"Newcastle" Diet

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Hey all,

So, I'm going to try this for a few reasons.

1. It's pretty much the diet I live on when manic, so I know I can do it.
2. I can't seem to get my BG under 10 or 11 (in fact it's gone back up since hitting the 10-point-something the other day).
3. The metformin tablets from my GP are irritating my bowel and it hurts, and that's on 500mg, before I move up to the 2000mg/day that she wants me on.
4. I was planning to do something similar before my T2 diagnosis (although I probably would have allowed myself a few more calories to avoid triggering my mania), therefore, I have loads of Slim-Fast in the house.
5. The Doctor won't prescribe me test strips, and I really can't afford them myself, which makes it impossible to trial and error foods, and I don't want to find out six months later I'm doing the wrong thing. So, with the ones that I managed to scrape around and buy, I'm just going to make sure that the diet is working and keeping my BG low.

Even if it does nothing more than loses me some weight, that can only help the Diabetes.

So... who out there has tried this? Did it work for you?

I will not mistake anything that is posted in reply as advice. I accept full and complete responsibility for whatever I do.

Thanks,

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
For those who may be interested, today was the first day of the diet.

Breakfast: 1 Pink Lady Apple (70)
Lunch: Shake (230)
Dinner: Low Fat Noodles (161), Blueberries (30) w/25g Greek Style Natural Yoghurt. (35)
Drinks: 1pt water (0), 2 x coffee w/dash of skimmed milk (10), diet coke (2)

Total Calories: 538

I have felt quite hungry, but not terribly lightheaded. I suspect that the hunger will diminish as my body gets used to the lesser amount of food. I took the dogs out for exercise.

Moodwise, I have felt more positive than usual, though I have been a little more irritable.

BG: 8.8

Anyway... that was the day.

Frances x

ETA: Drinks and calorie count.
 

MCMLXXIII

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,823
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Re: "Newcastle" Diet

I'm watching with interest :)

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FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Thanks, I hope it stays interesting for the whole two months. One day at a time. :)

Ok... so up early (and temporarily) courtesy of the usual nightmares and depression. Slight headache. I will probably drink a little more water today, but I didn't want to drink too much of it yesterday.

Not really anything else to say without rambling on. I should probably say my blood pressure was normal last wednesday when it was tested.

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Ok.. awake again. My menu for today:

DAY TWO

Milk for coffee (10)

Breakfast: Ryvita Wholegrain Crackerbread x 2 (38), 1 poached egg (71)
Lunch: Slim Fast (230)
Dinner: 1/2 packet Uncle Ben Express Rice (special fried) (198), 1/4 pack casserole vegetables (steamed) (52)
Drinks: Two coffees. Three pints of water.

Total Calories: 599

I'll be back to share how it went.

Frances x
 

Yorksman

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,445
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
If you want to stick to their diet rigidly, you should be aware that it says:

No poultry or fish or meat
No bread or pasta
No dairy products (even full skimmed milk!)
No root vegetables like potato, sweet potato, turnip
No pulses
No fruits
No alcohol

The full diet sheet is available at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/di ... ecipes.pdf

Having said that, Prof Taylor states that they don't know if one type of very low calorie diet is better than another because all they were testing was the effect of calorie restriction on the beta cell function. The decline in the beta cell function was reversed by reducing fatty deposits in the pancreas and liver. On this diet you are specifically targetting those fats.

Best of luck. Please do keep us updated.

Notice that the diet recommends 3 litres of water, twice what you are drinking.
 

Finzi

Well-Known Member
Messages
366
Re: "Newcastle" Diet

Wow, Frances, I'm so impressed at your willpower! I wish you all the very best on your diet and will be watching with interest. Good luck with the sugars, and with your mood!


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FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Hi Yorksman,

Thank you so much for the link. For some reason whenever I was looking it up I wasn't coming across any very useful specifics. Now I have printed it out to mull over.

Having read through it a little, I'll definitely drink the amount it suggests, and on my next big shop (friday), I'll look to buying specifically for it. For now, until then, I'm going to really have to make do with what I have in the cupboards/fridge.

I'll still continue to post exactly what I eat and drink for reference.

The soup recipes look especially useful.

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Hi Finzi,

Thank you for the well wishes! :)

The mood... there's going to be a very delicate balance here between doing things to keep my mind off food, and making sure I don't do too much and end up slipping into hypomania.

Cheers,

Frances x
 

lindisfel

Expert
Messages
5,659
Hi Frances,
I admire your determination to bring diabetes to heel.

