Figure 1. What’s on the Menu? The Diabetic or Starvation Diet of the Early 19th Century. Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, T1D was a daunting challenge, to say the least! With limited medical knowledge and no effective treatments, physicians resorted to extreme dietary measures to manage the condition. One of the most notable approaches was the "starvation diet" or "diabetic diet.” Although the starvation diet did help to reduce glucose levels in the urine, it had significant drawbacks, including rapid weight loss, malnutrition, nutritional deficiencies, and other health complications.