Research

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Sustained weight loss of 15 kg or more through structured lifestyle interventions (such as total meal replacement diets) can induce remission of type 2 diabetes in early-stage patients.

If you have early-stage type 2 diabetes, losing a significant amount of weight (around 15 kg or 33 lbs) through a structured program can potentially put your diabetes into remission. This often involves a short period of very low-calorie intake (around 800-850 calories/day) using meal replacements, followed by a careful return to normal food. This is most effective when done under professional guidance and is most likely to work if you haven't had diabetes for very long.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In the weight management program group, 36% of patients with T2DM underwent remission compared to 3.4% in the usual care group... The 2-year results of DiRECT support the notion that intensive lifestyle intervention for weight loss can lead to sustained remission in early-stage T2DM.
Cem Sulu et al. · Diabetes Therapy · 2024

Why this rating

Supported by multiple randomized controlled trials (DiRECT, STANDby, DIADEM-I) and large observational studies (SOS).

Source

Treat Obesity to Treat Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Cem Sulu et al. · Diabetes Therapy · 2024

DOI 10.1007/s13300-024-01536-3

narrative_reviewCited 13×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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