Diabetes in Sweden

[Sofie2]

To be fair, you also 'wondered if the British still consider themselves as a colonial power' when apart from me, (and the op) the others posting come from Sweden and Denmark.
Maybe that confused me?

The expression "colonial power" was meant as humor when addressing a neighbor (the UK). Forgot to put in a smiling/laughing icon after that expression. (I didn't check the background or the users of the forum). The only thing I'm sorry for with regard to post #13 is this sentence: "The man can be one of them ... Who knows?" I did not see at the writing moment that that could be stigmatizing. Are we done with this now?

By the way is LCHF, "low carb", at the official British recommendation list for nutrition for Diabetics?

 

[SunnyExpat]

The expression "colonial power" was meant as humor when addressing a neighbor (the UK). Forgot to put in a smiling/laughing icon after that expression. (I didn't check the background or the users of the forum). The only thing I'm sorry for with regard to post #13 is this sentence: "The man can be one of them ... Who knows?" I did not see at the writing moment that that could be stigmatizing. Are we done with this now?

By the way is LCHF, "low carb", at the official British recommendation list for nutrition for Diabetics?

No problem.
'I was shocked! ' has a different nuance without a smiley face after it. So I'm sure you can how you appeared

As to LCHF, no, we're probably much the same as Sweden and Norway.
(That's why the thread was started)

 

[Sofie2]

(My reckoning - Swedes are human , and subject to the same variations and contradictions we all are. But yes - more of them are likely to be LCHF eaters. Bless them.)

I hope not (that more and more are likely to be LCHF eaters). "Low carb" diet need more land to produce all the red meat (that could have been used to produce food for starving people in other countries), and the animals do need to go to the "toilet", (sorry, I didn't know how to express myself in English). Therefore people who use "low carb" pollute indirectly more. There are too few studies to document the long term effect of the "low carb" diet as well.

Norwegian:
" Medisinsk usikkerhet: Mye taler for at økt inntak av rødt kjøtt gir økt risiko for visse typer kreft. Eksperter frykter også at for mye fett kan gi økt fare for hjerte- karsykdommer.
Mye tyder på at et høyt proteininntak kan være belastende også på nyrene."

Translation: "Medical uncertainness: Increased intake of red meat gives an increased risk of certain types of cancer. Experts also fear that too much fat can give increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Evidence suggests that a high protein intake can be stressful even on the kidneys." from the Norwegian newspaper VG referring to specialists.

I'll post a link to the article so that you can translate it by google if interested.
http://www.vg.no/forbruker/mat-og-drikke/mat/krigen-om-lavkarbo-her-faar-du-oversikten/a/10038599/

This article isn't the only one I have. There are benefits and dangers with the "low carb" diet as the posted article says .

My point is only that people must stop presenting "low carb" as the god of our time. I know doctors who use "low carb" too, and have spoken freely to them that I don't support the idea that "low carb" is the best alternative in the long run.

Only future scientific, well controlled, studies can tell us what is best in the long run. After all the most important is to have a stable blood glucose per day. A comment about the doctor who didn't know his HbA1c level: That isn't necessary to know if you know that your BG is stable and well regulated. T2 people are advised to measure their BG regularly and many times a day when they change diet until they know that their BG has a stable pattern without peaks. In such periods it will be important to know HbA1c as well. Personally I prefer to always be updated on my long term sugar every third month.

When it comes to weight reduction and "low carb":
‘Medical research related to low-carbohydrate diets’, are well presented here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_research_related_to_low-carbohydrate_diets

The conclusion is that there is not scientific proof for saying the "low carb" diets have better effect on weight reduction then other diets.

 

[Sofie2]

As to LCHF, no, we're probably much the same as Sweden and Norway.

That's good to hear!

 

[SunnyExpat]

That's good to hear!

This was widely touted as the proof that Sweden leads the way in LCHF, and is the diet that most people there eat/recommend.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/swedish-expert-committee-low-carb-diet-effective-weight-loss

Never saw the connection myself.

 

[Sofie2]

This was widely touted as the proof that Sweden leads the way in LCHF, and is the diet that most people there eat/recommend.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/swedish-expert-committee-low-carb-diet-effective-weight-loss

Never saw the connection myself.

I don't know what to say. I think I will quote the following from the presented article: "There’s a great lack of knowledge today on what dietary guidelines are best for long-term health. We simply don’t know."

 

[SunnyExpat]

I don't know what to say. I think I will quote the following from the presented article: "There’s a great lack of knowledge today on what dietary guidelines are best for long-term health. We simply don’t know."

I think it depends which bits you want to read.
And more importantly, which bits you repeat.

 

[Roytaylorjasonfunglover]

Neighbour of Sweden here, so I can weigh in on our nordic brethren. I lchf is very big in Sweden compared to other countries. The diet is visible in media, even though the medical establishment is quite skeptical.

The swedes are hardcore when it comes to obeyeing the rules, on of the first gps,Annika Dahlqvist,in sweden that promoted lowcarb was charged with medical misconduct and put on trial, when she preached her diet to her patients, and to me that is quite crazy.

Sweden is also a country that has a lot of worldclass medical and pharmaceutical industry research. So their are more concerned with finding treatments that cure diabetes, pills, surgery, decvices, than actually talking about food.

Examples on how lowcarb is prevalent in swedish society. Perhaps the most famous lowcarbdoctor is Dietdoctor,com, and he is swedish. The former prime minister of Sweden, Gøran Persson, used to go on a lowcarb, and you often see celebrites,or known people talking about going on a lowcarb diet, it is much more alive in Swedens general culture than in my Country, Norway, there are loads of people that have gotten rich on making lchf coockbooks for instance. One olympic ski medallist, also talked about he won his golden medal after swtiching to lowcarb.

