Diabetic? How A Diet Might Beat It!

Diabetes is serious, progressive and was thought to be incurable, but new research may turn existing thinking on its head. Patsy Westcott investigates

- Patsy Westcott

Late-onset diabetes, or Type 2, is relentless, unremitting and lasts for life. At least that’s what doctors always thought. But in the past few years, there has been a quiet turnaround in thinking, thanks to a growing number of studies that suggest the tantalising possibility that diabetes can be put into permanent remission within a matter of weeks.

How?

By drastically cutting calories and reducing weight by 15-20%. So exciting is this prospect that diabetes uK is funding a large ongoing study to the tune of £2.4m to test it out. If successful, it could lead to the biggest revolution in diabetes treatment since the discovery of insulin in 1921.

“If the very low-calorie diet succeeds in halting, and crucially, in keeping diabetes at bay, it will be transformed from a life sentence involving continuous medication and constant trips to the doctor into a simple condition you can reverse yourself at home,” says Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, who is co-leading the trial with glasgow university’s Professor Mike Lean.

What did it involve?

It took one group of 149 overweight people with diabetes, aged 20 to 65, who were taking medication to control their condition. They replaced normal meals with diet soups and shakes providing just 800 calories a day for 8-20 weeks. After, they received advice on how to gradually return to normal eating and learn to control their weight long-term.

“We expected them to lose 2-3st, and to be able to come off their medication,” says Professor Taylor. “Their diabetes tablets were stopped when the diet started and their blood pressure tablets were decreased, depending upon each individual’s fall in blood pressure.”