Diabetes 'reversed by low calorie diet'

The breakthrough suggests a dramatic drop in calories has a direct effect on reducing fat accumulated in the pancreas, which in turn prompts insulin cells to "wake up".

Just 600 calories a day as part of a special diet could be enough to reverse Type 2 diabetes in some patients. The condition affects almost 3.5 million people in the UK.

The findings are consistent with the belief that a lack of insulin secretion - which is vital for blood sugar control - is due to accumulation of fat in the liver and pancreas.

Experts at Newcastle University carried out an early-stage trial on 11 people with diabetes.

They each followed a diet of liquid drinks (containing 46.4% carbohydrate, 32.5% protein and 20.1% fat, with vitamins and minerals) and non-starchy vegetables.

After just one week, pre-breakfast blood sugar levels had returned to normal among the group.

Over two months, insulin cell function in the pancreas increased towards normal and pancreatic fat decreased, as shown on MRI scans.

Three months later, after going back to normal eating with advice on portion control and healthy foods, seven people remained free of diabetes.

Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University who led the study, said: "For many years, it has been assumed that Type 2 diabetes is a life sentence.

"It's chronic, it's progressive, people need more and more tablets, and eventually they need insulin. It's a downhill slope.

"However, we have been able to show that it is in fact reversible.

"We have been able to put diabetes into reverse by a very low calorie diet over a short period of time.

"What is really important and very new is the changes in the body that go along with this.

"Specifically, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have gone to sleep in Type 2 diabetes; they are not really doing very much.

"As the level of fat in the pancreas has reduced, we have seen these insulin-producing cells come completely back to normal, and that is truly remarkable."

Prof Taylor, who hopes the research will be translated into future treatments, added: "This is a radical change in understanding Type 2 diabetes.

"We have shown a very basic mechanism of Type 2 diabetes. The beta (insulin) cells, if they are exposed to fat, don't work.

"If they are protected from the fat, or that goes away, they perform normally.

"It is quite possible that we may be able to devise medicines that block the effect of fat at the level of the pancreas, and could allow normal function.

"So, we are at quite an exciting point in terms of looking forward to really making an impact upon Type 2 diabetes."

The research was published in the journal Diabetologia and funded by Diabetes UK.

Some 2.5 million people in the UK are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and another 850,000 are thought to have the condition without knowing it.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: "We welcome the results of this research because it shows that Type 2 diabetes can be reversed, on a par with successful surgery without the side effects.

"However, this diet is not an easy fix and Diabetes UK strongly recommends that such a drastic diet should only be undertaken under medical supervision.

"Despite being a very small trial, we look forward to future results, particularly to see whether the reversal would remain in the long term."

Keith Frayn, professor of human metabolism at the University of Oxford, said: "For many years, doctors have believed that Type 2 diabetes is a life-long condition: it can be treated, but not cured.

"In the last few years, that idea has been disproved. People who lose large amounts of weight following surgery to alter their stomach size or the plumbing of their intestines often lose their diabetes and no longer need treatment.

"But an unanswered question has been whether this is because of some special effect of altering the intestinal function, or simply because of the loss of weight.

"Professor Taylor's study is extremely important as it shows that a period of marked weight loss can produce the same reversal of Type 2 diabetes.

"It offers great hope for many people with diabetes, although it must be said that not everyone will find it possible to stick to the extremely low calorie diet used in this study."

Gordon Parmley, 67, from Stocksfield in Northumberland, took part in the trial.

He said: "I love playing golf but I was finding that when I was out on the course sometimes my vision would go fuzzy and I would have trouble focussing.

"It was after this that I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. That was about six years ago and from then on, I had to control the diabetes with a daily combination of tablets.

"When my doctor mentioned the trial I thought I would give it a go as it might help me and other diabetics.

"I came off my tablets and had three diet shakes a day and some salad or vegetables but it was very, very difficult and I'm not sure I'd have done it without the support of my wife, who went on a diet alongside me.

"At first the hunger was quite severe and I had to distract myself with something else - walking the dog, playing golf - or doing anything to occupy myself and take my mind off food but I lost an astounding amount of weight in a short space of time.

"At the end of the trial, I was told my insulin levels were normal and after six years, I no longer needed my diabetes tablets.

"Still today, 18 months on, I don't take them.

"It's astonishing really that a diet, hard as it was, could change my health so drastically. After six years of having diabetes I can tell the difference.

"I feel better, even walking round the golf course is easier."