Type 2 diabetes reversible

Researchers from Newcastle University announced that type 2 diabetes can reverse their condition through extreme low-calorie diet, BBC reported.

Type 2 diabetes, also known as the adult-onset diabetes, is a condition in which cells fail to properly utilize the insulin often with deficient insulin production from the pancreas. Nearly 150 million people around the world are suffering from this condition.

Of the 11 participants in the study who were diagnosed within the previous four years, 7 participants were completely free of diabetes after eight-week diet of 600 calories a day.

Within one week of the diet, the researchers had discovered that the patient’s pre-breakfast blood sugar levels had already returned to normal. MRI scans of the pancreas had also decreased from an average of 8% down to 6%.

“Three months after the end of the diet, when participants had returned to eating normally and received advice on healthy eating and portion size, most no longer suffered from the condition,” BBC concluded.

Doctors, however, also warn that such a low calorie diet can be extremely dangerous when conducted outside a controlled medical environment.

Type 2 diabetes is usually considered a life-long condition, but the new research suggests that the condition is potentially reversible.

While the jury is still out on whether the reversal is permanent, the research is hopeful news for millions of people suffering from diabetes around the world.