Time For Diabetes UK To Unplug Ears and Respond To Chorus Of Disapproval Demanding U-Turn.

By Jane Feinmann

How much longer can the charity Diabetes UK continue to provide advice on diet to the UK’s 3.9 million people with type 2 diabetes that is based on the discredited Seven Countries Study carried out by Ancel Keys back in the 1950/1960s? The urgency of this question cannot be overstated.

On the one hand, type 2 diabetes is almost certainly the most poorly managed chronic disorder of modern times. Two out of three people with the disorder fail to control their blood glucose despite GPs handing out diabetic medication amounting to 10 per cent of the NHS drugs budget.

The long-term consequences of this failure are staggering and tragic – both financially and at an individual level.

Every year, 80 per cent of the £10bn that the NHS spends on diabetes is used to treat the consequences of poorly controlled blood sugar: kidney and heart failure, increased risk of heart attack and stroke as well as blindness and nerve damage. Each week surgeons carry out more than 100 diabetes-related amputations – with 24,000 deaths every year because people with type 2 diabetes are not able to control their blood glucose.

A policy based on a discredited study
At the same time, there is virtually universal acceptance that type 2 diabetes is the classic life-style disorder where what you eat makes a crucial difference.

So why does Diabetes UK (with the support of both Nice and NHS Choices) persist in sticking to a recommendation that everyone with type 2 diabetes should continue to consume ‘a normal’ healthy diet’ – ie.one that’s low in fat and with plenty of daily starchy carbohydrates including bread, rice and pasta, based on the now discredited 1950/1960s Keys study.

Sure – as Diabetes UK continually points out – not everyone with type 2 diabetes is obese: some indeed are ‘skinny’. But eight out of ten people with the disorder have a BMI above 30 which suggests that a key factor is diet – with new evidence showing why there is no single BMI linked to type 2 diabetes.

‘We now know that individuals have different levels of tolerate to fat within the liver and pancreas,’ explains Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University’s Diabetes Research Group. ‘Only when a person has more fat than they can cope with does type 2 diabetes develop. What’s more, we now know that when they successfully lose weight and go below their personal fat threshold, their diabetes will disappear,’ he explains.

More on this demolition of DUK here http://healthinsightuk.org/2015/09/29/time-for-diabetes-uk-to-unplug-ears-and-respond-to-chorus-of-disapproval-demanding-u-turn/

And we all know why DUK promotes the diet of slow death for diabetics MONEY! from their big pharma sponsors.

Sure – as Diabetes UK continually points out – not everyone with type 2 diabetes is obese: some indeed are ‘skinny’.

So they do admit us skinny's exist then   I remember when I was first diagnosed I rang the DUK care line because all the bumph I received was for low fat weight loss diets which was as much use as a plastic poker for me, I spoke with a very nice lady who strangely went silent for a few seconds when I told my situation, when she gathered he composure I was informed they did not have much information in my case but would forward me some literature I thanked her and true to her word a letter arrived from DUK three days later.  On opening the envelope I was underwhelmed to say the least it was one badly photocopied A4 sheet which just pointed to some vague research nothing of help at all 

Just put Eddies post on the blog interestingly thanks to Zoe Harcombe I was directed to a DUK blog post by Douglas Twenefour, worth bearing mind if you get any resistance from your HCPs about LC diets

Douglas Twenefour wrote:Diabetes UK is not against diets such as the low-carb diet. The low-carb diet is one of the many diets that we have reviewed in our nutritional guidelines to healthcare professionals so that they can support people with diabetes who want to try it.

If someone with Type 2 diabetes needs to lose weight, we know that the low-carb diet can be an effective way to do this and control blood glucose. If you have Type 1 diabetes, while there is not much published evidence for the low-carb diet in Type 1, we are aware of anecdotal reports from people with Type 1 diabetes who have reduced their carb intake to control their blood glucose levels, reduce their insulin doses or lose weight.

If you’d like to try a diet pattern such as the low-carb diet, we strongly recommend that you speak to your healthcare team. This is because, for many people, a low-carb diet will require support to adjust diabetes medication and will need more frequent blood glucose testing. Also, people who already have diabetes complications such as kidney disease may need to follow extra cautionary advice not to increase their intake of certain nutrients such as protein.

