SIMPLE DIET CAN REVERSE DIABETES

DIABETES could be reversed in just weeks by following a simple diet, research shows.

Scientists say sticking to just 600 calories a day for two months can reverse Type 2, caused by excess fat in the liver and pancreas.

Professor Roy Taylor, whose work backs up previous studies showing low calorie intake can improve health, will tell a conference today that normal production of insulin can be restarted by losing less than one gram of fat from the pancreas through diet – even if sufferers have been blighted for years.

He said: “The good news for

people with Type 2 is our work shows that even if you have had the condition for 10 years you are likely to be able to reverse it by moving that all important tiny amount of fat out of the pancreas. At present, this can only be done through substantial weight loss.”

Currently, 3.6 million Britons have Type 2 diabetes – up almost 75 per cent in a decade – and costs the NHS more than £10billion a year to treat.

Almost 12 million are thought to be at risk of developing the condition.

Nine in 10 Type 2 sufferers are overweight or obese and do not produce enough insulin, or the insulin they produce does not work properly.

Prof Taylor, from Newcastle University, has spent 40 years studying the condition and will deliver his research to an international collaboration of experts at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Lisbon.

He will say that excess calories leads to too much fat in the liver. As a result, the liver responds poorly to insulin and produces too much glucose.

Excess fat in the liver is passed on to the pancreas, causing the insulinproducing cells to fail.

He said: “I think the real importance of this work is for the patients themselves. Many have described to me how embarking on the low calorie diet has been the only option to prevent what they thought – or had been told – was an inevitable decline into further medication and further ill health because of their diabetes. By studying the underlying mechanisms we have been able to demonstrate the simplicity of Type 2.”

The latest research backs up previous studies which show how keeping calorie intake low can improve health.

In a recent trial funded by Diabetes UK all participants reversed their condition by drastically slashing their food intake to just 600 calories a day for two months. A MRI scan of their pancreas revealed the fat levels had returned from an elevated level to normal, regaining the ability to make insulin, and as a result, blood sugar after meals steadily improved.

Motivated

And an earlier study revealed that glucose levels had returned to normal between seven days and eight weeks.

Prof Taylor’s latest research was backed by UK experts yesterday. Prof Kamlesh Khunti, of the Leicester Diabetes Centre, said: “This is great research and shows that low calorie diets can work in highly-motivated people. However, this would be difficult to implement widely for most people.”

Chris Chapman, director of diabetes company GlucoRx, said: “I was diagnosed with Type 2 in 2011 but after following a personal programme involving diet and physical activity I am close to putting the condition into remission, so I fully support the findings.”

The NHS is set to provide a non-surgical, reversible weight loss device for Type 2 diabetes and obesity using a 2ft long tube which prevents food coming into contact with the small intestine.