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Fasting diet 'regenerates diabetic pancreas' - BBC News

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39070183

Quote:

Fasting diet 'regenerates diabetic pancreas' - BBC News

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News website

The pancreas can be triggered to regenerate itself through a type of fasting diet, say US researchers.

Restoring the function of the organ - which helps control blood sugar levels - reversed symptoms of diabetes in animal experiments.

The study, published in the journal Cell, says the diet reboots the body.

Experts said the findings were "potentially very exciting" as they could become a new treatment for the disease.

People are advised not to try this without medical advice.

In the experiments, mice were put on a modified form of the "fasting-mimicking diet".

It is like the human form of the diet when people spend five days on a low-calorie, low-protein, low-carbohydrate but high unsaturated-fat diet.

It resembles a vegan diet with nuts and soups, but with around 800 to 1,100 calories a day.

Then they have 25 days eating what they want - so overall it mimics periods of feast and famine.

Previous research has suggested it can slow the pace of ageing.
Diabetes therapy?

But animal experiments showed the diet regenerated a special type of cell in the pancreas called a beta cell.

These are the cells that detect sugar in the blood and release the hormone insulin if it gets too high.

Dr Valter Longo, from the University of Southern California, said: "Our conclusion is that by pushing the mice into an extreme state and then bringing them back - by starving them and then feeding them again - the cells in the pancreas are triggered to use some kind of developmental reprogramming that rebuilds the part of the organ that's no longer functioning."

There were benefits in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the mouse experiments.

Type 1 is caused by the immune system destroying beta cells and type 2 is largely caused by lifestyle and the body no longer responding to insulin.

Further tests on tissue samples from people with type 1 diabetes produced similar effects.

Dr Longo said: "Medically, these findings have the potential to be very important because we've shown - at least in mouse models - that you can use diet to reverse the symptoms of diabetes.

"Scientifically, the findings are perhaps even more important because we've shown that you can use diet to reprogramme cells without having to make any genetic alterations."

BBC reporter Peter Bowes took part in a separate trial with Dr Valter Longo.

He said: "During each five-day fasting cycle, when I ate about a quarter of the average person's diet, I lost between 2kg and 4kg (4.4-8.8lbs).

"But before the next cycle came round, 25 days of eating normally had returned me almost to my original weight.

"But not all consequences of the diet faded so quickly."

His blood pressure was lower as was a hormone called IGF-1, which is linked to some cancers.

He said: "The very small meals I was given during the five-day fast were far from gourmet cooking, but I was glad to have something to eat."

Separate trials of the diet in people have been shown to improve blood sugar levels. The latest findings help to explain why.

However, Dr Longo said people should not rush off and crash diet.

He told the BBC: "It boils down to do not try this at home, this is so much more sophisticated than people realise."

He said people could "get into trouble" with their health if it was done without medical guidance.

Dr Emily Burns, research communications manager at Diabetes UK, said: "This is potentially very exciting news, but we need to see if the results hold true in humans before we'll know more about what it means for people with diabetes.

"People with type 1 and type 2 diabetes would benefit immensely from treatments that can repair or regenerate insulin-producing cells in the pancreas."

"He told the BBC: "It boils down to do not try this at home, this is so much more sophisticated than people realise.". ...yeah, it needs the meal replacement food Dr Longo's company sells. :rolleyes: (edit add: I can buy my own olives and tea. http://l-nutra.com/prolon/)

I've been following his studies for years from the cancer angle, but now that we see all the success stories with Dr Fung's simpler "don't eat", it is hard to take his complicated and expensive instructions seriously.

This week's Fasting Talk guest: Lost 100 pounds in four months.

"Mark is a 41-year old 6’2″ man that came to Intensive Dietary Management (IDM) as a long distance patient in October 2016. After reaching a weight of over 470 pounds and dealing with joint pain, heel spurs, sleep apnea and full blown diabetes requiring multiple injections daily. Mark was slowly dying, and he knew he needed help.

Mark’s mother sent him a copy of Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code in September 2016 and warned him that it might be considered controversial. But after reading it, he felt the message was exactly what he had been missing. In the short four month span since starting fasting and eating keto, Mark has lost 100 pounds! More than the weight loss, he has been able to remove the diabetes and other medications from his life and he sincerely believes fasting saved his life. His health markers are continually improving and he now enjoys more energy, mental clarity and better sleep."

