That isn’t really the case. Maybe the journalist got their facts muddled. They often do.
Different people lose different amounts of weight when on the NewCastle Diet (ND), as you would expect.
And different people have different amounts of fat, and fat in the liver before they start the ND
Professor Taylor (who runs the ND studies) has said that often, the approximate amount of weight needed to ‘reverse’ diabetes is around 15% of the patient’s weight prior to the diet. However this amount also varies dramatically between individuals. Some people achieve non diabetic blood glucose within a couple of days of starting ND. Others never reverse despite losing much more than 15%.
Also worth bearing in mind that the ND is not just any low calorie diet. It is very low calorie, and there are specific instructions on calorie and fat intake when doing it. The ND diet team monitor health throughout the diet (which is not always 12 weeks) and advise these medical checks before, during and after the diet.
You can find all this info can be found on the Newcastle University website, where the diet instuctions and the design of each study is publicaly available.
Hope that helps.