side after a heavy festive season filled with sodas, beers and fried foods. Like many Kenyans, he followed the belief of “I will only go to the doctor when I am very sick.”

That February night forced him to finally act.

At Avenue Clinic in Mombasa, the results left him stunned. His blood sugar stood at 16.8 millimoles per litre, far higher than the normal range. Still in disbelief, he went to Beyond Scope Hospital the following day for confirmation. The reading was worse, 21.7 millimoles per litre. Doctors moved quickly, prescribing insulin injections and tablets and warning that without immediate treatment he risked slipping into dangerous complications.

Mutua froze at the thought of injections and pills for the rest of his life. He had watched a close friend live with diabetes and struggle despite years of treatment.

Keep Reading

“I refused medication because I had seen a friend on insulin who was not getting better. I thought, let me try diet first,” he says. That decision, born of fear and curiosity, marked the beginning of an experiment that would change his life and spark wider questions about whether Type 2 diabetes can truly be reversed.

Instead of filling his prescription, he turned to a friend who had managed her own diabetes through diet. She connected him with Evans Mosomi, a former patient turned nutrition coach. What followed was a two-hour phone call that Mutua still describes as life changing. Mosomi instructed him to strip his diet of refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks and oils, and instead eat animal proteins, vegetables and what Mutua calls his ‘medicine water.’ Warm water with Himalayan and iodised salt to restore electrolytes.

He remembers the very first meal.

“That same day, after 17 hours of fasting, I broke my fast with seven boiled eggs and a salad of cucumber, tomato and onion. By evening, my sugar had dropped from 21 to 11 millimoles per litre. That gave me hope.”

The changes were drastic. He stopped eating breakfast, began his mornings with long walks and push-ups and ate only two meals a day. Lunch was often eggs with vegetables or meat with greens. Dinner was another portion of meat, or sometimes fermented milk. Within three months he had lost over 20 kilogrammes, dropping from 90 to 67.

“People said I was becoming too lean, even sickly,” he says. “But I knew my body was healing.”

Eight months later, his HbA1c, a test that reflects average blood sugar levels over three months, had fallen from 7.8 per cent at diagnosis to 4.2 per cent, well below the diabetic threshold. He has not taken a pill or injection since his diagnosis.

“My food is now my medicine,” he says proudly.

Mutua’s story is striking, but doctors caution that his case should not be generalised and it is not typical. Prof Nancy Kunyiha, consultant endocrinologist and diabetologist at Uzwena Health, says what Mutua has achieved is called remission, not reversal.

“Remission is the more accurate term. An individual may achieve normal sugars without medication, but this requires lifelong monitoring. Sugars can rise again if diet or weight changes,” she explains.

Kunyiha stresses that not all patients can avoid medication safely.

“Not all patients require drugs at diagnosis, especially if diabetes is detected early. But if sugars are very high or if there are co-existing complications, refusing medication can be life threatening. We see patients slip into diabetic ketoacidosis which can be fatal.”

She recently encountered a mother convinced that her son’s type 1 diabetes could be reversed through diet, a common misconception she says is dangerous.

“Type 1 diabetes is not the same as type 2. Children with type 1 must start insulin immediately. Diet alone cannot save them.”

Sairabanu Sokwalla, consultant physician and endocrinologist at Aga Khan University Hospital, also points to weight loss as a key factor in remission.

“Weight loss achieved through lifestyle change is strongly linked with remission. However, remission does not equal cure. Diabetes can recur if lifestyle is not rigorously maintained,” Dr Sokwalla says. Medication, she adds, remains essential for many.

“Some can manage on diet alone, but these decisions must be guided by healthcare professionals. Lifelong monitoring is critical.”

Even when medication is avoided, doctors stress the importance of monitoring. Patients attempting lifestyle management must test fasting and post meal sugars, and check HbA1c every two to three months. They also need annual screening for complications affecting the eyes, kidneys and feet.

“One cannot rely on ‘feeling fine’ alone,” says Kunyiha.

Nutritionists also warn against unbalanced diets. Mutua’s reliance on eggs, meat and vegetables while cutting out fruits and whole grains may have worked for him but carries risks in the long run. Kepha Nyanumba, consultant nutritionist at Crystal Health Medical Centre, notes:

“Reducing refined carbohydrates helps, but over-reliance on animal proteins and fats while excluding other food groups increases the risk of nutrient deficiencies and cardiovascular problems. The body thrives on variety.”

Nyanumba encourages patients with diabetes to embrace balanced, culturally familiar diets.

“Ugali made from whole maize, millet or sorghum is far better than refined flour. Pair chapati with beans and vegetables, and serve rice in small portions with legumes. Fibre from vegetables, legumes and whole grains is essential for blood sugar control.”

Nyanumba also warns against extreme diets such as ketogenic plans or prolonged fasting.

“These may cause dangerously low sugars or strain the kidneys. Balanced eating is safer and more sustainable.”

Affordable local foods like spinach, sukuma wiki, sweet potatoes, arrowroots, groundnuts and legumes, he adds, are excellent for blood sugar management without the need for costly imports.

Mutua’s journey is unfolding against the backdrop of a growing global crisis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes has risen dramatically in recent decades, from about 108 million adults in 1980 to more than 500 million by 2022. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) projects that the number will reach 700 million by 2045, with Africa facing the fastest increase at 134 per cent. Already, one in nine African adults is expected to be living with diabetes by that year.

In Kenya, the burden is already significant. The IDF estimates that about 3 to 3.5 per cent of Kenyan adults, roughly 800,000 people, are diagnosed with diabetes, though the true number may be double as half remain undiagnosed. A Ministry of Health survey in 2015 found that 88 per cent of Kenyans had never had their blood sugar tested.

A study in Nyeri County revealed that only seven per cent of patients on treatment achieved good control, while over half of undiagnosed patients were already at risk of complications. The financial burden is heavy too, with annual costs averaging Sh53,900 per patient, a figure that locks many out of consistent care.

Globally and locally, the complications of diabetes are severe. WHO lists kidney failure, blindness, limb amputations, cardiovascular disease and stroke as leading consequences.

In Kenya, doctors are seeing more young adults with obesity and diabetes linked to sedentary lifestyles, fast foods and high consumption of refined carbohydrates. Kunyiha notes that without stronger prevention, the numbers will climb quickly.

Early diagnosis gives the best chance of remission. Weight loss of even five to 10 per cent can improve insulin sensitivity and lower the need for medication.

Balanced diets rich in fibre, traditional staples and vegetables help regulate sugars more safely than extreme restrictions. Medical monitoring is non-negotiable, even for those off medication.

The story is deeply personal for Mutua. He says his children now remind him to check his sugar levels.

“For the last eight months, I have not taken any pills. My food is my medicine,” he says.

His story is proof that remission is possible with determination, discipline and close monitoring.

However, as doctors caution, it is not a cure, and it is not a path that everyone can or should follow without supervision.