My Lifestyle Platform
Can you radically improve your health without a doctor or dietitian at your side? The Dutch foundation Je Leefstijl Als Medicijn set out to find the answer, together with 232 people with type 2 diabetes. The results were published in the scientific journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.
The set-up was surprisingly simple. Participants changed their lifestyle — eating healthier, moving more — without professional guidance. Instead, peer coaches helped them: ordinary people who had already improved their own diabetes and knew from experience what actually works. Everyone tracked their own data, such as weight and blood sugar, and shared it for the research. That is called citizen science: citizens doing science together. Participants were followed for two years.
The results after one year speak for themselves. Participants lost on average 7.3 kilos — 8.8% of their body weight, comparable with what modern weight-loss pills (GLP-1) achieve, but without medication. Waist circumference shrank by 8.7 centimetres. Long-term blood sugar (HbA1c) dropped by 11.8 points, where doctors are usually already pleased with 6. Fasting blood sugar fell as well. And those still sharing data after two years had held on to their result.
Why does this matter so much? Medication keeps blood sugar low for as long as you take it, but does not remove the cause. These participants tackled the cause themselves — with only the support of people who had gone before them. It shows how powerful a community of experts by experience can be. That is exactly the power My Lifestyle Platform builds in: an anonymous community, citizen science and an AI coach watching over you day and night. So that many more people can achieve this result — and keep it.