My Results with theNewcastle Diet

[Neo_USA]

I have been trying to keep up with this thread. So much information in such a short time, and I am unable to give it my full attention right now.

Firstly, well done @Neo_USA for making the decision to follow the Newcastle diet. I appreciate your anxiety about the BG levels. I was concerned that you felt ill, and also worried that you may not be getting support and monitoring by medical team.

@Andrew Colvin has recently had success with Newcastle diet. He gives excellent advice. I am three years post ND, and although I am still around 5 stones overweight, I have had non-diabetic BG since. Even when I do daft things and overload on high carb, rubbish food.

I wonder if some of your symptoms are due to anxiety regarding the BG readings? Also, being so eager to get BG control so early in the diet? Although when I did ND I stuck to the meal replacements with no deviation from the plan for 9 weeks, I realise that level of perfectionism was probably not essential,. As long as you keep the carbs low, it is the calorie reduction that matters. So, if you are exercising a lot, have some more veg. Also, instead of the excessive exercising, would you benefit by replacing one exercise session a day with some mindfulness relaxation? Just take time to be still, calm, and relax.

Wishing you well
Pipp

Thanks for the kind words and information.

Its definitely not anxiety as I've been to the hospital before because of hypoglycemia from excessive exercise. I can feel when it starts to happen because my hands feel tingly and weak, my heart rate picks up and sometimes beats a little weird, dizziness, along with a couple of other symptoms.

After coming off your ND and you started eating more calories did you see a corresponding increase in your BG as well?

 

[Pipp]

Thanks for the kind words and information.

Its definitely not anxiety as I've been to the hospital before because of hypoglycemia from excessive exercise. I can feel when it starts to happen because my hands feel tingly and weak, my heart rate picks up and sometimes beats a little weird, dizziness, along with a couple of other symptoms.

After coming off your ND and you started eating more calories did you see a corresponding increase in your BG as well?

There, you have said it, 'excessive exercise', maybe ease up a bit? Just walking is fine, especially if you spend a lot of time at your desk. I would just have some yogurt or cheese or some nuts if BG went too low.

No, I have not had any increased BG outside of the non-diabetes range, even though I have been eating all sorts of carbs. I have been taken off Metformin medication four months ago. BG has been this good for 3 years. As long as my next HbA1c test is still all good my doc is considering taking me off the diabetes register. I am not sure I agree that is the right thing to do, but whatever is decided, I will remain vigilant. I do have other health conditions and disabling impairments, so I am monitored by GP regularly.

I don't consider myself 'cured'. There was a long debate on here some time ago about that. I think my diabetes has been reversed. I called it 'post-diabetic'. Whether that continues remains to be seen. At least I have put off complications by 3 years, so far.

Have to close now. It is past bedtime here. Your thread is interesting and may inspire others. We learn from each other, so please keep posting. Hope you stay well.

 

[Indy51]

I don't think it really matters which kind of oil. The direct quote from the Optifast site is:

"One teaspoon of vegetable oil (olive oil or canola oil are fine) per day is recommended with your vegetables to decrease the risk of developing gall stones."

Personally I'd opt for a cold-pressed extra virgin oil like olive or coconut because I think the highly processed industrial seed oils (esp. canola) are to be avoided, but that's JMO.

 

[andcol]

That actually does bring me some relief. Thanks for sharing that.

There is one thing I'm wondering though. I have read that even non diabetics can get into the 10s after eating something really sugary. Do you feel that is true?

One of my friends we checked him 45 minutes after eating instant oatmeal that had sugar and his reading was 175 (9.7). Granted that it was 45 minutes, but I immediately felt like there was something wrong and he needed to go get checked.

I've seen a couple of other studies that suggests that non-diabetics pretty much never go over 140 regardless of what they eat. The information out there is confusing and conflicting.

yes it is true - seen it with my own eyes they can go up to 10. His 9.7 is perfectly natural. As for the information it isn't quite the complete story if you look at the 95th percentiles they are up over 10 - That is an ideal but given the diet we all eat nowadays (and I dont me diebetics) Im not surprised everyones pancreas' arent stressed constantly. I think the key point is that there is a level that if the body is working correctly you will not go over. I read on a different thread that a consultant told someone that that was 11.5 or something like that. I think that must be the kidney flushing point but not sure of the truth in that but it does seem to be the case.

 

[Neo_USA]

Hey, guys. I just want to give an update.

I'm starting week 4 of the diet and to be very honest it's not as rough as it seemed at the beginning. It's just a matter of allowing your body to adjust.

Since starting the diet I've lost 1st and my FBG has stabilized around 4.6. Earlier I was getting much lower FBG because of all of the intensive exercise I was doing but I trimmed that back a bit.

One thing I have noticed is that my 2-Hour Post Prandial has not changed even though my FBG has gone down significantly. After a good sized meal I'm always around 5.2-5.5.

I'm not sure what that would imply other than I still have impaired tolerances and despite having low FBG and pre-meal blood glucose that I can't hide from a 2-Hour Post Prandial.

