Remission of type 2 diabetes — having normal blood glucose levels without taking any glucose-lowering medications — was found to be highly likely among adults whose body weight fell in the normal-weight to slightly overweight range and who lost 10% of their body weight, according to a new study presented at the 2022 meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and described in an article at Healio.
Earlier studies have shown that type 2 diabetes remission may be more common than was previously thought and that weight loss may play an important role in this process. Bariatric (weight-loss) surgery has been shown to promote remission of both type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, and the likelihood of remission is linked to how much weight people end up losing. Low-calorie diets and meal replacements have also shown to be effective for weight loss and diabetes remission, and key medical associations have acknowledged that there is evidence that dietary approaches can lead to remission of type 2 diabetes. One recent study even showed that artificial intelligence can play a role in tailoring lifestyle interventions to individuals in a way that increases their likelihood of experiencing diabetes remission.
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For the latest study, researchers at Newcastle University in England looked at at the effect of weight loss specifically in people whose body weight falls in what is largely considered to be a “healthy” range — a body-mass index (BMI, a measure of body weight that takes height into account) of 21 to 27. About 15% of people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, they noted, fall in this BMI range. They recruited 20 participants with type 2 diabetes and a BMI in this range, whose average age was 59. Participants followed a low-calorie diet with the aim of losing 5% of their body weight and repeated this process up to three times. Each weight-loss cycle consisted of consuming 800 calories daily through meal-replacement formulas and low-starch vegetables. Another group of 20 participants without diabetes also took part in this weight-loss process, allowing the researchers to compare results between the two groups.
Weight loss linked to diabetes remission in those with healthy BMI
Participants with type 2 diabetes lost an average of 7.7 kilograms (17.0 pounds), or 10.7% of their starting body weight, and were able to maintain this overall weight loss at six months and 12 months of follow-up. Men with diabetes saw their waist measurement and body fat levels fall to the level of participants without diabetes, while women with diabetes still had a higher waist measurement and greater body fat than women without diabetes. Most importantly, though, 70% of participants with type 2 diabetes experienced remission of the disease — a result that the researchers noted is similar to what previous studies of weight loss in people with overweight or obesity have found.
One possible mechanism that could explain why weight loss leads to diabetes remission in people with a “healthy” body weight is that they could have too much fat in their liver and pancreas, the researchers found. Participants with type 2 diabetes started out with 2.5 times as much liver fat, on average, as participants without diabetes, but saw their liver fat levels greatly reduced after 24 weeks of following the weight-loss protocol. Even before diabetes remission occurred, participants saw their blood glucose control improve as their liver and pancreas fat volume went down.
These results demonstrate, the researchers said, that even people with a “healthy” body weight may be able to experience type 2 diabetes remission through weight loss — an approach that many doctors wouldn’t have recommended prior to these findings.
Want to learn more about diabetes remission? Read “Type 2 Diabetes Remission — Can It Be Done?”
