London, June 24
A successful trial has led scientists to believe that a two-month low-calorie diet could free nearly 2.5 million Britons of the type 2 diabetes. The diabetics, by consuming just 600 calories a day for eight-weeks (the same amount many people would eat at lunch alone), were able to throw away their tablets.

Even after 18 months, some of them are still free from the disease, which is linked to obesity and usually attacks in middle age, reports the Daily Mail.

Researchers from Newcastle University have described the results as remarkable, proving that the condition need not be a life sentence.

“To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable and all because of an eight-week diet. 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,” Prof Roy Taylor of Newcastle University told Daily Express.

According to the researchers, the trial also paves the way for new treatments for those who cannot stick to the drastic diet.

In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough insulin -- used for conversion of sugar 
into energy -- and the insulin that is made does not work properly.

“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," Taylor added.

The results of the Newcastle investigation, though the study was small, demonstrated that full recovery was possible, not through drugs but through diet.

Eleven people with diabetes took part in the study, which was funded by Diabetes UK. They had to slash their food intake to just 600 calories a day for two months. But three months later seven of the 11 were free of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, which used to be known as adult onset, is caused by too much glucose in the blood. It is strongly linked to obesity, unlike type 1, which usually develops in children whose bodies are unable to make the hormone insulin to convert glucose from food into energy. They need daily insulin injections.

The research, presented today at the American Diabetes Association conference, shows that an extremely low-calorie diet, consisting of diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables, prompts the body to remove the fat clogging the pancreas and preventing it from making insulin.

The volunteers were closely supervised by a medical team and matched with the same number of volunteers with diabetes who did not get the special diet. After just one week into the study, the pre-breakfast blood sugar levels of the study group had returned to normal. And MRI scans showed that the fat levels in the pancreas had returned to normal. The pancreas regained its ability to make insulin.

After the eight-week diet the volunteers returned to normal eating but had advice on healthy foods and portion size. Ten of the group were retested and seven had got rid of diabetes.

“We believe this shows that type 2 diabetes is all about energy balance in the body,” said Taylor. “If you are eating more than you burn then the excess is stored in the liver and pancreas as fat, which can lead to type 2 diabetes in some people. What we need to examine further is why some people are more susceptible to developing diabetes than others.”

Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said people should not embark on such a diet without a doctor's approval and help. — Agencies