Over Half of Young Adults in Diet-and-Exercise Trial Put Type 2 Diabetes Into Remission
In the RESET for Remission trial, 54% of 18-to-45-year-olds on a supervised low-calorie program reached remission at 24 weeks, versus about 4% on usual care.
Photo: Andrew Norman at English Wikipedia / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
A 24-week program combining a low-calorie meal-replacement diet with supervised exercise helped 54% of young adults with early-onset type 2 diabetes reach remission, according to a randomized trial from the University of Leicester and McGill University. Results were reported in *The Lancet Regional Health – Americas* and presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting.
What the trial found
The RESET for Remission study enrolled 96 adults aged 18 to 45 with type 2 diabetes and obesity who were not using insulin, 40 in the UK and 56 in Canada. Fifty were assigned to the intensive program and 46 to usual care.
- Remission: 27 of 50 people (54%) in the program versus 2 of 46 (about 4%) in usual care.
- Definition: HbA1c below 6.5% with no glucose-lowering medication for at least 12 weeks.
- Weight: an average loss of 8.4 kg in the program group versus 1.2 kg in the comparison group.
- Completion: 90% of participants finished the final assessments.
The program began with a very low-calorie diet of formulated products, moved to one regular meal a day, and ended with a weight-maintenance phase, alongside supervised aerobic and resistance exercise.
Why it matters
Type 2 diabetes is increasingly diagnosed in younger adults, and earlier onset is linked to a higher risk of complications later in life. The authors describe their remission rate as at the upper end of what similar trials have reported.
Honest context
- The trial was small and open-label, meaning participants and researchers knew who received which treatment.
- It lasted only 24 weeks. Whether remission lasts once people return to everyday life needs longer follow-up.
- Remission means blood sugar stayed below the diagnostic threshold without medication. It is not a permanent cure.
- Side effects such as constipation, headache and dizziness were more common in the program group, mostly early on and generally resolved. No severe adverse events were reported.
This is research, not personal medical guidance. Anyone with diabetes should speak with their own clinician before changing diet, exercise or medication.
