A group of researchers has found a way to "reset" the pancreas ability to produce insulin for diabetic patients. This fasting-mimicking diet was successful as a diabetes cure both on lab mice and human cells. Preparations are underway to prove its effectiveness on human diabetes patients.

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The method makes the body think that it is undergoing fasting for a few days a month. The diet tricks the body since carefully selected foods can still be consumed by the person - but not to the extent of satisfying the cravings and usual appetite. When this happens, the pancreas reboots its key function and restores insulin production.

The researchers from the University of Southern California say that both diabetes type I (pancreas cannot make insulin) and diabetes type II (damaged insulin resistance) can be reversed through this method. "By pushing the mice into an extreme state and then bringing them back... the cells in the pancreas are triggered to use some kind of developmental reprogramming," Valter Longo, the lead author of the study, said.

The artificial fasting mode lasts for four days a week within a period of several months. That period was enough to generate beta cells in the pancreas which is the key to storing and releasing insulin. It is also in this time frame that damaged cells can be replaced with working ones. This diabetes cure has countless possibilities although it has only been tested on mice.

As for the human cells, the team cultured human pancreatic cell cultures with type I diabetes. They let the cells undergo fasting to produce insulin and Ngn3 protein for the normal pancreatic function - and it was proven successful as well.

Aside from being a diabetes cure, the fasting-mimicking diet was also observed to treat other diseases like cancer and heart disease, as well as reducing the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. However, the researchers will have to do further tests to "perfect" this diabetes cure.