This morning our friend, Jane, alerted me to the early lead article in today’s Guardian newspaper: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/24/low-calorie-diet-hope-cure-diabetes].
It reports on the eye-catching (though hardly mouthwatering) results of a study carried out recently at Newcastle University, England, involving type 2 diabetics.
The participants were put on “an extreme diet” for two months.
“Eleven people with diabetes took part in the study, which was funded by Diabetes UK. They had to slash their food intake to just 600 calories a day for two months. But three months later seven of the 11 were free of diabetes. People who have had obesity-related type 2 diabetes for years have been cured, at least temporarily, by keeping to an extreme, low-calorie, diet for two months, scientists report today.”
*The title of the post refers to a documentary [http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/simply-raw-reversing-diabetes-in-30-days/] which another friend, Denise in London, sent me some months ago. I was reminded of it while reading The Guardian this morning.
In this 90-minute film (free to watch online) the six participants in the program are:
“challenged to give up meat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, processed food, packaged food, and even cooked food for 30 days. The film chronicles moments of “struggle, support and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse disease and change lives”.
The immediate results were stunning in some cases, like the study reported in The Guardian. The effect on participants was moving.
Nevertheless the challenge overwhelmed a couple of the participants and one dropped out. I remember being left feeling a little uneasy about the claims made in the film about the possibility of curing diabetes.
Reversing the condition was clearly achieved by following the regimes shown.
However Professor Roy Taylor, the leader of the Newcastle experiment acknowledges that, “we need to examine further why some people are more susceptible to developing diabetes than others”.
Meanwhile–in the everyday world, food philosopher Michael Pollen’s simple mantra is worth keeping in mind.
Eat food. Not too much. Mainly plants.
Robin Ellis 
Wow. I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks. A search for Poldark DVDs has led me in so many directions! When the inevitable “what’s for dinner” nag creeps into my mind around lunchtime, the answer is “Ask Robin!” As a gardener, I also appreciate your seasonal recommendations (now I know what to do with all the zucchini)…although you appear to be about a month ahead of me (I am near Baltimore, MD). I’m also enjoying the wonderful photography as well as the lesson on EU septic regulations. A full service blog, indeed. Do you have any book signings planned, either in UK or US?
Thanks, Debra–not sure about book signings yet.
Thanks very much for these links. I read the Guardian article and watched the documentary this morning. I was prepared to be skeptical on several levels (some of them my own bias, I admit!), but I found the film to be very moving. It does seem clear to me, though, that people on medications should not try this on their own, and I was impressed that the clinic in Arizona paired all of the modern science with their holistic approach. I was sad at the end that we did not see what happened to Henry (the gentleman from Reno), as I wondered whether he left the program and why.
A couple of quick thoughts from someone who has only a layperson’s knowledge of diabetes. The idea that diet can reverse medical conditions (like hypertension – which I do have – or diabetes) seems clear. But I think the idea of a “cure” is more problematic. On the other hand, it seemed miraculaous that one of the young men would start producing insulin on his own. Another thought was that I have never seen vegan food look so appealing! I liked the idea in the film that we should approach eating and medicine differently, at least here in the US, where it is heartbreaking to see the children at risk for type 2.
So in the end I found the whole story of the film inspiring, really. And I am always impressed by the lives of random folks, and how strangers from so many different backgrounds can come together and support each other in this way. Thanks again – very educational, too.
Thanks Lisa, for such a thoughtful comment.
Your observation about children with type2 is relevant.
In their case it seems that a change in diet and a serious reduction of tummy fat can get the insulin flowing again and doing its job as it should.
In other words a cure–though I’m still uncomfortable about using that word.
Vegan food by the way is served in the restaurant that features in a previous post—“-Lunch in a Flying Saucer”!