A body of research putting people with Type 2 diabetes on a low calorie diet has confirmed the fundamental causes of the condition & established that it is reversible.

Professor Roy Taylor at Newcastle University, UK has spent almost 4 decades studying the condition & will present an summary of his findings at the European Association For The Study Of Diabetes (EASD 2017) in Lisbon.

In the talk he’ll be highlighting how his research has shown that for people with Type 2 diabetes:

• Excess calories leads to excess fat in the liver
• As a result, the liver responds poorly to insulin & produces too much glucose
• Excess fat in the liver is passed on to the pancreas, causing the insulin producing cells to fail
• Losing less than 1 gram of fat from the pancreas through diet can re-start the normal production of insulin, reversing Type 2 diabetes
• This reversal of diabetes remains achievable for at least ten years after the onset of the condition

"I think the real importance of this work is for the patients themselves," Professor Taylor says. "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 & further ill health because of their diabetes. By studying the underlying mechanisms we have been able to demonstrate the simplicity of type 2 diabetes."

Get rid of the fat & reverse Type 2 diabetes

The body of research by Professor Roy Taylor now confirms his Twin Cycle Hypothesis - that Type 2 diabetes is as a result of excess fat actually within both liver & pancreas.

This causes the liver to react poorly to insulin. As insulin controls the normal process of making glucose, the liver then produces too much glucose. Concurrently, excess fat in the liver increases the normal process of export of fat to all tissues. In the pancreas, this excess fat causes the insulin producing cells to fail.

The Counterpoint study which was published in 2011, confirmed that if excess food intake was sharply reduced through a very low calorie diet, all these abnormal factors would be reversed.

The study showed a deep fall in liver fat content resulting in normalization of hepatic insulin sensitivity within seven days of starting a very low calorie diet in people with type 2 diabetes. Fasting plasma glucose became normal in seven days. More than 8 weeks, the raised pancreas fat content fell & normal first phase insulin secretion became re-established, with normal plasma glucose control.

Keep the weight off & keep the diabetes at bay

"The good news for people with Type 2 diabetes is that 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", Professor Taylor adds.

The Counterbalance study published in 2016, established that Type 2 diabetes remains reversible for up to ten years in most people, & also that the normal metabolism persists long term, as long as the person does not regain the weight.

Professor Taylor explained the science behind the mechanisms: "Work in the lab has shown that the excess fat in the insulin producing cell causes loss of specialized function. The cells go into a survival mode, merely existing & not contributing to whole body wellbeing. Removal of the excess fat allows resumption of the specialized function of producing insulin. The observations of the clinical studies can now be fully explained."

He added: "Surprisingly, it was observed that the diet devised as an experimental tool was actually liked by research participants. It was associated with no hunger & no tiredness in most people, but with rapidly increased wellbeing. The 'One, Two' approach used in the Counterbalance study was a defined two phase program. The Phase 1 is the period of weight loss - calorie restriction without extra exercise. A carefully planned transition period leads to Phase 2 - long term supported weight maintenance by modest calorie restriction with increased daily physical activity."

This approach every time brings about 15kg of weight loss on average.

After the details were posted on the Newcastle University, UK website, this has been applied clinically & people who were extremely motivated have reported that they have reversed their type 2 diabetes & continued to have normal glucose levels (normoglycaemic) over years.

A further study in general practice, the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) funded by Diabetes UK is now underway to determine the applicability of this general approach to routine Primary Care practice with findings due before the end of 2017.

Patients or GPs who would like more information about the diet that reverses Type 2 diabetes see the Magnetic Resonance Center website.

SOURCE