5 minSociety
Intensive lifestyle changes help more than half of younger adults reverse type 2 diabetes
A small trial found that a low-calorie diet combined with supervised exercise put 54% of adults under 45 with type 2 diabetes into remission within six months, compared with 4% of those receiving standard care.
A strict program combining a low-calorie diet with supervised strength and aerobic training helped more than half of younger adults reverse type 2 diabetes within six months, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas. Of participants under 45 who completed the intensive lifestyle program, 54% reached disease remission, compared with 4% of participants receiving standard medical care.
The trial, called the RESET for Remission study, was led by researchers from McGill University in Canada and the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. They enrolled 96 adults aged 18 to 45 who were living with obesity and early-onset type 2 diabetes, none of whom were using insulin. Type 2 diabetes diagnosed at a younger age is widely regarded in medical literature as especially aggressive, with patients facing a faster loss of blood sugar control, earlier cardiovascular complications and a shorter overall life expectancy than those diagnosed later in life.
Participants in the intervention group stopped their blood sugar and blood pressure medications under medical supervision and began an intensive daily diet of 800 to 900 calories. For the first two weeks they consumed only meal-replacement products. From weeks three through 12, they were allowed one structured meal of lean protein and vegetables each day alongside meal replacements, before moving into a weight maintenance phase for the final 12 weeks. The calorie restriction was paired with supervised aerobic and resistance training twice weekly, plus one additional solo workout each week.
Lead author Dr. Kaberi Dasgupta, a professor of medicine and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at McGill University, said the findings show that the two approaches can be combined in young adults with type 2 diabetes. « Our study shows that it is possible to combine a low-calorie diet with supervised exercise in young adults with type 2 diabetes, » she told Fox News Digital. She noted earlier concerns that combining the two would be too much of a burden, but said participants stayed in the study, with only 10% failing to complete the final evaluations and a median attendance of 17 of 20 scheduled supervised gym sessions.
The researchers placed emphasis on resistance training to counter the loss of lean muscle mass, a known risk of rapid weight loss. People who lose weight through crash dieting or appetite-suppressing medications may shed muscle along with fat, and if the weight returns, some research suggests it may come back disproportionately as body fat. « In our study, we think the diet provoked the weight loss, and exercise helped make sure it was [not] from muscle, » Dasgupta said. « We were happy and surprised that not only did people lose fat from their organs and liver, our MRI studies indicated their muscle did not decrease at all and their handgrip strength went up. »
Participants lost an average of 18.5 pounds over 24 weeks and significantly improved their treadmill endurance and overall cardiovascular fitness. To meet the official standard for remission, patients had to keep their HbA1c blood sugar level below 6.5% after at least 12 weeks without glucose-lowering drugs. After accounting for baseline health factors, the researchers concluded that patients on the diet and exercise program were 21 times more likely to achieve remission than those receiving routine care.
The study also carries clear limitations. It was small, involving fewer than 100 people across medical centers in England and Canada over a six-month period. Dasgupta said the main constraint was that the team compared diet plus exercise with usual care rather than with diet alone, which would have been needed to isolate the specific contribution of exercise to the gains in muscle and fitness. The regimen also took a physical toll: roughly 86% of the intervention group reported mild to moderate side effects, mostly in the early weeks, including headaches, fatigue, dizziness and constipation. Researchers noted that no severe medical complications occurred.
Health professionals cautioned that remission is not a permanent cure, and that sustaining an 800-calorie threshold alongside supervised gym sessions may be difficult for busy adults outside a clinical setting. The study authors said longer-term trials in real-world settings are still needed to determine whether patients can keep the weight off, preserve their muscle gains and remain medication-free once regular daily routines resume.
Source: foxnews.com
8