In some cases, following a low-carb diet may also be unnecessary. For people who are underweight and need to gain weight, especially the elderly with poor appetite or younger people with Type 1, the priority may be to eat more of the foods you like, rather than cutting out certain food groups. This could mean eating more fats, protein and carbs. If this applies, your diabetes team can help you make sure you are getting enough calories from your diet and adjust your medications to control your blood glucose levels.

https://blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=4318

He goes on to say.

"So are Diabetes UK recipes not low-carb?
We recognise individual preferences. That’s why we have provided a wide range of recipes with different macronutrient mixes in our Recipe Finder, to help people make informed choices.
We currently have more than 90 recipes that contain less than 30g of carb per portion, with about 20 recipes that contain less than 5g carbs per portion, so there is plenty of choice for people who want to follow a low-carb diet.

As a diet containing less than 130g carbohydrate per day is classified as low-carb, it is also possible for some people to have a meal from a supposedly ‘high-carb’ recipe, but modify the rest of their meals during the day to achieve a total daily carbohydrate intake that is still classified as low-carb. We also expect that people can tweak some of the recipes to meet their individual needs and nutritional goals."

130 grams low carb? not in my opinion. This is an old Navajo Indian trick played by the antis. Kick a low carber and when it turns pear shaped bellow but I'm a low carber. That being said, the antis have lost totally and utterly, the game is up and they know it. We are witnessing the last dying death throes of a soon to be extinct beast, the low carb anti. Everyday the 'Force' gets stronger.

graham64 wrote:Just put Eddies post on the blog interestingly thanks to Zoe Harcombe I was directed to a DUK blog post by Douglas Twenefour, worth bearing mind if you get any resistance from your HCPs about LC diets

Douglas Twenefour wrote:Diabetes UK is not against diets such as the low-carb diet. The low-carb diet is one of the many diets that we have reviewed in our nutritional guidelines to healthcare professionals so that they can support people with diabetes who want to try it.

If someone with Type 2 diabetes needs to lose weight, we know that the low-carb diet can be an effective way to do this and control blood glucose. If you have Type 1 diabetes, while there is not much published evidence for the low-carb diet in Type 1, we are aware of anecdotal reports from people with Type 1 diabetes who have reduced their carb intake to control their blood glucose levels, reduce their insulin doses or lose weight.

If you’d like to try a diet pattern such as the low-carb diet, we strongly recommend that you speak to your healthcare team. This is because, for many people, a low-carb diet will require support to adjust diabetes medication and will need more frequent blood glucose testing. Also, people who already have diabetes complications such as kidney disease may need to follow extra cautionary advice not to increase their intake of certain nutrients such as protein.

In some cases, following a low-carb diet may also be unnecessary. For people who are underweight and need to gain weight, especially the elderly with poor appetite or younger people with Type 1, the priority may be to eat more of the foods you like, rather than cutting out certain food groups. This could mean eating more fats, protein and carbs. If this applies, your diabetes team can help you make sure you are getting enough calories from your diet and adjust your medications to control your blood glucose levels.

https://blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=4318

Yeah right, your "healthcare team" will just warn you off.

You could also point out that low carbing is actually listed, although not recommended, on the SIGN guidelines - the Scottish equivalent of NICE - thanks to Katharine Morrison.

Eddie wrote:
130 grams low carb? not in my opinion. This is an old Navajo Indian trick played by the antis. Kick a low carber and when it turns pear shaped bellow but I'm a low carber. That being said, the antis have lost totally and utterly, the game is up and they know it. We are witnessing the last dying death throes of a soon to be extinct beast, the low carb anti. Everyday the 'Force' gets stronger.

Well it IS low compared to the Government's recommended 230 - 300g, but still far too high for most of us, and a metric shitload of nondiabetics too.

I remember a time when one of the most militant antis on usenet - a young fit slim insulin injecting Type 1 with a Personal Trainer and a roomful of gym equipment - was finally persuaded to list his daily diet. It only amounted to 150g, and not nearly as many Heart Healthy Whole Grains as he was dictating that Type 2s needed to eat.

I'm leery that there's still time for them to mount a backlash or three before current advice finally crumbles.