3rd week of Newcastle Diet

[mhtyler]

Hi all, I joined this forum only yesterday. I'm diabetic 7.5 years. I'm currently in my third week of Prof. Taylor's Newcastle Diet. My number this AM was 5.8 mmol/L. My numbers have actually been normal since the end of the first week, just as the professor predicted. Of course, the diet is rather severe, and I've got roughly 6 weeks to go on shakes and salads. I'm down 12.5 lbs though, so that's not nothing. I've got about 23 lbs to go before I begin transitioning to a normal diet. My A1c was 53 just before I started. For me the biggest concern I have is whether my poor old pancreas (I'm 69 after all) will recover adequate function. Theoretically I've only about a 46% chance, but the early numbers hint that I can and will. I've got a plan B if I don't, but I don't even want to contemplate that right now. What I will say is that I've tried low carb, fasting, aerobics, weight training, and all at the same time....failed at everything. This is the first time I've had consistent normal numbers in years. Fingers crossed.

 

[Cheltonian31]

Hello mhtyler
I followed the Newcastle Diet for 13 weeks from Oct 2023 to mid Jan 2024. I lost 63 pounds on the diet and one more lbs each week in the two weeks since. Back to "normal eating" now but with smaller portions especially the carbs (there is 25% less of me now, after all). HbA1c down from 88 to 37 over that period. Regular morning fasting finger prick tests are averaging 5.2. Good luck with the diet, the weight will come off, and I hope you get the results your hoping for.

 

[mhtyler]

Hello mhtyler
I followed the Newcastle Diet for 13 weeks from Oct 2023 to mid Jan 2024. I lost 63 pounds on the diet and one more lbs each week in the two weeks since. Back to "normal eating" now but with smaller portions especially the carbs (there is 25% less of me now, after all). HbA1c down from 88 to 37 over that period. Regular morning fasting finger prick tests are averaging 5.2. Good luck with the diet, the weight will come off, and I hope you get the results your hoping for.

Thanks for that. I'm down 14 pounds now, and I've got 22 to go. I should be through the 8 weeks mid March. Have you read Dr Taylor's Counterbalance study? You're apparently a responder based on your A1c. I hope my pancreas will bounce back as well...that's my chief concern. However, my initial numbers in the first week tally with a responder rather than a non-responder so there's that, however the shakes here in the U.S. tend to have half the carbs of the UK versions, so there's less pressure on my liver and pancreas otoh, but it makes it difficult to directly compare to the Counterbalance early findings. I'm hopeful, and sticking to it as exactly as possible. The weight is certainly coming off just as predicted. I'll be getting my HbA1c tested around April 20...tick tock.

 

[harbottle]

I was told on diagnosis (2021) to lose some weight, so I did. Around 3 stones in 3 months and it dropped to 36 In that time, much to the surprise of my GP.

Didn’t do the Newcastle diet, just lots of fresh food, fish, veg and fruit with plenty of nuts.

I find that up to 70g of carbs in a meal might see me go up to around 8 and then back down again.

 

[AS58]

Hello mhtyler
I followed the Newcastle Diet for 13 weeks from Oct 2023 to mid Jan 2024. I lost 63 pounds on the diet and one more lbs each week in the two weeks since. Back to "normal eating" now but with smaller portions especially the carbs (there is 25% less of me now, after all). HbA1c down from 88 to 37 over that period. Regular morning fasting finger prick tests are averaging 5.2. Good luck with the diet, the weight will come off, and I hope you get the results your hoping for.

What if you don’t need to lose weight

 

[AS58]

Hello mhtyler
I followed the Newcastle Diet for 13 weeks from Oct 2023 to mid Jan 2024. I lost 63 pounds on the diet and one more lbs each week in the two weeks since. Back to "normal eating" now but with smaller portions especially the carbs (there is 25% less of me now, after all). HbA1c down from 88 to 37 over that period. Regular morning fasting finger prick tests are averaging 5.2. Good luck with the diet, the weight will come off, and I hope you get the results your hoping for.

What if you don’t need to lose weight

 

[Cheltonian31]

Hello AS58
I'm no medical expert, but my reading of the studies done at Newcastle University suggest that we all have a personal fat threshold. Once we reach that threshold our bodies store fat in our liver and pancreas and this can adversely affect our ability to cope with blood sugars. We all have a different threshold. Some people can be very overweight and not pass the threshold, others can be within the healthy BMI range and still pass their threshold. The studies have shown that for a proportion of people who pursued a very low calorie diet and quickly loose approx 15% of their starting weight, we are likely to drop below our theshold and, as a result, the liver fat reduces quickly (in weeks) and the pancreas can repair too (in months/years).
There are lots of caveats though. It's seems to be more effective in people who are within 6 years of their diagnosis and you have to maintain the weight loss over time (to keep from going back over your personal fat threshold). I also don't think it's clear where each of our personal fat thresholds are, hence the recommendation to loose 15% as a general rule of thumb.
I'm in no position to advocate this approach for everyone and I did discuss it with my GP before embarking, but there is lots of information about it on line, including a website at Newcastle university's site and quite a few You Tube videos and interviews to find out more.
I hope that helps.

 

[Leadinglights]

I'm not sure the Newcastle Diet is suitable for somebody taking insulin which @AS58 implies in their other post re a question about Lantus dose.