Have you been told Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease? It's not inevitable that Type 2 diabetes will only get worse. In fact, in many cases it's reversible

If you have Type 2 diabetes, you've likely been told that it's a progressive disease, one that will continue to get worse over time and must be managed with an increasingly complex cocktail of medications, including insulin.^[i] What you may not have been told is that Type 2 diabetes doesn't have to get worse.

"Newly diagnosed patients … should know that they have a potentially reversible condition and not one that is inevitably progressive," Newcastle University researchers wrote in the journal Diabetologia.^[ii] Their groundbreaking study was published more than a decade ago in 2011, but unfortunately word has yet to get widely out that Type 2 diabetes can be reversed.

Dietary Changes Alone Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

The Newcastle team noted that, typically, the function of insulin-producing beta cells declines with time, such that more than half of people with Type 2 diabetes require insulin therapy after 10 years.^[iii] However, they conducted a study to find out how a low-calorie diet would impact beta cell failure and insulin resistance.

The study involved 11 people with Type 2 diabetes, who were tested after one, four and eight weeks on a 600-calorie a day diet. After just one week, fasting plasma glucose and hepatic insulin sensitivity normalized, while fat in the liver decreased by 30%. Over the eight-week period, beta cell function increased toward normal and fat in the pancreas decreased. In short, the researchers explained:^[iv]

"Normalization of both beta cell function and hepatic insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes was achieved by dietary energy restriction alone. This was associated with decreased pancreatic and liver triacylglycerol stores. The abnormalities underlying type 2 diabetes are reversible by reducing dietary energy intake."

Beta cells, meanwhile, are also capable of regeneration. At our beta cell regeneration research database, we have dozens of studies showing that this is the case. For instance, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), an amino acid, has both protective and regenerative effects on islet beta cells, such that it may even reverse diabetes.^[v]

Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) is another compound that has led to partial regeneration of beta cells in animal studies,^[vi] while the following may also be helpful:^[vii]

'Most People Can Go Back to Normal'

Newcastle University professor Roy Taylor, who worked on the Diabetologia study, is trying to raise awareness that Type 2 diabetes is caused by excess fat in the liver and pancreas.

The team originally stated, "The twin defects of beta cell failure and insulin resistance that underlie Type 2 diabetes can be reversed by acute negative energy balance alone. A hierarchy of response was observed, with a very early change in hepatic insulin sensitivity and a slower change in beta cell function."^[viii]

In a 2016 follow-up study, they revealed that after following a very low-calorie diet for eight weeks, the Type 2 diabetes reversal continued for at least six months, even after the participants returned to a higher calorie diet -- as long as the weight loss that occurred was maintained.^[ix]

Their research revealed that each of us has a "personal fat threshold," as everyone tolerates fat in the liver and pancreas differently. They explained:^[x]

"If you have Type 2 diabetes, you have crossed your 'personal fat threshold.' If you lose weight and go below your personal fat threshold, Type 2 diabetes is likely to disappear providing that you have not had diabetes for too long. Most people can get back to normal in the first six years after diagnosis, but it is never too late to try."

In general, they found weight loss of about 33 pounds is necessary for most overweight people to reverse Type 2 diabetes.^[xi] The results are so promising that NHS England is conducting a pilot study in response, using low-calorie diets to potentially reverse Type 2 diabetes in overweight people.^[xii]

70% of Non-Obese People With Type 2 Diabetes Went Into Remission

Taylor and colleagues then conducted another follow-up study -- the ReTUNE study (Reversal of Type 2 Diabetes upon Normalization of Energy Intake in the Non-obese) -- to determine if a similar strategy would work to reverse Type 2 diabetes in people of normal weight.^[xiii]

Participants consumed 800 calories a day for two weeks, then maintained their weight for four to six weeks. The cycle was repeated up to three times until the participants lost 10% to 15% of their body weight. The strategy was successful, leading to remission of Type 2 diabetes in 70% of the participants; remission was defined as an HbA1c of less than 48 mmol/mol for at least six months and no longer taking any diabetes medication.^[xiv]

The average weight loss at remission was about 17 pounds, while fat in the pancreas and liver also significantly decreased. People with Type 2 diabetes who have a normal body weight are often started on diabetes drugs without being advised to lose weight, but the study suggests "if they lost around 10% of their weight, they would have a very good chance of putting their type 2 diabetes into remission," Taylor said.^[xv]

Natural Resources for Type 2 Diabetes

If you're struggling with Type 2 diabetes, hundreds of natural substances are available that may help, and we've compiled 536 natural substances for Type 2 diabetes for you. Prevention is also important. If you have prediabetes, lifestyle changes may stop it from progressing.

Our Type 2 diabetes prevention database also details more than 100 substances to support metabolic health, from berries and coffee to ginger and cinnamon. Above all else, you can feel empowered knowing that Type 2 diabetes reversal is possible via dietary changes and weight loss -- so if anyone tells you this condition is incurable, you now know otherwise.

References

[i] American Diabetes Association, Type 2, How Type 2 Diabetes Progresses https://diabetes.org/diabetes/type-2/how-type-2-diabetes-progresses

[ii] Diabetologia. 2011; 54(10): 2506–2514. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3168743/

[iii] Diabetologia. 2011; 54(10): 2506–2514. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3168743/

[iv] Diabetologia. 2011; 54(10): 2506–2514. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3168743/

[v] Molecules. 2019 Aug; 24(15): 2678. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6696076/

[vi] Tohoku J Exp Med. 2003 Dec;201(4):213-9. PMID: 14690013

[vii] GreenMedInfo.com, Beta Cell Regeneration www.greenmedinfo.com/keyword/beta-cell-regeneration

[viii] Diabetologia. 2011; 54(10): 2506–2514. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3168743/

[ix] Diabetes Care. 2016 May;39(5):808-15. doi: 10.2337/dc15-1942. Epub 2016 Mar 21. https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#background

[x] Newcastle University, Reversing Type 2 Diabetes and ongoing remission, Public Information https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#publicinformation

[xi] Newcastle University, Reversing Type 2 Diabetes and ongoing remission, Public Information https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#publicinformation

[xii] NHS England, Low calorie diets to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes https://www.england.nhs.uk/diabetes/treatment-care/low-calorie-diets/

[xiii] Eurek Alert September 22, 2022 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/965507

[xiv] Eurek Alert September 22, 2022 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/965507

[xv] Eurek Alert September 22, 2022 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/965507