3 MONTH DIET TO CURE DIABETES
Simple healthy eating plan reverses Type 2 say experts
DIABETES can be reversed in just a matter of months with a simple diet and exercise plan, a landmark study shows.
Scientists say consuming just 850 calories a day in soups and shakes for three months can trigger massive weight
loss and put the debilitating disorder into remission.
Coupled with moderate physical activity over a year and gradual reintroduction of food, the regime is cheaper and safer than going under the knife.
In 12 months, those on the plan lost 22lb (10kg) on average, with almost half putting their condition into remission without using standard diabetes treatments.
The study is the first to show subtle adjustments to lifestyle are more effective in combating Type 2 than trying to reduce blood sugar levels with drugs. Results
back up earlier findings showing normal insulin production can be restarted by losing less than one gram of fat from the pancreas through diet.
Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, who led the study, said: “These findings are very exciting.
“They could revolutionise the way Type 2 is treated.”
Type 2 affects almost 1 in 10 adults in the UK and costs the NHS around £14billion a year to treat.
The Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial [DiRECT] followed 298 people aged 20 to 65 who had been diagnosed with Type 2 from 49 GP surgeries across Scotland and Tyneside.
Half received standard diabetes care from their GP, with the remainder on the weight management plan. They also stopped taking anti-diabetic and blood pressure-lowering drugs.
The new plan started with a formula diet [between 825 and 853 calories a day] for three to five months, followed by gradual food reintroduction and ongoing support for weight loss maintenance. Patients were also encouraged to walk 15,000 steps a day.
Almost a quarter of those following this programme lost 33lb or more after a year, compared with none under the care of their GP.
Nearly half of those on the new plan achieved diabetes remission after a year compared with just four per cent under doctors’ orders. On average, those on the super-diet shed 22lb of weight, compared to 2lb for those who followed the standard treatment of eating a balanced diet and taking regular exercise.
Results showed remission was closely linked with the degree of weight loss and occurred in nine in 10 who lost 33lb or more, and nearly threequarters who lost 22lb or more.
Isobel Murray, 65, from North Ayrshire, was on a diet programme for 17 weeks and put her diabetes into remission after four months.
Over the two-year trial she lost more than three-and-a-half stone and has come off medication.
She said: “This has transformed my life. I had Type 2 diabetes for two to three years before the study and was on various medications which were constantly increasing and I was becoming more and more ill each day.”
More than four million Britons are blighted by Type 2 and a further 12 million who live unhealthy lives are at increased risk. Over the last decade prescriptions of metformin to treat diabetes have more than doubled from 9.4 million items in 2006-’07 to 20.8 million in 2016-’17. Professor Michael Lean of Glasgow University, who co-led the study, said: “Putting Type 2 diabetes into remission as early as possible after diagnosis could have extraordinary benefits, both for the individual and the NHS.
“It could be possible for as many as half of patients to achieve this in routine primary care and without drugs.”
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, of Diabetes UK, which funded the £3million study, said: “These first year findings of DiRECT demonstrate the potential to transform the lives of millions of people. We are very encouraged by these initial results.”