Research Of Interest

In this blog post I wanted to talk a little about some of the recent discussions we have been having on my Twitter feed. I recently posted a piece on Twitter, highlighting the continued works of Prof. Roy Taylor at Newcastle University. Prof. Taylor and his research group at Newcastle had published some findings from smaller scale studies in recent years that suggested Type 2 diabetes could in fact be put into remission with a new and sustained low calorie diet intervention.

Well much to nobody’s surprise the work of Prof. Taylor had attracted huge attention and has recently been awarded a £2.4 million research grant to continue the work into low calorie diet and its ability to put T2D into remission. Prof. Mike Lean of the University of Glasgow has teamed up with Prof. Taylor in this huge 3-year project funded by Diabetes UK. The findings from the study will be available from October 2018.

Simply put the idea behind the low-calorie diet intervention is to target fat reduction on the liver and pancreas of type 2 diabetics. The reduction of fat in these areas aims to improve insulin signaling and release by increasing the functionality of both organs. Based on the findings of earlier studies in this area, those who will benefit the most from this from of intervention are those suffering from obesity and T2D is closely linked with elevated body fat. Other studies in recent years have shown an 80% success rate of T2D remission with a reduction in fat storage as a result of gastric band or gastric bypass surgery. This particular study is looking at replacing everyday foods with shakes and pre made meals that contain all nutrients and vitamins needed for daily living, however the daily meal plan will only contain 800 calories. Never the less this is certainly exciting times for the diabetic community especially if you are living with T2D.

If you ever have any questions, or wish to just keep up to date on the latest work, then follow me on Twitter @DeanMinnock

By Dean Minnock.

Physiologist at InsulCheck