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February 24, 2017
Announcements, Food & Nutrition, Living With Diabetes, News & Media, Research, Uncategorized | bcdiabetes, British Columbia, diabetes, Diabetes Management, Diabetes Research, Diet & Nutrition, Dr. Valter Longo, living with diabetes, Pancreas, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes
Yesterday, (2017-02-23) a study of diabetic mice was published in the journal “Cell” showing that a special “fasting mimicking diet” (FMD) for 4 days every month caused regeneration of pancreatic insulin-secreting beta cells. As such, in mice at least, this diet has the potential to reverse both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
No parallel study has been done in humans with diabetes. Given this exciting news, at BCDiabetes we are brainstorming on how this might be conducted.
In humans, the same diet has been studied as an anti-ageing therapy by the same author as the mouse experiment – Dr. Valter Longo, from the University of Southern California. The diet is essentially 4 consecutive days of an 800-1000 calorie/day vegan-type diet (nuts and soups, low in carbs/starch but with protein and fat) followed by an unrestricted diet for the rest of the month – alternating feast and famine!
If the same findings in mice can be duplicated in humans with Type 1 and/or Type 2 diabetes it will be very exciting. Stay tuned!
For a link to the original mouse experiment click here. For a link to an example of the fasting-mimicking diet in humans click here.