Confused about conflicting advice

alf_Josiah said:

Following on from the above comments about low carb. etc
I have been given so much conflicting advice from " professional diabetic nurses " that I now totally ignore what they say and refer to diabetic doctors.
Listen, think and find out what is right for you.

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Yup. We're all different, which makes a one-diet-fits-all policy problematic. Being T2, we're carb intolerant so it makes absolute sense to reduce carb intake, especially unnecessary sugars. Our meters and our bodies will tell us if we're doing it wrong, and provided we keep to a nutritionally complete diet, all should be well. So reduce carbs to a point where your BG settles, cut it a bit more if you're aiming to lose weight and work towards getting fat adapted. Dairy's good for calcium and 'good' fats, and eat around 1.5g/kg body weight of protein to avoid muscle loss. And greens or red meats are good for iron. And of course, try to get some exercise.

I've been doing the LCHF thing since finding this forum and after 7 months, I've lost around 15kg, body fat's down to 18% and muscle's been holding at 66kg. That bit needs some more work as I still dont fit into my vintage 32" jeans.. more situps and crunches needed I think..

As for the 'official' diet advice, I kinda suspect economics and lobbying. Carbs like grains, pasta, bread, spuds etc are a large part of the EU agribusiness, so changing advice to avoid those could have a large impact and some angry farmers and/or junk food producers.

first14808 said:

As for the 'official' diet advice, I kinda suspect economics and lobbying. Carbs like grains, pasta, bread, spuds etc are a large part of the EU agribusiness, so changing advice to avoid those could have a large impact and some angry farmers and/or junk food producers.

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I think the problem is also that the foods that they would have to tell people to avoid are the cheap staples that for some people is all they can afford. If the NHS was to insist that diabetics shouldn't eat bread, potatoes, pasta or rice then they might have to give prescriptions for meat, fish and dairy in the same way they used to pay for gluten free food for celiacs. Suggesting low GI alternatives as a solution is affordable if not very effective.

Yep, that's part of the economics and politics. Currently it's not really the NHS that makes the dietary recommendations, although they'd provide input. And of course end up responsible for any consequences, ie coping with increasing diabetes and obesity. On the politics side, governments have a variety of policy levers to play with, like the recent sugar tax on drinks. And there's the bigger ones, like agricultural subsidies and production or import quotas. Some of those are currently under the EU's control, and changes may get opposed by agribusiness and junkfood suppliers.

Then there's safety or lobbying around possible new markets, ie objections around US chicken imports because it's washed in chlorine. That aspect may be hyped, ie US does it to reduce contamination and salmonella, and the chlorine content in the wash doesn't seem that much stronger than our tap water. I think there are far better arguments over other practices, like the safety of antibiotics and other drugs used to maximise production. Again though that gets very political, ie US-China's trade spat affected US pork exports and got modified quickly after a bit of lobbying.

Then there's consumer education. So buying a bag of ready to eat salad or sliced veg from the local supermarket's a convenient but expensive way to buy veg. Supermarket's are helpful and stick a small cost per kilo lable, but may not be so helpful and flog things like brocoli as a single serving smothered in plastic. Which I guess could also make veg go off faster as it can't breathe. And then there's practical education so people aren't as reliant on ready-meals and have a better idea around meal planning and cooking.

I certainly noticed my shop was more expensive initially, but then switched to buying veg from the local market instead.. Which helps those traders vs the supermarkets. And since becoming a regular and a bit of banter with the greengrocer, I get a few discounts and deals. Which is a relationship that's hard to build with a self-service checkout. I'd certainly eat more meat, if it were cheaper though.