I'm only guessing here but since I'm eating a non-starchy vegetable diet and still getting 5.2-5.5 that if I return to a diet with more carbs that it'll just be much higher regardless.

It's giving me a lot to think about such as possibly just pursuing a vegetarian or a minimal pescetarian lifestyle here on out.

Another thing that has me bothered is the slower rate of weight loss. I was averaging about 1 pound a day when I was doing rigorous exercise. Since trimming that back it's fallen to about 1 pound every 3 days. I did set a goal weight and now it seems like it's a lot farther away.

I'll report back soon on my progress.

Thanks.

 

[Neo_USA]

Thanks to everyone for helping through this. I want to supply the latest update and sorry it took so long I wanted to wait for the results of my recent blood tests before posting which I received just today.

Below is a breakdown of my experience before, during, and after NC.

Before:
Weight: 241 lbs
Resting BP: 140/80
Resting HR: 86 BPM
FBG: 5.3 mmol
2-Hour: 5.4 mmol
AST/ALT: 60/90
A1C: 6.6%

During (average and final result through the end):
Weight: 195 lbs
Resting BP: 120/75
Resting HR: 75 BPM
FBG: 4.4 mmol
2-Hour: 5.4 mmol

After:
Weight: 185 lbs
Resting BP: 115/70
Resting HR: 65 BPM
FBG: 4.4 mmol
2-Hour: 5.6 mmol
AST/ALT: 15/18
A1C: 5.2%

With results like this I believe in the NC diet. I spent a total of 5 weeks on the diet and came off of it at the start of week 6. I could have continued on but what I've noticed is that my weight loss seemed to have plateaued. I took that as a sign that my body was trying to tell me something so I came off of it gradually. I think this was on Oct 8 and since then I've returned to normal eating habits (minus all the bad stuff).

When I came off I weighed in at 195 lbs. I currently weigh 185 lbs as I'm continuing a healthy lifestyle in diet and exercise and my new goal weight is 175 lbs where I will try to keep myself.

My liver enzymes improved dramatically as well (AST/ALT). The range for a normal reading for both was 1-44 meaning that when it was 60/90 I was way above the "normal range". The diet helped to bring it way down back to within normal ranges. I didn't ask for my cholesterol or triglyceride count but I'm sure to find out when I do the follow up visit with my doctor in two days.

I am so ecstatic pleased with the results and have no intention of returning back to my bad habits.

Purely out of curiosity I tried the home OGTT where you eat an 8 ounce potato or 8 ounces of white rice. What I can conclusively say is that I am of course still diabetic. I tried an 8 ounce potato and measured my blood sugar over 2 hours. It reached as high as 10.3 mmol and settled at 8.8 mmol after 2 hours.

What else I've learned beside that is I'll never try that again, but I'm happy at the prospect that I may be staving off pharmaceutical therapy for many years if I keep this up.

However, I am now considering asking my doctor to put me on Metphormin because I can't stand the idea that I'll never be able to enjoy a doughnut or several slices of pizza ever. Maintaining a strict diet and exercise program is simple to do over a period of months, but I can't wrap my brain around that for the rest of my life not being able to indulge in simple pleasures occasionally.

What are your thoughts concerning this?

Also, I'm considering doing a full write up about my experience and posting it on the boards with detailed information concerning my food choices before, during, and after the diet in addition to my exercise routine and other information. Would that be helpful for anyone else considering the NC diet?

Thanks, everyone!

 

[douglas99]

Hi
good results there.
I'm on week 4, and feeling the same problems with exercise that you were.
Similar results all round really, and I seem to have plateaued on the weight reduction in week 4, after a 17 lb loss, to 155lb.
My stomach size has reduced though and the belt has to have gone down two notches.
My ALT level was always low, but has gone up into the 40's last test, so I'm hoping it is back down again now as well.
My cholesterol is good now as well.

It would be good if you do write up your experience, apart from the direct effects of the diet, I think it's altered the way I eat, and I don't need the food I thought I did, so the re-education of my habits is a beneficial effect as well.

 

[vit90]

Maybe cut back on the exercise?
800 calories leaves a large deficit to fit if you are burning a lot of calories.
The original diet was for patients post bariatric surgery because of obesity, so wasn't going to be targeted at very active people.

This makes a lot of sense to me. The Newcastle Diet is really aimed at fairly overweight people so they have fat reserves (including the target visceral fat that is thought to be clogging up their liver and pancreas) which are steadily being used up. If you are doing a lot of exercise it may simply be too much; have you estimated your exercise calorie consumption? My own estimate is that the Newcastle diet is aiming for not in excess of 1700 calorie deficit per day (2500 normal - 800) so if you are burning, say, 3500 calories daily through your exercising your deficit could be 2700 - which will probably be too much. I'm doing frequent (5-6 times a day) short bouts of moderate exercise to get my heart going and a little out of breath and this seems to work well.

 

[vit90]

Out of interest what is your BMI? Not sure you have mentioned your height so we can calculate this.