Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Reversed?

You will see a lot of claims about reversing Type 2 diabetes. The honest answer is that remission is real, but a cure is not.

Remission has an agreed medical meaning: an HbA1c below 6.5% that stays there for at least three months without taking any glucose-lowering medicine. Doctors deliberately chose the word remission rather than cure, because the condition can return.

It genuinely happens. In the DiRECT trial, 46% of people were in remission after one year on a structured very low calorie programme. Other trials have reported similar or higher rates, and weight-loss surgery puts many people into remission too.

Two things matter most. The first is how recently you were diagnosed — remission is far more likely in the first few years, while the insulin-making cells still have reserve. The second is losing weight, particularly the fat stored around the abdomen and in the liver.

The catch is that it often does not last. After weight-loss surgery, around half of people relapse within five years, and remission reached through diet can slip too.

So remission is well worth aiming for, and it is not a finish line. Even in remission you still need your regular checks — eyes, kidneys, feet and blood glucose — because your risk has fallen, not disappeared.