Is Type 2 Diabetes Really Reversible?

Ever since it was discovered as a disease, diabetes has claimed the lives of many patients and complicated the ones of those who are still trying to coexist with the disease. Even those who actually go to great lengths to live with diabetes often have to make certain compromises in order to ensure their quality of life in the long term.

However, through the years, new studies have suggested that this previously-incurable condition can actually be reversed, giving hope to millions of patients around the world. More specifically, theories suggest that type 2 diabetes can be greatly improved, or even completely removed through the effects of fasting during a few weeks.

Depending on the type, diabetes can either be an autoimmune (type 1) or metabolic (type 2) disorder, though in both cases its symptoms are similar. Those who suffer from this disease often experience difficulties to process sugary foods, leading to constantly-elevated blood sugar levels, as well as a slew of other symptoms as a result of this. Diabetes patients also suffer from constant thirst, as well as an elevated appetite, alongside a significant amount of weight loss despite potentially consuming more sugary meals and beverages. Other symptoms include frequent urination, headaches, blurry vision, fatigue, and problems when healing cuts and bruises, among others.

Diabetes is caused when the body, for one reason or another, loses its ability to metabolize sugars; in type 1 diabetes, the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells are destroyed by the patient’s immune system, rendering them useless early on in the patient’s life, and causing in them a deficiency of the vital hormone. Meanwhile, in type 2 diabetes, these same beta cells are forcibly-exhausted due to the patient’s lifestyle choices, whether it be from consuming excessive sugary treats and maintaining sedentary habits, all of which cause the pancreas to work harder in order to keep blood sugar levels in check. Eventually, the cells begin to wear down at an accelerated pace, causing the person to enter a prediabetic state and, if left unchecked, type 2 diabetes will ensue.

The treatment of this disease will vary depending on its type: while type 1 diabetes patients are exclusively dependent on insulin injections in order to process sugars (since their beta cells are all but destroyed), patients who suffer from type 2 diabetes may actually perceive great improvements from adopting healthier lifestyle habits, and don’t necessarily depend as much on medication as their type 1 counterparts. In this sense, patients who are suffering from type 2 diabetes usually enter a prediabetic state before developing the disease.

In this ‘grace period’, a positive change in lifestyle habits can actually prevent the disease from developing and preserve the patient’s health. However, new studies suggest that this ‘grace period’ is not exclusive to the prediabetic state and that following a low-calorie diet can help not only improve the diabetic patient’s condition but potentially remove the condition entirely.

In a longitudinal study conducted by Professor Roy Taylor of the Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, which extended across 4 years, and whose findings were presented to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in 2017, type 2 diabetes can be reversed by fulfilling certain conditions. Taylor’s findings suggest that the diabetic patient’s liver responds poorly to excessive fat, which decreases its response to insulin and prompts it to produce more glucose when processing food.

Also, excessive fat in the liver may cause it to pass onto the pancreas, which in turn disrupts the optimal environment of these structures, causing them to wither and die in the process. Consequently, Taylor’s studies suggest that, by reducing the number of calories in the patient’s diet, the effects of prediabetes, as well as those of type 2 diabetes, can effectively be reduced or even reversed. So, if remaining consistent in these healthier habits, the reversal of diabetes symptoms may persist for more than 10 years, and even through the remainder of the patient’s years.

Taylor’s studies spawned what they termed the Twin Cycle Hypothesis, which states that type 2 diabetes is actually caused by excess fat in the liver, which leads to excessive fat in the pancreas and the subsequent destruction of the beta cells residing within, causing a shortage of insulin in the person. The excessive fat in the liver actually causes it to respond negatively to insulin, which makes it produce more glucose in the process, further complicating the condition of the prediabetic or diabetic patient.

Fortunately, Taylor’s study has discovered that, through a very low-calorie diet, the effects of excess fat in the liver and pancreas, as well as the poor environmental condition of pancreatic beta cells can be effectively reversed. This study observed a sharp decrease in liver fat content that leads to a normalization of hepatic insulin activity, in just 7 days after assuming a low-calorie diet by people who suffer from type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, after only 8 weeks of observation, the levels of glucose in the person’s plasma fell to normal, with the excess fat in the pancreas also falling into manageable levels, consequently returning it to normal levels of functionality in insulin secretion.

These studies are valid for most patients, even those who have coexisted with diabetes for more than 10 years, and the improvements last for as long as the person manages to keep the weight off. The pivotal element is to remove this small amount of fat from both the liver and the pancreas in order to ensure their proper functionality.

However, said removal may only be achieved, as of right now, through strict fasting, and the perceived benefits may only be guaranteed for as long as these healthy habits last. On average, the subjects who participated in Taylor’s study lost about 33 lbs. and reported no stress from adhering to the suggested fasting regimen. And, after the showcase of the results in the website of the Newcastle University, the study has seen clinical trials in which more and more patients are reversing their type 2 diabetes condition and maintaining regular blood sugar levels.