The programme used the terms 'remission' and 'reversal' interchangeably, without defining them at all. I think at the end the doctor said to one of the subjects, "you no longer have diabetes". Was this guy a real doctor? One wonders. The theme throughout the programme was that if you lose enough weight you will reverse/cure diabetes - a contentious idea at best and certainly not one to be bandied about as mainstream. The Newcastle Diet principle may be gaining ground but there is a lot of work to be done before anyone could call it proper science. The experimental group was only 11 people, after all, not the hundreds required by real science.
I too, like others on this forum, would be very interested to know how people have got on after the eight week diet, and it is strange that no one has stepped forward to explain. Also, as Dr Taylor is now stating, it is better to take longer to lose the weight rather than doing it as a crash diet, which I believe was done that way firstly to mimic the gastric surgery outcome and secondly to ensure that everyone was eating exactly the same thing. Why milkshakes from Optifast? Why not real food of similar nutritional value? Possibly because there would then be huge variation between subjects and their results would not then be comparable.
I have only recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, with fasting bg 9.5. I started a low carb low fat diet immediately, with kcals around 1000. Starting from 15stone 3lbs I have lost 17lbs in two months. FBG is now 5.8. Has the diabetes 'reversed'? If I start eating burgers again perhaps I'll find out.