A new study by scientists at Newcastle University has claimed that a low-calorie diet could provide a potential cure for type 2 diabetes, it has been revealed. This type of diabetes is usually treated with a range of medications, but this breakthrough could offer hope for the millions of people in the UK suffering from the condition.
It was found that an extreme low-cal diet can help cure type 2 diabetes despite it being previously seen as a lifelong condition. The diet consisted of an extremely low-calorie diet of diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables, which meant the body was able to remove the levels of fat in the pancreas.
The research, which was funded by the charity Diabetes UK, involved only 11 patients with type 2 diabetes, who had to drastically reduce their food intake to only 600 calories per day for a two-month period, with seven of the test group found to be free from diabetes within three months.
Lead researcher Roy Taylor commented, “To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable – and all because of an eight-week diet .”
He added “This is a radical change in understanding type 2 diabetes. It will change how we can explain it to people newly diagnosed with the condition. While it has long been believed that someone with type 2 diabetes will always have the disease and that it will steadily get worse, we have shown that we can reverse the condition.”
However, the scientists did not suggest that people should try the diet until more research is done and that those who did should do so only under medical supervision.
