Egyptian young woman overcame diabetes by cycling

Mennatallah Gamal is a young Egyptian girl in her twenties touring the provinces of her county and cutting thousands of kilometers by bike to challenge diabetes, and has already succeeded in overcoming it and completely stopping the use of prescription drugs as treatment.

Menntallah, who lives in Helwan, south of Cairo, told Al Arabiya that she graduated from the Language and Translation Department in 2015, and after graduating she worked as a teacher. Two years ago she was shocked to know she was diagnosed with type two diabetes.

She responded to doctors' instructions and began to take treatment with her food and to exercise, as the doctors advised to overcome the disease.

She chose to practice cycling and use her bike to get to work, where the distance is around four kilometers. It takes her about half an hour a day, which helped her to reduce the use of treatment drugs.

After that, she began touring the governorates of Egypt on her bicycle to challenge the disease and to defeat it.

Starting in June last year, Mennatallah roamed several Egyptian cities and regions, including Fayoum, Ain Sukhna, Ismailia and Suez, and last visited Domyat on March 9.

She traveled thousands of kilometers between the cities of the Red Sea and Sinai. She also walked the desert for a full day in the Nabq Reserve, which helped control blood sugar and burn large quantities of stored sugar.

After testing, she discovered that the disease disappeared, that her blood sugar has become under control and therefore there was no need for the treatment.

Mennatallah confirmed to Al Arabiya that she is continuing to travel because she loves adventure and nature.

She encourages everyone who suffers from diabetes to exercise. "It is better than taking drugs, and over time the disease will disappear and the person will be able to overcome it,” she said.

She dreams of taking on a long journey to Africa by bike, as she believes that travel and sports conquer most diseases, especially diabetes.