Advertisement

New crash diet could cure diabetes

New crash diet could cure diabetes

A crash diet could be a cure for the thousands of Australians who are living with type 2 diabetes.

A small study has found patients who ate just 800 calories a day were completely cleared of the disease, but not everyone is convinced.

Paul O'Callaghan was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only days ago, and knows he will no longer be able to eat sweets - his favourite foods.

"It's quite saddening, but in the end, it's going to save my life," O'Callaghan told 7News.

But UK researchers say they may be close to a cure for type 2 diabetes.

Britain's Newcastle University has conducted a small study which shows the disease can be reversed with a low calorie, crash diet.

"If there's something out there, like a diet that can prevent that, I'm all for it," Paul O'Callaghan said.

The overweight patients ate 800 calories a day for six weeks. Researchers found it quickly reduced fat levels in the liver, and returned insulin levels to normal.

"The Australian Diabetes Council doesn't recommend crash diets because they can be detrimental to our health," spokesperson Lamees Kaoutarani said.

But doctors say it is a diet hard to sustain.

"Much more important is a lifelong commitment to healthy eating, and also to exercise," the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's Dr Ted Wu said.

Researchers will now test whether the disease could stay reversed, a complete cure for type 2 diabetes.