Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions across the globe affecting the lives of millions of people.
The World Health Organisation reports that there are 382 million diabetics worldwide with just over four million in the UK. Ninety per cent are Type 2 and 10 per cent Type 1.
Many are living with very bad health, having to put up with low levels of energy. Others, with particularly bad diabetic control, are sometimes forced to have amputations and/or suffer blindness whilst in the worst cases organ failures can lead to death.
Apart from the untold human misery, the cost to governments is incalculable.
The tragedy is that this epidemic need never have happened and is largely a result of bad health advice which took hold in the 1980s when food scientists and governments started telling us that we need to cut our fat intake and, in the case of diabetics, to keep eating carbohydrates.
Research over the past few years, however, tells us that carbohydrates ultimately put as much glucose into the bloodstream as many sugary foods and drinks.
What we should be eating are the healthy fats we find in full fat dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt and low carb foods such as unprocessed meat, fish, berries, and eggs. Please see some more useful information at Nutritionistics.com
Diabetes is diagnosed when there is excessive sugar in the blood. This is extremely dangerous because it interferes with the normal functioning of the body because it sticks to proteins. This can result in many different forms of ill-health.
In a healthy person, the pancreas produces the hormone insulin. This has the capability to keep the blood sugar under control so that the concentration does not increase to dangerous levels. Much of it goes to liver where it is utilised.
Diabetes occurs when the pancreas has been damaged and is therefore unable to produce sufficient insulin to cope with all the sugar in the blood. This damage can be caused by a number of different factors.
Sugar and carbs the enemies for Type 1 and Type 2
In Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), the pancreas has been damaged by another disease/agent so that insulin cannot be produced. The reasons for this attack on the pancreas are still not known. It is very often diagnosed in children but adults can also contract Type 1. It is not reversible and the person can only survive if insulin is administered frequently.
In the overwhelming majority of cases T2D is caused by the regular and persistent consumption of diets that are high in sugar and carbohydrates. The predominant carbohydrate is starch, which is broken down to sugar during digestion.
The main sources of starch include foods such as rice, pasta, potatoes and bread/flour. Currently these are being promoted as “healthy” by the NHS and Public Health England.
A diet which has a high content of sugar and carbohydrates will place great demands on the pancreas to produce insulin. If this continues for many years, the pancreas eventually gets “worn out” and can no longer produce sufficient insulin.
As a consequence, the blood sugar concentration rises. It is only at this point that T2D is diagnosed.
Official advice continues to advocate starchy foods as suitable for those with T2D. However, the reality is that a bowl of pasta or large portion of rice or potatoes can put as much sugar into your blood as several bars of chocolate.
The tragedy is that many health professionals persist in advising patients with T2D to reduce the fat content in their diet and to increase the amount of carbohydrate-containing foods. Because these increase the load of sugar in the blood, the condition deteriorates.
Most GPs are still giving wrong advice
It’s a similar scenario for Type 1 diabetics who depend on insulin to control their blood sugars. They too receive the high carb/low fat advice but find that even the most rapid insulin can take hours to fully bring down the glucose levels generated by carbohydrates. Consequently they find that their glucose levels are high for a significant part of the day.
Given the amount of authoritative research produced in the past few years it’s hard to comprehend why so many health professionals are still doling out bad advice.
In the case of the most GPs, there appears to be a head-in-the-sand attitude to the new anti-carb research. Other major roadblocks to progress have been the government and the self interest of the pharmaceutical industry
The hard reality is that the health of diabetics who comply with the official advice to lower the intake of fat in their diet and “base meals on carbohydrates” deteriorates. For some this can have disastrous health consequences.
A growing number of health professionals and scientists from around the world have gathered around the low carb banner.
The outstanding example is Professor Tim Noakes, emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town. For many years he followed the conventional advice on diet but developed T2D. As a sports scientist he had recommended carb loading for runners. This caused him to re-evaluate the evidence used to justify the dietary guidelines. He concluded that the guidelines were fundamentally flawed and publicly admitted his original stance was wrong.
Since then he has been severely criticised and charged with professional misconduct. Arguably he is the leading light in the global campaign to have a complete revamp of official national nutrition policies.
Dr David Unwin is a GP based in Southport. He and his colleagues have pioneered the use of low carb in the practice. He has achieved national and international recognition.
In 2016, Dr Unwin was selected as NHS Innovator of the Year. In a paper on his low carb methods patient satisfaction was high from reports of feeling better and having more energy. Mean body weight fell by 9.0 kg, waist circumference fell by 15 cm, blood glucose (BG) control measured as HbA1c, fell by 10 mmol/mol or 19%. Blood pressure also dropped significantly.
The success of Dr Unwin has encouraged other GPs to follow suit in the knowledge that his methods have now gained official recognition and acceptance.
Dr Ian Lake is a GP based in Gloucester. As he has T1D himself he fully appreciates that the low carb approach is equally applicable to both T1D and T2D.
At the Preston Medical Centre in Somerset, Catherine Cassell, a diabetes nurse, has been achieving excellent results with low carb as a means of treating T2D and has been nominated for a national award.
Dr Jason Fung is a nephrologist based in Toronto who has been extremely successful in treating patients with T2D. He advocates fasting as the initial step in a programme to reverse T2D.
In the Virta Treatment Program in the USA, patients with T2D are provided with help and support to reduce their intake of carbs. Extremely positive results were obtained in a study of drugs based on 262 participants with T2D, who were compared to a control group treated conventionally.
After one year, these patients on average, lowered HbA1c from 7.6 to 6.3%, lost 12% of their body weight, and reduced diabetes medicine use. 94% of patients who were prescribed insulin reduced or stopped their insulin use, and sulfonylureas were eliminated in all patients.
Meanwhile Low Carb Skipton initiatives have included a very successful training course which saw a number of people drastically improve their blood glucose levels after adopting a low carb/high fat diet.
The Yorkshire group continues to break new ground highlighting the benefits of this eating regime for diabetics, people with other serious illnesses or those who simply want a healthier lifestyle.
I was diagnosed with diabetes some 30 years ago with initial symptoms of blurred vision, excessive thirst and extreme lethargy. This was presumed to be Type 2 as I was fortyish though not overweight. In fact I’d lost so much weight you could see my ribs!
I was persuaded to go for a diabetes check following a conversation with my brother
At the time (November 2011) I was in my early sixties and the only things pointing to a possible positive diagnosis were family history (Type 2 mother and brother) and an excessive thirst.
