Type 2 diabetes can be reversed by simply going on a low calorie diet, according to new research.
Researchers at Newcastle University found that consuming just 600 calories a day for eight weeks can reverse the condition caused by excess fat in the liver and pancreas.
More than 3.5 million people in Britain have Type 2 diabetes – up more than 70% in just a decade.
The new study shows that excess calories lead to a fatty liver, which causes the liver to produce too much glucose.
The excess fat is then passed on to the pancreas, which causes the insulin-producing cells to fail and thus causing diabetes.
Researchers found that losing less than one gram of fat from the pancreas can re-start insulin production, reversing type 2 diabetes.
This reversal of diabetes remains possible for at least ten years after the onset of the condition.
Study leader author Professor Roy Taylor, who has spent almost four decades studying the condition, said: “I think the real importance of this work is for the patients themselves.
“Many have described to me how embarking on the low calorie diet has been the only option to prevent what they thought – or had been told – was an inevitable decline into further medication and further ill health because of their diabetes.
“By studying the underlying mechanisms we have been able to demonstrate the simplicity of type 2 diabetes.”