A study of a very low calorie diet has found it has the potential to reverse type 2 diabetes – but is challenging for patients.
A previous short-term study found that a very low calorie diet can bring about acute return to normal glucose control in some people with type 2 diabetes, so the same team at Newcastle University, UK, tested the effectiveness of the diet over the longer-term.
They recruited 30 people who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes six months to 23 years previously. Participants were put on a very low calorie diet for eight weeks. The diet consisted of three diet shakes a day plus 240 grams of non-starchy vegetables. This came to 600 to 700 calories per day.
After eight weeks the participants gradually returned to eating normal food, with very careful instruction on how much to eat in order to maintain their weight loss. This often meant consuming approximately a third less food than before the study.
Overall, their weight fell by an average of 14 kilograms (just over two stone) and remained stable over six months. Forty per cent of the participants achieved fasting plasma glucose of less than 7 mmol/L when they returned to a maintenance diet.
The study appeared in Diabetes Care yesterday (22 March).
"Type 2 diabetes is a potentially reversible condition," the authors state.
Lead researcher, Professor Roy Taylor, says the condition was reversed because fat was removed from the pancreas, returning insulin production to normal. He adds: "The study also answered the question that people often ask me – if I lose the weight and keep the weight off, will I stay free of diabetes? The simple answer is yes!"
Steven, S. et al. Very low calorie diet and 6 months of weight stability in Type 2 diabetes: Pathophysiologic changes in responders and non-responders. Diabetes Care 22 March 2016 doi: 10.2337/dc15-1942
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