31-Aug-2023
The Reversal of Type 2 diabetes Upon Normalisation of Energy intake in the non-obese (ReTUNE) study was designed to test the Personal Fat Threshold hypothesis first proposed by Prof. Roy Taylor (Newcastle University) and Prof. Rury R. Holman (Clin Sci [Lond]. 2015;128:405-410).
ReTUNE postulated that the mechanistic changes underpinning weight loss-induced remission of type 2 diabetes in people with a body mass index <27kg/m2 would be the same as those observed previously in people with a body mass index >27kg/m2.
The primary results of the ReTUNE study (Clin Sci [Lond]. 2023;137:1333-1346)confirm for the first time that non-obese people with type 2 diabetes can be supported to put their type 2 diabetes into remission through a structured low-calorie diet programme, and that the key to this is losing harmful fat from the liver and pancreas.
Professors Taylor and Holman concluded that type 2 diabetes occurs if a person exceeds their personal fat threshold and becomes too heavy for their own constitution, irrespective of their body mass index.