600-calorie diet may reverse type 2 diabetes

The expert behind the study said the “remarkable” findings showed an eight-week diet could prompt the body to produce its own insulin.

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 per cent carbohydrate, 32.5 per cent protein and 20.1 per cent 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,” said Prof Taylor.

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