Escaping From Type 2 Diabetes

Could losing weight rapidly be the key to overcoming type 2 diabetes? In this edited extract, Professor Roy Taylor explains.

- Roy Taylor

This is a simple programme, with clearly defined stages – first, lose weight rapidly with a clear endpoint; second, reintroduce ordinary foods step by step; third, keep the weight down long term.

A rapid weight-loss phase followed by a stepped return to normal eating is very different from the standard advice of ‘slow and prolonged’ of recent years. The 1, 2, 3 approach recognises that losing weight is a distinct activity, separate from the matter of keeping the weight steady in the long term, and that there are many benefits from losing weight fast in the first instance. There are other approaches to losing weight. However, several high-quality studies have shown that going on an intensive rapid weight-loss diet for a period is not only effective for most people, but extraordinarily motivating.

1 Recognise the problem

For centuries, type 2 diabetes has been thought of as a lifelong condition. Despite being advised to lose some weight, people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes find that their weight creeps up over ensuing years. Even if guideline-based advice from a dietitian is available, this is often frustratingly ineffective. Most people’s steady increase in weight after being diagnosed with type 2 does not surprise doctors either, as they know that some of the tablets prescribed to manage the condition actually hamper weight loss.

If bodyweight stays as high as it has become by the time type 2 diabetes is diagnosed – then the diabetes does not go away and will get worse. If you lose a lot of weight, though, the very opposite is true.