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Type2diabetesandthedietthatcuredme|Lifeandstyle|TheGuardian

Type 2 diabetes and the diet that cured me

After receiving a shock diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, I followed an extremely low-calorie eating plan
and saw my blood sugar levelsrapidly return to normal
Richard Doughty
Sunday 12 May 2013 19.00BST

hy me? At 59 I was 10st 7lb, 5ft 7in, and had never been overweight. I ran and
played cricket regularly and didn't drink alcohol excessively. Yet at a routine
check-up Iwas told that I had type 2 diabetes. In10 years I could be dependent on
insulin, it could aect my sight, feet, ears, heart and I had a 36% greater chance of dying
early.
In type 1 diabetes, the body produces none of the insulin that regulates our blood sugar
levels. Very high glucose levels can damage the body's organs. Patients with type 2
diabetes, however, do produce insulin - just not enough to keep their glucose levels
normal. Because I was t and not overweight (obesity is a major risk factor in type 2
diabetes; however, a number of non-obese people, particularly members of south Asian
communities, are also prone to it), my doctor told me I could control my condition with
diet alone.
Desperate for information, I headed to the web, where I found a report about a research
trial at Newcastle University led by Professor Roy Taylor. His research suggested type 2
diabetes could be reversed by following a daily 800-calorie diet for eight weeks.
When our bodies are deprived of normal amounts of food they consume their own fat
reserves, with the fat inside organs used up rst. The idea of Taylor's diet is to use up the
fat that is clogging up the pancreas and preventing it from creating insulin, until normal
glucose levels return. With my GP's blessing and a home glucose-testing kit, I began
myexperiment.
The diet was strict: three litres of water a day, three 200-calorie food supplements (soups
and shakes) and 200 calories of green vegetables. Thanks to my doctor's dietary
guidance, and running three times a week, I had already lost a stone. Yet my glucose
levels were still above 6mmol/L (millimols per litre), the upperlimit for a healthy person
without diabetes. According to Taylor, I had tolose a sixth of my prediagnosisbodyweight.
On the rst full day, I weighed 9st7lb with a healthy body mass index of 21. After
reaching my target of 8st 12lb, I would be able to build myself up through exercise, as
larger muscles use more energy, soaking up excess glucose before it isconverted and
stored as fat.
It wasn't easy. Yet water staved othe worst hunger pangs. "If you feelhunger, celebrate
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the fact with a glass of water, even zzy water," Taylor said. By the third day, I weighed
9st 5lb.
On day four, my glucose levels had dropped to 4.6 after fasting for 10 hours overnight. It
was the rst time I'd ever scored a 4. But on day six, I felt really cold. It was mid-July but
in the morning my ngertips were white and I had to wear a T-shirt, shirt, jumper and
jacket to work. I was hungry, and just walking around the oce was tiring. But I was
down to 9st 3lb.
By day eight, I was being called the "disappearing man", and began to feel a bit detached
from my colleagues. While my energy levels were ne and glucose levels were
4.3mmol/L, constipation had set in, as a result of not drinking enough water. Thankfully,
laxatives cured this. Taylor emailed to say my progress was so good, I could come o the
liquid diet and go back to normal foods.
By day 11, my glucose was 4.1, the lowest yet, and I was down to just 8st13lb. The next
day I treated myselfto my rst full evening meal ofrice andsh, plus a chocolate
shaketo celebrate.
I waited two months to be sure, but on 24 September last year it was conrmed.
Following a fasting glucose test at my surgery, my doctor declared: "The diabetes has
resolved itself." My glucose level was 5.1mmol/L, well below the diabetes mark of 6.
I had stuck to the diet for just 11 days and reduced my blood sugar to a healthy nondiabetic level. It has remained that way for the past sevenmonths.
Reading on mobile? Watch Carlos Cervantes's account of how he beat severe diabetes
type 2
Others have also changed their lives through the diet. Carlos Cervantes, 53 and from the
US, was at death's door when he tried it. He weighed 120kg, suered a heart attack in
spring 2011, his eyesight and kidneys were failing and he faced having an infected toe
amputated. He even had fungus growing out of his ears, feeding on his ultra-high blood
sugar levels. But after seeing a TV report on the Newcastle research, he started eating
only 600 calories a day, replacing the supplements with not just vegetables but fruit, lean
chicken, turkey, occasional bread and a daily milkshake. Two months later he had lost
40kg and 18 months later he is still free of his type 2 diabetes.
Henry Cole, 67, from New Jersey, USA, did likewise. He saw a 20-second news clip on TV
and took up the diet days later. He stuck rigidly to 600 calories daily from just protein
(steak, chicken, turkey or sh) plus green veg, eating his one meal at 6pm most days,
with coee and calorie-counted cream for breakfast and 1.5 litres of water. His weight
went down from 81kg to a stable 70kg on a now daily 1,500 cal diet, with his HbA1c level
down to 5.6% from 6.9%.
Steve Vincent, 58, from Southampton, England, was diagnosed with type 2 in December
2010. He was told there was no known cure and he had an increased risk of heart attack,
stroke, blindness and limb loss. He had a BMI of 29, weighed 93kg and showed an HbA1c
of 10.7%. In summer 2011 he read the reversal story and went on a daily 600 calories
green vegetable diet and three litres of water, for two months. At the end he was and
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remains diabetes-free. In December 2012 he told me: "All my blood test levels are within
the normal range, and my cholesterol and blood pressure levels are now normal." When
he came o the diet he weighed just 72kg, although he has put on weight since then as
he admits he has not been eating as healthily as he might, but his BMI remains at a
healthy 24, and his HbA1c level is 5.5%.
Scientists are cautious, and research is continuing, but evidence is growing that the diet
can indeed remove the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. The question for researchers, who
are now working on identifying the type of diet that can keep diabetes at bay after
reversal, is once we've beaten the condition, how do we improve our lifestyle so it
doesn't return? Watch this space.

Follow Richard Doughty on Twitter at twitter.com/ricdoughty

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