Prediabetes When/how Do I Stop Newcastle Diet?

TryingHard

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I've had a sweet tooth all my 53 years. I was diagnosed pre-diabetic six years ago. And for the last six years the pattern has been: 1) I incrementally improve my diet... 2) I return for another A1c test (hopeful that I've "moved the needle" a little bit).... and 3) I'm STILL about 6.2%. It has been very frustrating.

Some background: at 53, BMI of 24, exercise regularly, and (after five years of improvement) eat a better diet than 95%.... I don't really fit the standard profile About two months ago by blood pressure started bouncing all over the map. 50 point swings each day, measured carefully at rest. Faced with the proposition of going on blood pressure medication AND hovering next to being diabetic, I decided to try Newcastle Diet. (I figured it couldn't hurt, and it might really help.)

After four weeks at 800 kcal /day and a complete fast for 16 hours each day, I've lost 16 pounds (10% of my weight) and my blood pressure problem is gone. When I started my fasting blood glucose was 5.5 -6.0 every morning. Now its 4.7- 5.0, but there's no real trend downwards.

I have two questions.

1) How can I tell when to stop the diet? should my fasting numbers get to a certain level? Is there a "glucose stress test" I can do at home? My understanding is the A1c tests the three month average... So that won't really help. BOTTOM LINE: how can I tell when I've cleaned my liver and pancreas of what I am sure was 40+ years of accumulated lipids??

2) I've decided I want to maintain my current weight. (BMI of 21.5) Is is there a trick to leaving a reduced calorie diet without increasing weight? The obvious thing is to simply increase very slowly and let my body adjust. Does anyone have experience or tips how to do this... especially for someone in my somewhat unusual case?

Thank you!
 

andcol

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
3,176
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hi

there are lots of threads of people on the Newcastle diet or similar low calorie escapades and how they came off them. For me I slowly increased my intake levels before I reached my target (equivalent to gentle breaking instead of slamming my foot on the break) so that I was stable at my target.
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi- various things. I wouldn't worry about your fasting level as that can be affected by the liver dump overnight. More useful is the 2 hour post meal level. The important thing as a diabetic (or pre-diabetic) is to think carbs rather than calories. I would move to a low-carb diet as a long-term lifestyle (not as a 'diet'). This will help both blood sugar and weight as carbs are the main problem and not the fats you eat. The ND may be good but I think a low-carb diet is more suited to us and for the long-term.
 

TryingHard

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi- various things. I wouldn't worry about your fasting level as that can be affected by the liver dump overnight. More useful is the 2 hour post meal level. The important thing as a diabetic (or pre-diabetic) is to think carbs rather than calories. I would move to a low-carb diet as a long-term lifestyle (not as a 'diet'). This will help both blood sugar and weight as carbs are the main problem and not the fats you eat. The ND may be good but I think a low-carb diet is more suited to us and for the long-term.

Absolutely. Newcastle is not a long-term solution. The whole point as I understand it is to put your body into "starvation" mode so that you remove the fat that has been stored in your liver and pancreas. And, that by doing that, diabetes can be cured. The theory being that diabetes is actually a symptom of a fatty liver and pancreas.

Hi

there are lots of threads of people on the Newcastle diet or similar low calorie escapades and how they came off them. For me I slowly increased my intake levels before I reached my target (equivalent to gentle breaking instead of slamming my foot on the break) so that I was stable at my target.

thank you. That makes sense to me. My big question is how do you know when to stop the diet? Is it by fasting glucose level? Is it by the "two-hour post meal" (if so, what numbers are good?) Is by percentage body fat? BMI? or you just do it blindly for eight weeks?
 

andcol

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
3,176
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
My big question is how do you know when to stop the diet? Is it by fasting glucose level? Is it by the "two-hour post meal" (if so, what numbers are good?) Is by percentage body fat? BMI? or you just do it blindly for eight weeks?

How about as you approach your target weight. If you get your fasting and post-prandials sorted but still not down to where you want to be in the trouser size why stop? The more you keep going the more buffer zone you have to that fat threshold