Have your say about anything of concern to the diabetes community. This is your platform to make complaints and discuss the best way to solve them. We aim to assist you in any way.
I wrote to DUK about the dropping of the AHEAD study, because it has been found that the conventional dietary advice doesn't work. I suggested they should look into LCHF again I got a reply from them saying that as they are evidence based, it's unlikely that they would ever recommend a high fat diet. I got furious and here's what I have sent back to them
>If you claim that a high fat diet exacerbates cardio-vascular disease, you are NOT evidence based. The "heart healthy diet" belief begun by Ancel Keys is based on falsified data as is well known to anyone who has actually looked at it. He studied 22 countries and discarded all the data that didn't fit in with his beliefs. His study was published as the 7 countries study. Please open your eyes and look at the mass of evidence which shows clearly that restricting carbs is the best way by far to control diabetes. There's evidence from Sweden as well as the USA, that a high fat diet in the absence of carbohydrates is perfectly safe. It's only when you combine the high fats with carbohydrates that problems arise. That's been known since the Steffanson/Anderson Study in New York in 1926!!!!. It takes courage to examine data and DUK DOESN'T have enough of it. Instead the orthodoxy, which is outdated is being followed. It's not right just because a lot of people say it is and it's in the textbook. Books have been known to be wrong before. Galileo suffered for that And a lot of published material is sponsored by pharmaceutical companies for profit. In the past diabetics were taught to carb count [not just insulin pump users] That has gone in favour of a more pharmacological approach.[ all pharmaceuticals have side effects. some Really do cause heart attacks and end up being withdrawn after they have killed enough people. Remember Avandia!] I realise that there will always be patients who won't take things seriously and will carry on with a dangerous lifestyle. However there are plenty who WOULD if they knew what to do keep healthy. How can they do so with the rubbish that passes for advice. You have the AHEAD study in front of you showing quite clearly that the conventional diet approach DOES NOT WORK. How about following that evidence? Incidentally which evidence are you using to show that fat is harmful? does it actually exist? Have you checked? Sorry if I'm rude, but I'm furious! so many people are being harmed buy the stupid low fat advice. Try reading Gary Taubes, Richard Bernstein, Mary &Dan Eades, John Briffa and the others. Hana Rous<
Hanadr Grandmother of Amelie and Joshua.
T2 since July 2003 Stroke survivor using 2 x 500mg Metformin and reduced carbs last HbA1c 5.4% August 2009 Feb 2010 5.1% Way hey!!
My name is Patch, and I am a (recovering) Carboholic. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. If you don't start somewhere,you're gonna go nowhere. — Bob Marley
Speak loudly and through a megaphone, don't forget that they are all STONE DEAF !
You have managed to precis exactly the feelings and belief of most on here, IMHO.
It will be only by ignoring the downright stupid dangerous advice given by the discredited NHS and DUK lackies and getting on with our own choices that we can collectively get better control.
Like you, I am volcanic at the total stupidity at the so-called medical profession in the pay of the pharmas.
Up the revolution !
Diabetes Popular Front ( Suffolk Division )
Heart transplant , Papworth 1994 , 19 years extra life so far ! No statins, chol 6.2 %, suits me, HBA1C 41 fine Met / Glic to meter. VLCHF, whisky vodka red wine ,can't stand white. EAT when hungry, Nature's Way !
Type 2, Latest HbA1c Jun 2012 31 mmol 4.98%, Apr 2012 35 mmol 5.3%, Dec 2011 11.3%, Mar 2011 8.3% Cholesterol: Apr 2012 Tot/HDL Ratio 2.79, Jul 2012 Tot/HDL Ratio 3.33 Diet: 60g per day LCHF regime. Meds: 3 x 500g Metformin
I doubt if anyone will have the courage to answer that Hana! Unfortunately. I just wish that all the HCPs who diasagree with the "pary- line" and who know better could find an effective voice and weren't too scared to come out and sate their convictions .
No that I blame them of course. They would ruin heir own careers without making one iota of difference and would then not be in a position to help others.