I understand this 600 cal/day diet (if I remember correctly) requires medical supervision so your diabetic team will need to know of your action.
I discussed the diet with my doctor a couple of weeks ago and he was not very positive, he concentrated on its affect on one and said how some dieters were under hospital supervision in the trial. I think he laid it on a bit, but then again it may have been because I have other health problems.
best wishes
Derek
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Hi Derek,

I've already spoken to one doctor who wasn't very positive, but then she hadn't even heard of the study (and made a note to look it up on Google later!). I am not under a diabetes clinic, and the doctor I've been seeing hasn't mentioned it to me at all.

I see my usual GP who knows me quite well on monday, and I tend to give a lot more weight to his arguments, so I will be interested in what he says. I'll take a printout of the diet with me.

Having said that... I would be a lot more frightened of this diet had I not lived on less than 600 cals a day when manic (more than once), for long periods of time. I know the physical feelings and possible symptoms that are associated with it. I'm not saying that my diet when manic is right (it's terrible), only that I have some idea what to expect, and so hopefully will have a clearer sense if something is going seriously wrong. I think that if I'd not had the experience, then I wouldn't dare to be trying it.

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Update:

So I had a late breakfast, and have been drinking plenty of water.

Off topic, I recently bought some silicon egg poaching things, and they are rubbish! I had to scrape my egg out, and it ended up a combination of rubbery and snotty. Next time I'll poach the old-fashioned way!

My BG reading for the day is: 11.8.

Onward!

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
HI, and thanks for the link. I found a load of useful information there :)

UPDATE:

Today has gone well, I think. Stuck to the plan, even though the vegetables were really bland from out of the steamer, and the Uncle Ben rice is nowhere near as tasty as Savoury Rice (which is my rice of choice usually).

I'll try and make a soup with some of the veg tomorrow, since the diet sheet seems to suggest I can use stock to make soups.

I think the hardest bit has been drinking the required amount of water. I'm only a short person, and I'm not a big drinker even at the best of times, so getting through the liquid is difficult for me.

I had a scary moment where I had a bad taste in my mouth, and instantly tested my blood sugar, worried about ketoacidosis. As it turns out, a few moments later when I took another sip of my coffee, I realised I've very quickly grown to dislike the taste of it. That's good. It means I can stop drinking the stuff. Even last week, my diet was pretty delicate taste-wise to how it was before diagnosis, so I seems my tastebuds have adjusted. A nice side effect.

I'll be back tomorrow morning at some point with a new plan for the day.

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Hmmm.... So....

Hardly slept. Got off at around 4.30 and woke up at 7.30.

No headache. Got the familiar slow burning hunger that I haven't felt for ages, but it feels kind of nice, and I don't feel like eating. If it continues, I'll force myself to have a shake in about an hour.

No real change in my mood, per se, but a definite change in my feelings towards food.

I think I'll make the shake half skimmed milk, half water. I'll have a drink of water now.

I'll likely make a soup out of leek, carrot, onion and veg stock later on for tea.

Well... that's it.

Frances x
 

Yorksman

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,445
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
FrancesB said:
I'll likely make a soup out of leek, carrot, onion and veg stock later on for tea.

Add some celery, it really perks it up.
 

MCMLXXIII

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,823
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Re: "Newcastle" Diet

Go to tesco and find their super shoots.
They come in a small salad pack size and there are two varieties.
The one i have is the alfalfa with broccoli shoots.
Great in salads or in soups!x

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FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Thanks, guys :)

Things have ended up going a bit haywire today. Shortly after I posted, my mother needed an ambulance for gallstone pain, and I've been at the hospital since.

Just got back and have made myself a shake. Going to make the mushroom soup for later on from the diet sheet.

BG Reading: 9.5

So, the diet is still on track, though I've fasted most of today. Other things are okay too - she's being kept in for blood tests then will be allowed home.

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Well! After the bland veg from yesterday I wasn't really in the mood for more of the same, so I made a couple of the soup recipes to try. The mushroom and the tomato (though I added a bit of onion and black pepper to the tomato one).

Wow! Nice... I really recommend those soups, even if you're not calorie counting.

Frances x
 

FrancesB

Active Member
Messages
43
Saw my usual GP today, who is brilliant and is quite happy to supervise me on this diet. Also he will prescribe me strips until my blood sugar is under control to my satisfaction.

He also weighed me, and I have lost over half a stone in a week and a half.

Good stuff! :)