Four months...off all diabetes meds! I'd guess he's done some pancreas regeneration :)

I wonder how much better they would have done on a low-calorie, lower-protein, low-carbohydrate but high saturated-fat nearly carnivorous diet?

Yes, Mark's story is great and I have been buying my own olives and tea for years, too :). Also, there is nothing "extreme" about our diets. All we have done is removed processed crap and carbohydrates, which are non-essential.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deirdra

...... Also, there is nothing "extreme" about our diets. All we have done is removed processed crap and carbohydrates, which are non-essential.

Amen! Preach IT! :thup:

A fasting diet could reverse diabetes

https://www.quantifiedbob.com/2016/...mimicking-diet/

Quantifiedbob did an at home version. Carbs were 60-70 grams per day, I'd guess more 40ish after accounting for fiber. He got a pretty deep ketosis, but then his blood glucose also went as low as 44 mg/dl at one point. I don't think he has much diabetes to fight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deirdra

Also, there is nothing "extreme" about our diets. All we have done is removed processed crap and carbohydrates, which are non-essential.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

A friend asked about low carb, with just that word: "extreme."

I gleefully told him that there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. He was dumbfounded!

I believe Dr. Longo may be donating his portion of any profits from ProLon. 3 kits (each w/ the meals for one 5-day fast) are $750. Kind of expensive. I don't know how well others have duplicated these meals for less cost -- I suppose in time. In any case, this is an exciting area of research.

Quote:

"It boils down to do not try this at home, this is so much more sophisticated than people realise."

He said people could "get into trouble" with their health if it was done without medical guidance.

Yeah, this whole "don't try this at home kids" attitude really irks me. Eating only *fairly* low cal for 5 days can get you into trouble with your health?

The only "trouble" I could see would be T2's on insulin who might get hypos, and I don't really think of lowering your BG as "trouble". Just that if that applies to you your should make sure to monitor your BG closely. Not rocket science.

An interesting and fairly technical interview with Longo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PyyatqJSE

One of the takeaways, relevant to this, is not that the fasting mimicking diet is superior to actually fasting - it was a way to get people to actually DO IT.

Warning: long.

Interesting fact, #276:

My Italian uncle was diagnosed with diabetes II in 1953.
The condition then, had only been considered as separate to diabetes I, a matter of around 20 years before, I believe....
His doctor, radically, advised him to give up starchy foods, cut out sugar and - wait for it - go on an occasional 24-hour fast, once a month.

He lost weight, and apparently stopped any medication within 6 months.

He considers that doctor to have saved his life.

whe I was diagnosed with diabetes and neededto get all my numbers under control befor I woud be medically cleared to return to my job (and thus keep two kids in the school in the country where we were located, and allw my husband to continue his job) I started the newcastle diet, and it wrapped my numbers up within two weeks. Within a month I was cleared to return to work, and I moved from the very low calorie very low carb and work to get enough but not too much protein diet to a low carb high fat WOL -- I have tried IF and find I can't take the supplements I have been recommended because of nausea, so I basically have a 12/12 two meal a day thing. I'd like to be able to exand the window, but it doesn't seem possible. Dr Bernstein also recommends getting to the lower end of your weight range to give the beta cells a chance to regenerate as well. Wonder where that fits into this. Hard to know if its the amount or the timing -- I guess both. Anyway, just my experience.

Congratulations on your success and improvement in BG! :clap:

There are five places you might find answers to your questions on fasting, since this forum does not support extended fasting. The IDM website (overwhelming now, hear a re-design in the works). THe Fasting Talk podcast, where Megan Ramos gives practical advice. Your question has been asked, and think heard her say to stop nutritional supplements for various reasons, or if you must, eat with a small amount of food. The "Ask an Expert" section of DietDoctor ... find a long list of answers to previous questions by Dr Fung there. And there are two very active Fung FB groups.

Thanks Janet! Definitely not attracted by long term fasting! Family time, enjoyment, etc, militate against that for me!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mama Sebo

wso I basically have a 12/12 two meal a day thing. I'd like to be able to exand the window, but it doesn't seem possible.

That's close to where I've settled too. Two meals a day with a 14-16 hour window of fasting. I've tried going 1 meal a day but for me it was hard to sustain. This seems to work much better. I've pretty much decided to stick with it figuring that even though it may not be "optimal", whatever that is, it's probably good enough to keep me reasonably healthy.

Jean