In a new study from UCL and Aston University, researchers suggest achieving “remission” for people with type 2 diabetes through dietary approaches and weight loss should be the primary treatment goal of GPs and healthcare practitioners.
Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a serious condition caused when the body resists the insulin produced in the pancreas, and not enough insulin is made.
This leads to high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood and is associated with multiple health problems including increased risk of heart disease, blindness, and amputation.
Traditionally T2DM has focussed on managing a person’s blood glucose with medication, however, the approach doesn’t address the underlying causes of T2DM.
There is now a growing body of research that shows losing weight, 10–15kg, either through weight loss surgery or dietary approaches, can bring about type 2 diabetes remission (non-diabetic blood sugar levels).
In the study, the team conducted a critical narrative review of over 90 research papers of dietary methods used to treat T2DM.
They found that meal-replacement diets helped around one in three (36%) people successfully achieve remission, while low carbohydrate diets were able to help around one in five (17.6 %) people achieve and maintain remission for at least two years.
People who lost the most weight and kept the weight off using both of these dietary approaches were able to stay in remission.
Calorie-restricted and Mediterranean diets were also able to help people achieve remission—but at much lower rates.
Only around 5% of people on calorie-restricted diets stayed in remission after one year, while only 15% of people on a Mediterranean diet stayed in remission after a year.
The review suggests remission should be discussed as a primary treatment goal with people living with type 2 diabetes.
The team says there are multiple dietary approaches that have been shown to bring about T2DM remission though at present meal replacements offer the best quality evidence.
Low carbohydrate diets have been shown to be highly effective and should also be considered as a dietary approach for remission.
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The study is published in the Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics. One author of the study is Dr. Duane Mellor.
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