A brand new diet may be the key to reversing the effects of diabetes, and it’s a surprisingly simple one that anyone can do, according ot a new study published in the journal Cell. This “fasting” diet triggers the pancreas to regenerate itself and start working again to control blood sugar levels, and it was shown to work in animal experiments, reversing the symptoms of diabetes.

It’s an exciting find to be sure, and it could be a new treatment for the debilitating disease, but researchers are advising diabetics not to try it without medical advice. So far, scientists have only demonstrated it in mice, according to a statement from the University of Southern California.

The diet works by putting people for five days on a diet that is low in calories, protein and carbohydrates, but high in unsaturated fat, similar to that of a vegan diet with a lot of nuts and soups that tops out at 1,100 calories per day. After that five day period, they can spend 25 days eating what they want.

“Cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet and a normal diet essentially reprogrammed non-insulin-producing cells into insulin-producing cells,” said Valter Longo, who is also a professor of biological sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “By activating the regeneration of pancreatic cells, we were able to rescue mice from late-stage type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We also reactivated insulin production in human pancreatic cells from type 1 diabetes patients.”