How To Cure Fatty Pancreas
Beta Cells Are Only Dormant and Can be Reawakened
The beta cells are highly specialized and know exactly how much glucose comes into the pancreas and how much insulin is needed to regulate that glucose. Obese people do a good job and release a sufficient amount of insulin to manage blood sugar. The beta cells in type 2 diabetes, in contrast however, are not able to cope with the production of insulin required to manage the glucose, resulting in the excessive rise of blood sugar.
This fact doesn’t mean that the beta cells are “burnt out” or entirely damaged, but that they are merely dormant. [1] In the dormant state, the transcription factors and enzymes required for generating insulin are not available. However, we can reawaken them.
What causes the failure of beta cells? They are clogged in fat. [2] The pancreatic function is restored through prolonged or intermittent fasting, by which the ectopic fat depot will be melted away.
Fatty Pancreas
The liver converts fructose and excess glucose into fat and exports it all over the body. Much fat is first stored in adipose tissue. The excess fat is then settled as an ectopic fat depot deposit in the organs and skeletal muscle. Consequently, the pancreas is also congested with fat, resulting in lower production of insulin. [3]
The storage of fat anywhere else in the body except adipose tissue causes insulin resistance and is damaging. Some 20% of obese people have no insulin resistance, [4] because they have stored fat in the fat cells and not in and around the organs and skeletal muscles. When fat is stored where it belongs, it is not necessarily unhealthy. It is an evolutionary survival mechanism for times when food is scarce. But when it accumulates outside the adipose tissue, everywhere across the body, it’s a sign of insulin resistance and (pre-) type 2 diabetes. The problem with type 2 diabetes is ectopic fat, meaning the fat is displaced outside the adipocytes.
The accumulation of excess fat and glucose adversely affects the insulin expression of beta cells in various pathways. Too much glucose leads to more free radical by-products in the mitochondria, which seriously compromises the health of the cells. The high circulation of fatty acid causes systemic inflammation, which in turn inhibits the enzymatic pathways to produce insulin. The oxidized LDLs call for macrophages, and they in turn release substances leading to the de-differentiation of beta cells. If you deplete the macrophages, the beta cells start to revive. [5]
How to Reverse Ffatty Pancreas?
By losing weight. The underlying cause of type 2 diabetes is a combination of two things:
Beta cell dysfunction
WhereasConversely, the root cause of both is one thing – becoming clogged within fat. Fatty liver leads to insulin resistance. A fatty pancreas results in beta-cell failure.
Professor Taylor of Newcastle University, who also works within the Newcastle Academic Health Partners, says: "Type 2 diabetes is reversed by losing fat from the pancreas. For people with type 2 diabetes, losing weight allows them to drain excess fat out of the pancreas and allows the function to return to normal".[2] By losing weight, you remove the fat clogging up the pancreas, resulting in normal insulin secretion being restored. You allow the beta cells to come alive and regain their uncompromised productivity, simply through diet and lifestyle modification.
The ketogenic diet, combined with intermittent fasting, is a powerful method by which the hepatic and pancreatic fat deposits burn away and the beta cells start to become productive again.
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Scientific References
[1] Alexandra E. Butler et al. Diabetes 2003;52:102-110. Diabetologia, Feb 2014, Vol 57; 2; p 362-365
[2] Newcastle University. "“Type 2 diabetes reversed by losing fat from pancreas."” ScienceDaily, December 2015 DOI: 10.2337/dc150750 <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151201141231.htm>. Journal Reference: Sarah Steven, Kieren G. Hollingsworth, Peter K. Small, Sean A. Woodcock, Andrea Pucci, Benjamin Aribisala, Ahmad Al-Mrabeh, Ann K. Daly, Rachel L. Batterham, and Roy Taylor. Weight Loss Decreases Excess Pancreatic Triacylglycerol Specifically in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care.
[3] Fatty pancreas and the development of type 2 diabetes. Diet Doctors, By Dr. Jason Fung MD, May 10 2017 www.dietdoctor.com
[4] 36. Rasouli N, et al. Ectopic fat accumulation and metabolic syndrome. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007; 9(1): 1-10.
[5] D. Ross Laybutt et al. J. Biol. Chem. 2003; 278:2997-3005. Cell Metabolism 17, June 4, 2013. Lee Y et al. International Journal of Obesity, 34, 396-400.