Controversial feeding tube diet shows positive benefits for diabetes

The ‘feeding tube’ diet may be the answer to type 2 diabetes, according to one doctor from North Dakota.
Dr. Spencer Berry carried out research into the use of the Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition diet (KE) as a diet for people with type 2 diabetes, and how it helped their condition.
The somewhat controversial and extreme diet involves inserting a feeding tube through the nose and into the patient’s oesophagus. They are then supplied, via an electric pump, a nutritional solution, of 800 calories per day, made out of just vital proteins, fats and micronutrients.
The patient is then unable to eat or drink anything other than water, tea or black coffee.
This puts their body into a controlled ketosis state, which means it begins to burn through its stored fat, making the patient lose weight.
Berry is the medical director of Medical Weight Loss Specialists in Fargo, North Dakota, and tested the extreme diet on 17 diabetic or prediabetic patients.
“Weight loss is known to be the most effective way to increase insulin sensitivity and thus decrease the amount of insulin the body requires,” he said. “Unravelling this vicious cycle can be very difficult. This is where the KE diet has tremendous value.”
After 10 days of being on the diet, patients lost between 6% and 6.5% of their body weight.
Furthermore, analysis found that they had better natural control over their blood glucose levels, showing an improvement in their insulin sensitivity.
However, one problem with using the KE diet is that it is not sustainable. Arguments against Berry’s study are that sustainable dieting is the best way to tackle type 2 diabetes, because at the end of the day, it is down to the patient to change their lifestyles themselves.