So in short, Sweden is the most lowcarbiest country I know of actually. So it is strange the person in question had not heard about lchf!

 

[SunnyExpat]

The juxtaposition of posts from the same countries, about the same subject is certainly interesting. It would be informative to read any more from those with first hand experience.

 

[Sofie2]

The juxtaposition of posts from the same countries, about the same subject is certainly interesting. It would be informative to read any more from those with first hand experience.

He, he, I don't want to be stout with regard to this topic, but I cannot deny that I get some thoughts when
Roytaylorjasonfunglover talkes about celebrities in Sweden. My thoughts are that perhaps the "low carb" diet is a trend among the highly educated, some sort of etiquette among some of the educated Swedish population. (I am educated myself, but have not found it OK for me to use the "low carb" diet). The first time I learned about "low carb" was at a restaurant in Rome some years ago. When we order a beef in Norway, we get a full plate with beef, vegetables, potatoes and sauce. When I did the same in Rome, I got a plate with one part of beef (only). That started a discussion about the "low carb" diet. (Educated Norwegians around the table).

If we shall find a solution to how well known and used "low carb" is in Sweden, I think we have to be presented for a survey that maps that in the general population in Sweden. Here in Norway the newspapers have written about it (the diet) from time to time. I will think that so they have done in Sweden as well.

I see that the study of "low carb" diet that you presented from Sweden is from 2013. I want to present another Swedish one from 2004, 2005 about the Mediterranean diet as a very good diet. I give the link to a Norwegian Website, so you have to google-translate it. I give the Norwegian version because it was easy to understand and not so much to read.

http://bramat.no/kosthold/livsstil/511-spis-middelhavskost-og-lev-lengre

The results (the whole study) of the 2004/2005 Swedish study about the Mediterranean diet:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3168601/?tool=pubmed

I have already given a link in another post here to a study presented in 2011 about the Mediterranean diet , but I present it again because it fits with the topic (what diet to chose) "The Effect of Mediterranean Diet on Metabolic Syndrome and its Components. A Meta-Analysis of 50 Studies and 534,906 Individuals".

http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1144261&issueno=11#tab1

I think that as long as we are "diabetic-consumers" of food, we will have to try to do the best judgments for how to live well with Diabetes by trying to look at different information and make informed choices. That's all I can say for now. It is not easy for us, when experts fight about what is the best diet.

By the way, I do not eat potatoes or other products that have starch in it.

 

[Totto]

Should anybody be interested in how sugar is seen in Sweden and happens to understand the language, this is for you. Sugar and cocaine are both addictive, fruit juice is pure sugar, don't eat sweets and sugar is bad even in small quantities.

http://www.tv4.se/efter-tio/klipp/stefan-branth-sockret-går-direkt-upp-till-belöningscentrum-3327821

 

[SunnyExpat]

Should anybody be interested in how sugar is seen in Sweden and happens to understand the language, this is for you. Sugar and cocaine are both addictive, fruit juice is pure sugar, don't eat sweets and sugar is bad even in small quantities.

http://www.tv4.se/efter-tio/klipp/stefan-branth-sockret-går-direkt-upp-till-belöningscentrum-3327821

That's a 'shockjock' news item, we have similar.
In fact it quotes the UK sugar tax doesn't it, so I guess you think we're leading the way?

 

[AloeSvea]

Tack sao mycket @Totto! Jag saknar Sverige ibland. But gee I love the sun in my own country! . (My genes and gut biome are better suited to more sunrays I fear!) Herr Svea also enjoys the sunlight here in the borderline subtropics, but hey!

When it comes to LCHF as a normal diet, and openly talking about the dangers of sugar - Sweden can't be bested. (And in interior design, and arguably in fashion and....but don't get me started or else I will get too homesick for my second country). (And I'm enjoying a gorgeous sunrise here in NZ as I key. The sun! All that glorious Vitamin D!)

And I REALLY miss my wonderful diabetes nurse, who was totally up on VCLDs and LCHF and even the much misunderstood but wonderful Paleo. (Hey baby, I've done them all!) The huge relief of not having to explain everything about low carbing to everyone. And, most of all - that big stocked box of Accu-chek test strips that arrived, no further questions asked, at my in-Sweden local supermarket every few months, as part of the once-you-have-spent-a-relatively-small-fortune-on-healthcare-it-is-free system.

Not so in NZ. I have to fight hard for test strips to be on prescription, and due to what I believe is a trade agreement with Korea - we are forced to use the much inferior CareSens meter and test strips. No diabetes nurses to speak of. And LCHF is starting to get going, but hardly anyone has heard of it.

OK - I'm homesick for Sweden!

(But gee, I am going to work in the light! And it will be light when I come home again. Sigh. The sacrifices we make for that lovely big orb in the sky....)

 

[AloeSvea]

Oh! And the wonderful public outdoor gyms! I miss those. Huge huge sigh. Those wonderful things.

I hate gym culture, but I love the great outdoors - hey - I'm a Kiwi - but I seriously love weight lifting for some odd reason. Sweden, with its great attitude to public health and promoting getting out into the often bleakly cold outdoors - has wonderful outdoor gyms in often beautiful public parks. And plenty in merely convenient ones.

What's not to love about those?

 

[SunnyExpat]

That is something I miss about the UK.
Exercise in the morning, Tai Chi in the park, tracks full of joggers, I was really only just getting into it when I left.
Then again, you can't venture into Central Park without falling over some group doing something either.