Type 2 Diabetes Remission Achieved in 54 Percent of Young Adults Within 6 Months, Clinical Trial Finds

A low-calorie diet combined with regular exercise may help younger adults with type 2 diabetes achieve remission within just six months, according to a new clinical trial. Researchers found that 54 percent of participants following an intensive lifestyle programme achieved diabetes remission, compared with only 4 percent receiving standard care.

Published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas and presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting, the study investigated whether combining calorie restriction with structured exercise could improve blood sugar control among adults with early-onset type 2 diabetes.

The RESET for Remission trial involved 96 adults aged 18 to 45 years with type 2 diabetes and obesity, recruited from research centres in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Participants were randomly assigned to either standard care or an intensive lifestyle programme.

The intervention group followed a diet providing 800–900 calories daily for the first 12 weeks, alongside supervised aerobic and resistance exercises. During the following 12 weeks, participants transitioned to weight-maintenance eating while continuing physical activity.

After 24 weeks, 27 of 50 participants in the intervention group achieved diabetes remission, compared with just two of 46 participants receiving standard care.

Remission was defined as an HbA1c level below 6.5% without glucose-lowering medications for at least 12 weeks.

Importantly, participants following the intensive programme lost an average of 8.4 kilograms, compared with 1.2 kilograms in the standard-care group.

The intervention also produced greater reductions in body fat while helping preserve muscle mass, an important consideration during rapid weight loss.

No severe adverse events were reported, although some participants experienced temporary constipation, headaches, dizziness and fatigue.

However, researchers emphasised that longer-term studies are needed to determine whether remission and weight loss can be maintained.

The findings suggest that medically supervised dietary changes combined with structured exercise could offer an effective approach to achieving short-term type 2 diabetes remission in younger adults.

REFERENCE: Kaberi Dasgupta, et al.; Low energy diet plus supervised exercise vs. usual care alone in people with early-onset type 2 diabetes (RESET for Remission): a randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint efficacy trial. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 2026; 101664 DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2026.101664