The findings of a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care, show that very low calorie diets resulting in weight loss can be a cure for type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the University of Glasgow, Newcastle University and Lagos University carried out a trial that included 30 volunteers who had suffered from diabetes for less than 10 years. Participants followed a low calorie diet for 8 weeks, consuming only 600 to 700 calories per day. At the end of the trial 12 of the patients had reversed their type 2 diabetes.
All of the study participants were still classified as obese, but had lost enough fat around the pancreas and liver that their metabolisms returned to normal. They followed a less stringent weight control diet for the next 6 months and remained free of the condition. Even patients who had type 2 diabetes for a decade can reverse their condition, according to the study results.
Professor Roy Taylor, of Newcastle University, says the study results support the theory of a Personal Fat Threshold. This theory says fat can be stored anywhere around the body, but above a certain level it starts to be deposited in the pancreas and liver, causing damage and hindering insulin production. He said that “if a person gains more weight than they personally can tolerate, then diabetes is triggered, but if they then lose that amount of weight then they go back to normal.”
Taylor says individuals vary in how much weight they can gain without having their metabolism affected, as demonstrated by the 70 percent of severely obese people who do not have diabetes.
Generally regarded as an irreversible chronic condition, type 2 diabetes occurs when either the body does not produce enough insulin to control blood sugar or the cells simply don’t react to it. It is often linked to obesity and usually has its onset in middle age. Although controllable with medication in some cases, it tends to get worse over time.
The study participants who were able to regain normal glucose levels through the 8-week low calorie diet averaged 52 years of age. Those who failed to revert had an average age of 60. The responders also had diabetes for a shorter time, 3.8 years versus 9.8 years. There were, however, some with diabetes for more than 10 years who were successful. Even in those who continued to have diabetes showed reductions in the fatty content of both pancreas and liver.
Although a small study that lasted only 8 weeks, the results have sparked global interest. A larger trial that includes 280 patients is now underway that will test how successful people can be in reversing their type 2 diabetes through diet and weight loss under the care of their family physician.