T2 - Diagnosed 8 August 2012 Metformin SR 1g per day - Multivits - VitD3 - Olive Leaf Extract - Omega 3,6,9 LCHF diet - Eat to my meter - 3 Month HBA1C = 5.7
I wrote the following to the Hounslow group leader & dietitians:
News is coming out of a US long term diet study - a conventional low fat diet with exercise - being abandoned after 11 years because of futility. It "failed to provide any benefit in terms of cardiovascular outcomes." This is being discussed on the forum.
As you know, my own experience, now 12 years, that after 8 years of conventional diet I was suffering debilitating complications that were reversed by adopting a low carb diet, with a corresponding increase in fats.
There is now scientific proof that the Duk-NHS low fat diet does not offer any benefits. Meanwhile, there is conversely no proof that a low carb/high fat diet causes health problems, & reports are coming through from Sweden & Exeter of the real benefits of low carb/high fat.
Have there been any reports of improvements in health following my presentation to the group? And have there been any thoughts regarding where we can get our energy if we cut carbs to 130-150 g per day, while also drastically cutting fat & oil consumption.
Replies to date:
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Type 2 in 2000, 3x500 metformin, reduced carb diet HBA Jan 08 - 6.7, July 09 - 6.2, January 10 - 5.9, October 12 - 6.3 No diabetic complications.
The PS does not consider the increased fat aspects of a low fat diet. Also:
For the purpose of this position statement, the term “low-carbohydrate” is used as a collective term to describe any amount of carbohydrate restriction which is less than the dietary reference value of 45% of total energy.
Nor does it take into account its own references (11, 13) to the 44 month Swedish trials, nor ref. 18: which was a study of the effects of the Atkins diet:
18. Worth J, Soran H (2007). Is there a role for low carbohydrate diets in the management of type 2 diabetes? Q J Med 100; 659–663
In summary, low-CHO diets of 6–12 months duration have no adverse effect on CVD risk factors, and show no major adverse effects to preclude their use. Meaningful weight loss is achieved, but this does not appear to be sustained beyond 6 months. Long-term trials are required to assess their safety, and studies are awaited to define the role of such diets within patients with diabetes. In the study by Samaha et al., 39% had diabetes, and the mean fasting glucose level decreased more in the low-CHO group than in the low-fat group (−9 ± 19% vs. 2 ± 7%, p = 0.02) at 6 months.13 A 16-week pilot diet intervention trial also demonstrated that a low-CHO, ketogenic diet can improve glycaemic control in obese type 2 DM patients (mean BMI 42), such that diabetes medications were discontinued or reduced in 17 of the 21 participants. However, to date there has been no randomized controlled trial in type 2 DM patients and health care professionals remain wary of their use, particularly as standard dietary advice from Diabetes UK does not support this approach.
I did email Ms Worth (who is on the DUK committee that reviewed the scientific data) but got no reply.
Type 2 in 2000, 3x500 metformin, reduced carb diet HBA Jan 08 - 6.7, July 09 - 6.2, January 10 - 5.9, October 12 - 6.3 No diabetic complications.
I read the document. It makes several assumptions about people with Type 2 (I didn't read the Type 1 bits) that don't apply to me. 1. We are all overweight and need to loose weight - ok I'll put my hand up to this one, with a BMI of 28, I need to loose a stone or two. 2. We all have high blood pressure - I don't, my machine tells me that I have 'optimal' blood pressure at around 120/70. 3. We all have high cholesterol - my total was 5.2 so an endo put me on statins, which took it down to 3.0 which I felt was too low, so stopped the statins (haven't had a test since). 4. We are all heading for a heart attack and have blocked arteries - I took part in some medical research where I had my heart CT and MRI scanned and put under pressure, the cardiologist said that I have no calcium deposits and there is nothing wrong with my heart.
They seem to make more of problems with our hearts than what we really have problems with which is glucose control from our wonky pancreas. Yes, I take a high dose of metformin along with a small dose of gliclazide, but it is the amount of carbs you eat that makes a difference to your HbA1c.
Denise
Type 2 Dx Nov 2007 Metformin 3 x 850mg, Gliclazide 40mg HbA1c 7.4 - 01/10, 6.4 - 08/10, 6.0 - 12/10, 5.6 - 04/11, 5.4 - 12/11, 5.4 (36) - 01/13 Wheat intolerant, Vit D deficient - taking supplements
