Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 Dec;27(12):7374-7384.
doi: 10.1111/dom.70142. Epub 2025 Sep 18.

Optimizing cardiovascular health with a type 2 diabetes remission program: Ultraprocessed food-intake reduction, Mediterranean diet, chrononutrition and physical training-The DIABEPIC-2 pilot study

Valérie Dionne  1 , Josep Iglesies-Grau  1   2 , Élise Latour  1 , Florent Besnier  1 , Christine Gagnon  1 , Mathieu Gayda  1   2 , Véronique Pelletier  1 , Shaun Selcer  1   2 , Tudor Vrinceanu  1 , Amélie Debray  1 , Anne-Julie Tessier  1   3   4 , Martin Juneau  1   2 , Anil Nigam  1   2 , Philippe L L'Allier  1   2 , Louis Bherer  1   2   5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Optimizing cardiovascular health with a type 2 diabetes remission program: Ultraprocessed food-intake reduction, Mediterranean diet, chrononutrition and physical training-The DIABEPIC-2 pilot study

Valérie Dionne et al. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2025 Dec.

Abstract

Aims: The possibility of type 2 diabetes (T2D) remission following very-low caloric restriction has been demonstrated. However, the feasibility of T2D remission following other health behavioural interventions remains to be explored.

Materials and methods: The DIABEPIC-2 pilot study assessed the feasibility of a 6-month programme based on ultra-processed food intake reduction, a Mediterranean diet, and physical training. Also, a randomised 2:1 proportion of participants added intermittent fasting (IF) in the last 3 months. The study explored the T2D remission rate and its impact on cardiometabolic and anthropometric parameters, cardiorespiratory fitness, and quality of food matrix.

Results: Feasibility was demonstrated with a recruitment rate of 6.4 participants/month, 34 participants (81%) who completed the programme, with an 87% attendance rate (63.6 ± 9.2 years old, initial mean HbA1c of 6.7 ± 0.7%, mean T2D duration of 7.4 ± 6.7 years). At 6 months, participants had a mean weight loss of -6.8 kg (-9.3 to -4.4, p < 0.001), and 13 participants out of 34 (38%) achieved T2D remission. Overall, participants significantly improved cardiometabolic health and anthropometric parameters, cardiorespiratory fitness, and food matrix quality. Participants randomised to the IF add-on intervention group did not show significant additional improvement.

Conclusion: The DIABEPIC-2 program enabled a significant proportion of participants to achieve T2D remission and to improve their cardiovascular health; therefore, it would be relevant to confirm these results. The recruitment and visit completion rates observed in this pilot study further demonstrate its feasibility, supporting the rationale for conducting a larger randomized clinical trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Results. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. 2020. https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
    1. Statistique Canada. Tableau 13‐10‐0873‐01 Prévalence, conscience, traitement et contrôle du diabète, cycles combinés, par groupe d'âge et sexe, Canada (sauf les territoires). doi:10.25318/1310087301‐fra
    1. Mizukami H, Kudoh K. Diversity of pathophysiology in type 2 diabetes shown by islet pathology. J Diabetes Investig. 2022;13(1):6‐13.
    1. Ludvik B, Giorgino F, Jódar E, et al. Once‐weekly tirzepatide versus once‐daily insulin degludec as add‐on to metformin with or without SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes (SURPASS‐3): a randomised, open‐label, parallel‐group, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2021;398(10300):583‐598.
    1. Sattar N, Lee MMY, Kristensen SL, et al. Cardiovascular, mortality, and kidney outcomes with GLP‐1 receptor agonists in patients with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomised trials. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2021;9(10):653‐662.

Publication types