Reverse type 2 diabetes with a low calorie diet

Scientists and volunteers in Newcastle are due to carry out a study to prove that a low calorie diet can actually reverse type 2 diabetes. The condition affects over 3.5 million people in the UK and is often linked to being overweight.

Back in 2011, a Newcastle University study found that a strict low calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal. As a result, 7 out of the 11 newly diagnosed diabetics studied were free from diabetes three months later.

Now the charity Diabetes UK is funding a larger scale trial. It will involve 140 people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the past six years. They’ll be required to follow a diet of 800 calories a day for a number of weeks, mainly in the form of nutritionally complete liquid formula shakes.

Then, as normal meals are reintroduced, they will learn how to change their lifestyles permanently. The study will also have a longer follow-up that will closely examine the long-term effects of such diets.

It is hoped the results of this study, which is the largest single research project ever funded by Diabetes UK, will offer both the charity and the NHS enough evidence to decide whether low-calorie diets should be recommended/offered as a standard option for treating the disease.

Thinking about following a low calorie diet? Check out Boot Camp Body Diet – our very own range of low calorie meal replacement shakes and bars.