Ten-week ‘cure’ for diabetes

TYPE 2 diabetes can be reversed in 10 weeks with a high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet tailored to the patient, writes Lucy Johnston.

A study, the first of its kind, could pave the way for an overhaul in the management of the condition which is linked to obesity and affects almost three million people in the UK.

Most diabetics are advised to eat a balanced diet, including carbohydrates. However, scientists, who carried out the study on 238 patients, found that restricting carbohydrates and increasing fat led to

dramatic improvements. Half the patients saw their condition reversed after just 10 weeks and were able to reduce or stop taking diabetes drugs.

Eighty nine per cent of those in the study, who had been reliant on insulin due to the severity of their disease, were able to dramatically reduce or stop taking it.

Professor Sarah Hallberg, an expert in obesity medicine, who led the study at Indiana University, said: “This is the first time we have seen such a drastic change in such a large group of people outside bariatric [weight loss] surgery.

“It is something we would never previously have known was possible.

“I was so blown over by the results and we should now think about using this approach as a standard of care as it outperforms current treatment, and as such we are failing people.” She added: “Diabetes is a state of carbohydrate toxicity. Insulin resistance is a state of carbohydrate intolerance.

“Carbohydrate intake is the single biggest factor in blood sugar levels and therefore the need for medication.”

Type 2 diabetes is a serious disorder leading to high blood glucose levels because the body is unable to make proper use of insulin, the hormone which metabolises sugar.

Without insulin, sugar derails the metabolism causing life-threatening conditions such as cancer, heart and liver disease. Current guidance states that there is inconclusive evidence to recommend a specific carbohydrate limit.

However, Professor Hallberg said the advice needs to be changed because she believes Type 2 can be reversed, in many if not most situations, especially if treated early.

The results of the study, which will be finalised over the next year, have excited experts.

Professor David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: “This study is highly significant and suggests carbohydrates are damaging. We urgently need to conduct more studies to confirm this finding and this I hope will lead to a complete overhaul of the management of Type 2 diabetes.”

Experts say the new diet could ultimately save the NHS millions of pounds that it currently spends on drugs or surgery, while improving the quality of life for diabetics.

Research suggests millions of people are currently living with Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity, and an estimated 549,000 are undiagnosed.

The charity Diabetes UK is funding another trial, known as the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial, or DiRECT, to assess the impact of a low-calorie diet on the disease.

This study will also assess whether this diet can be delivered through routine NHS care. It involves 280 patients from 30 GP practices and results are expected in October 2018.