Going against NHS advice

[test_positive]

Hi!

I was diagnosed with T2 in June with an HbA1c of 80 (9.5%). First thing I did after being scared to death by reading the various leaflets from the NHS and DUK was to get myself a meter and start testing. I soon discovered that it was the carbohydrates that impacted by BG levels hugely - having a wholemeal bagel shot it up to 14. I was already eating low GI foods in preference to high GI. Reading other things on the web, I reduced my carbohydrate intake and started losing weight at an alarming rate. I guess I wasn't getting enough energy from a low carbohydrate and low fat diet.

I have been on a high carbohydrate, low fat diet (as recommended by NHS and DUK) for many years due to high cholesterol. I took the risk and opted for a low carbohydrate diet with high fat - with the high fat to get energy. My weight has stabilised now and my BMI is 22. I don't eat bread, cereal, rice, potatoes, fruit or sugar. But I do eat full fat yoghurt, double cream, butter, full fat cheese, meat, vegetables, nuts, eggs, salad.

I have only recently cut out fruit and my most recent HbA1c was 49 (6.6%) which astonished my doctor. What astonished me was that my trigliceride level dropped to the lowest it has been since it was measured 10 years ago!🙂 My ratio of HDL to triglicerides went from 3.3 (heart disease risk) to 0.9 (low risk). And that is with eating lots of saturated fats I have avoided all these years!

The low carbohydrate, high fat diet is agianst the advice of the NHS and DUK. But the results for me show that it can be very effective in some cases in reducing BG levels significantly - and also in reducing the harmful cholesterols (LDL and triglicerides).

Am I risking my health by going against the standard advice of avoiding saturated fats and having statchy carbohydrates at every meal?

 

[Northerner]

Hi, welcome to the forum 🙂 I think that the old conventional advice is gradually becoming discredited, although a lot of healthcare professionals and organisations do still cling on to the notion that low-fat is the way to go. Look at all the so-called 'healthy' products that still line the shelves where fat has simply been replaced by sugar or salt.

What you are doing clearly works well for you and as long as you are happy with it (and your doctor is happy with your numbers, as is obviously the case!) I can't see why you shouldn't continue. I know we have a few members who have had similar success on this type of regime.

Well done on taking control and turning things around so well! 🙂

 

[robert@fm]

This just goes to show, there's never any "one size fits all" solution.

Welcome to the forums! 🙂

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forums test_positive 🙂

Some excellent results you have achieved there!

 

[test_positive]

Welcome to the forums test_positive 🙂

Some excellent results you have achieved there!

Thank you all for your welcome and comments. It's great that there is support like this available.

I should have said in my original post that my doctor has been extremely supportive of what I'm doing. Especially seeing the results. It's only the general NHS/DUK advice (in the various leaflets - the 'healthy eating plate' and so on) that I'm going against.

As you say Robert, this disease is definitely not one sizefits all.

 

[Northerner]

Thank you all for your welcome and comments. It's great that there is support like this available.

I should have said in my original post that my doctor has been extremely supportive of what I'm doing. Especially seeing the results. It's only the general NHS/DUK advice (in the various leaflets - the 'healthy eating plate' and so on) that I'm going against.

As you say Robert, this disease is definitely not one sizefits all.

I know exactly what you mean, my auntie was diagnosed recently and I nearly choked when I saw the leaflet on 'healthy eating' she was sent 😱 It just defies common sense!

 

[mcdonagh47]

Hi!

Am I risking my health by going against the standard advice of avoiding saturated fats and having statchy carbohydrates at every meal?

Time will tell.😉

Have you reduced your calorie intake as well ?

 

[HOBIE]

All my life I delt with CARBS & not ever bothered with cals. I get annoyed with food packets with cals being in bold letters. Well done for sorting yourself 😎

 

[Otenba]

Am I risking my health by going against the standard advice of avoiding saturated fats and having statchy carbohydrates at every meal?

You are very correct; carbohydrates are the main reason why BGs rise (sugar is just fast releasing carbohydrates at the end of the day). Fruit has natural sugars hence the strong BG reaction from eating it.

You are risking your health by going against dietary advice, but it is your body at the end of the day. If by starchy carbs you mean things that are Low GI, then that may be due to the carbohydrates being slow enough for your body to handle without too much trouble.

Best wishes with every thing. I know it's hard.

 

[trophywench]

Hang on Otenba, depends which specific dietary advice you decide to go against.

If it's entirely potty advice which defies belief - eg the inference that a human being actually NEEDS to eat starchy carbs in the first place, then you wouldn't be risking your life. Or 'if it's healthy for your heart, that proves it's healthy for a diabetic'

You might be (risking your health) if you followed it though!

If the advice is to watch your portion sizes, overall intake, have a varied diet and eat to your meter (yes there ARE living practising NHS dietitians who would like us to do that) (well at least ONE anyway) - then if you ignore that bit of advice, it could indeed be Too Risky.

 

[DeusXM]

You are risking your health by going against dietary advice, but it is your body at the end of the day.

How?

As a result of going against the 'official' advice, this particular member now has a nearly non-diabetic A1C, a healthy BMI and has reduced their cholesterol to an incredibly healthy level.

The diet they were on previously seemed to do the complete opposite to that.

Again, they're at a healthy weight, with healthy blood sugars, with a health cholesterol level. So how exactly are they risking their health?

 

[Caroline]

I recently did a DESMOND course and the advice there was we need some carbs and fats (some fats like olive oil and rape seed oil are good for us in moderation) but cut them down. The advice was instead of two potatos, it is better to have just one and an extra portion of vege.

 

[Mark T]

I recently did a DESMOND course and the advice there was we need some carbs and fats (some fats like olive oil and rape seed oil are good for us in moderation) but cut them down. The advice was instead of two potatos, it is better to have just one and an extra portion of vege.

I think that they are sticking their heads in the sand here.

From wiki, potatoes are about 79 kcal per 100g. Say you decided to cut in it half - you would need to find the other 38 kcal from somewhere (assuming you are maintaining).

Broccoli is 34 kcal per 100g - so you have to eat twice as much weight in broccoli as the potato you have dropped. Although I don't mind broccoli, this doesn't exactly appeal to me!

 

[test_positive]

Time will tell.😉

Have you reduced your calorie intake as well ?

I think that when I first started with the meter and realised the huge effect carbohydrates were having on my BG levels I really panicked. The nurse told me to reduce portion sizes but even with 40g of muesli (hardly enough to see in the bottom of a bowl) my BG level went way over 10. I was scared to eat anything especially as all these years I had been avoiding fats. What I've done slowly is to increase the amount of fat I eat - and even (re) learn to enjoy it! Nothing better than an English breakfast (without the baked beans or fried bread of course).

I am sure I eat less calories than I used to and I also do more exercise. But I think my weight has stabilised again - at a healthier level as I was previously BMI 26. I read somewhere that the less weight you are, the less you need to eat because there is less body mass to maintain. Also, the less weight you are, the less calories consumed by exercise. So I think that's why you stabilise in weight at some point.

If I hadn't replaced a reasonable amount of the carbohydrates with fat then I think I would be an unhealthy weight by now - I mean with a BMI that is too low.