The latest findings from the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (Di- RECT), published in the Lancet and showcased at the American Diabetes Association’s 2019 scientific session, are nothing short of remarkable. In a nutshell, losing a substantial amount of weight in a relatively short period of time can actually reverse type 2 diabetes. “People with type 2 diabetes now have a choice rather than a life
sentence,” says Roy Taylor, MD, senior author of the study and professor of medicine and metabolism at the University of Newcastle in England. And that’s not all. Not only did investigators demonstrate that reversal is possible, they also determined that it
involves what is fast becoming the Holy Grail in the treatment of diabetes—the restoration of beta cells—those insulin-producing cells in your pancreas. Indeed, the trial’s
findings challenge and upend two of the most basic and widely held beliefs about type 2 diabetes: that the condition can’t be reversed and that beta cells damaged during the diabetes disease process are lost forever. For the longest time, everyone assumed that once beta cells were damaged due to obesity, they were done.
Lost forever. Kaput. Well, guess what? Dr. Taylor and his colleagues have shown that the beta cells are still there—they’re just unable to perform because of excess fat in the liver and pancreas.
“These beta cells are not dead,” says Taylor. “They’ve gone into a survival mode under the metabolic stress of excessive nutrition”—a polite term for too much food and fat. Bottom line, when you take away the fat, the beta cells regenerate. They start producing insulin. And the diabetes disappears. And you’ve slashed your risk of a whole host of devastating complications, like cardiovascular
disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s, amputations, impotence, depression.
Conclusion:
Lifestyle modification using low carbohydrate interventions
and Weight management is effective for improving and reversing type 2 diabetes.
See insights
Boost a post