Could a very low calorie diet 'cure' type 2 diabetes?

Conclusion The study points to the possibility that some people with type 2 diabetes may be able to be treated with diet alone if they are able to lose enough excess weight – and keep it off. However, the results we have are from a small group of highly motivated volunteers, so we don't know how many people would be able to follow the diet and keep the weight off afterwards. An intake of 700 calories a day is around a third of the recommended intake for a woman (2,000 calories) and around a quarter of the intake for a man (2,500 calories). Even the most committed dieter may find it hard to stick to these limits.  Even within this group, one participant was excluded from the study after week one of the very low calorie diet for not meeting the weight loss target of 3.8% body weight. This treatment is not likely to work for many people with diabetes who have already tried and failed to lose weight. We need to see properly controlled randomised studies of large groups of people, with follow-up for more than a year, to know whether this programme is a feasible treatment for many people with type 2 diabetes. The science behind the study is interesting. The researchers say they may have discovered a "personal fat threshold" where fat can be stored around the body, but above a certain level it is deposited in the liver and pancreas, where it causes damage and can prevent the pancreas producing insulin properly. If this finding is confirmed by further research, it ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Diabetes Food/diet Source Type: news