Low calorie diet can cure diabetes, tests reveal

DIABETES can be cured by a low-calorie diet, tests reveal. Losing weight reverses the condition even after 10 years, a breakthrough study by British scientists revealed.

In a two-year trial, almost half those taking part who dramatically slashed their calorie intake then became free of diabetes. The findings bring hope to Type 2 sufferers, many of whom face a lifetime of pills or injections.

Tests have now shown that the chronic condition is not caused by obesity alone but by the body’s inability to cope with excess fat. The research suggests that those with lifestyle-driven diabetes can cure themselves by removing fat that clogs up the pancreas and stops it functioning properly.

Professor Roy Taylor, a world-renowned diabetes researcher at Newcastle University, said: “We have shown it is possible to reverse diabetes, even if you have had the condition up to around 10 years.

If a person gains more weight than they personally can tolerate, diabetes is triggered

Professor Roy Taylor
“If you have had the diagnosis longer than that, major improvement in blood sugar control is still possible. The study answered the question, ‘If I lose weight and keep it off, will I stay free of diabetes?’ The simple answer is, ‘Yes’.

“If a person gains more weight than they personally can tolerate, diabetes is triggered. If they lose it they go back to normal.”

The findings are published today in the journal Diabetes Care. In the trial, 30 Type 2 sufferers were put on a strict calorie-controlled diet for eight weeks. On average they lost 2st (just over 14kg) and over the next six months did not gain any weight.

They had suffered from the condition for between eight and 23 years. Twelve people who had diabetes for less than a decade reversed their condition and six months later remained diabetes-free.

The remaining 18 showed “convincing improvements in health”. They had shed enough weight to remove fat from the pancreas, allowing insulin production to return to normal. Guidelines say men should consume an average of 2,500 calories a day and women 2,000 calories as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

People in the study managed on far less – just 600 to 700 calories. They had three diet shakes a day and 240g of non-starchy vegetables, like cabbage. Meat, bread, dairy, root vegetables, fruit and alcohol were not allowed.

All returned to a normal diet after two months but consumed a third less than before. A larger trial involving 280 patients and funded by Diabetes UK is now under way. Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester, hailed the “exciting results” of the trial.

Dr David Cavan, of Diabetes.co.uk, said: “We live in an environment absurdly full of calories. Our bodies are not adapted to it. Type 2 diabetes is a result of modern lifestyles and is reversible.” The diet cure applies only to Type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which sufferers cannot produce insulin. Around 90 per cent of Britain’s four million sufferers have Type 2.