Starvation Diet that can REVERSE diabetes

One OF the most effective ways to tackle type 2 diabetes is to lose weight, and it seems that dramatic weight loss may be particularly beneficial for blood-sugar levels.

This surprising effect was first seen in patients who had undergone weight-loss (bariatric) surgery. As well as losing weight, many also reversed their diabetes.

We will look at surgery on the next page, but there may be ways to replicate these benefits without major surgery — the answer may be as simple as a drastic, short-term diet.

This is very much cutting- edge thinking and is the brainchild of Professor roy Taylor, director of newcastle Magnetic resonance Centre at newcastle university. Inspired by the diabetes-reversing effects of bariatric surgery, he decided to investigate the impact of a short-term, low-calorie diet on type 2 diabetes, using regular MrI scans to record exactly what was going on in the body.

What he found could help to transform the health of many people with type 2 diabetes, even those who have had it for years. In a study published in 2011, he took 11 people with newly diagnosed type 2 (defined as being diagnosed in the previous four years) and gave them liquid diet formula.

This provided 600 calories and was formulated so they received the right amount of nutrients. They also had around 200 calories of non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli and spinach — these provided fibre usually obtained from carbs, which were excluded from the diet.

After a week, MrI scans showed the fat around their livers had dropped by 30 per cent; furthermore, their blood-sugar levels were normal. At the end of the eight-week trial, fat levels in the pancreas had also plummeted and they were producing insulin again.

Participants also lost an average of 2st 5lb (15kg). At a follow-up scan three months later, they had all regained about half a stone but most still had normal blood- sugar levels despite eating normal food again (although they’d been advised to eat two-thirds the amount they used to eat).

Three of the 11 had normal blood- sugar levels, four were borderline and three had bloodsugar levels indicating diabetes (but only just, and all were no longer taking the tablets they used to have to take).

WHAT was going on? Type 2 diabetes can be linked to a gradual build-up of fat in the pancreas and liver, which prevents them working properly. The very lowcalorie diet meant the body was starved of energy, so it turned to its fat stores. When the fat disappeared, the organs resumed normal functioning.

In a second study, with 29 patients with recently diagnosed and long-term diabetes (more than eight years), the diet reversed diabetes in 84 per cent of the short-term patients and 50 per cent of the long-term. (‘reversing’ was defined as a blood- sugar reading under 7 after fasting; 7 is the official level for a diabetes diagnosis).

Professor Taylor concluded that, for those with longer-term diabetes, a bigger weight loss was needed to reverse the condition. ‘However, the study also showed that everybody responds to a restricted diet,’ he says. ‘The blood glucose might not drop below the diabetes threshold, but it still drops considerably.’

Professor Taylor has now embarked upon a five year study, called DirECT, exploring the long-term effects of a very low-calorie diet versus conven tional nHS dietary advice. ' This study could lead to a quantum leap forward in oue understand-

aylor has now on a five-year RECT, exploring effects of a very versus convenary advice. ‘This d to a quantum our understand- ing of how best to manage type 2 diabetes,’ he says.

The charity Diabetes UK, which is backing the research, agrees. Dr Alasdair Rankin, its director of research, says: ‘If this study shows that a low-calorie diet can be used safely and effectively to bring about and maintain type 2 diabetes remission for significant periods, it could change the way the condition is viewed and managed.

‘But until we have the results from this research, it is important that people with type 2 diabetes who are trying to lose weight follow guidance from their GP.’

Intermittent fasting — eating normally for five days, and cutting calories (to 500 for women, 600 for men) for two days — has also shown success in reducing blood-glucose levels.

Professor Taylor’s studies have triggered much interest among those with type 2 diabetes, with some keen to try the theory for themselves. However, he warns: ‘An extremely low-calorie diet isn’t suitable for all. If you have ongoing problems, it would be unwise.’