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Did you know that LCHF diet for diabetics was available in 1917 ??

The book is 1901 - J. K. Watson, M D
20170420_154241.jpg If this page can't be read, please let me know and I will type it out. The whole book is fascinating.
An extract regarding diabetes :-
It does not follow that the urine will be free from sugar because all carbohydrates are rigorously excluded from the diet ; for it has been shown that sugar may be formed from nitrogenous food. We can, however, limit very materially the excretion of sugar, by judicious dieting and other treatment. The patient will depend largely for his diet on such articles as milk, cream, butter, all kinds of meats, fish, eggs greens, Brussels sprouts, lettuce and watercress. Tea, coffee and cocoa are allowed. For sweetening, saccharin and an extremely sweet substitute known as saxin are used as a substitute for sugar.
The diabetic must lead a regular and quiet life, taking a moderate amount of exercise and carefully avoiding exposure to cold and wet.
A very large number of drugs have been recommended for diabetes. The most valuable is opium and one of it's active ingredients, codeia, is a favourite and commonly used remedy. Arsenic has it's advocates; it is sometimes combined with opium. To relieve thirst, a slightly acid drink often answers well, such as water containing a few drops of sulphuric acid.
 
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My grandad was diabetic (actually, most of my family are - on both sides!) and he lived to the ripe old age of 98 on LCHF. He must have been diagnosed about the turn of the century (the LAST one) and LCHF was the diet he followed all of his life. Deaf as a post, mind you ;)
 
Jay-Marc said:
Historically LCHF has been the standard go-to diet for T2 diabetes, even when there was no understanding of what was behind it. All other diets tried over the years have been short-lived fads in comparison, although some of them have come back for a second go. The 'eat-ill' plate though seems remarkably resilient against evidence.
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Industry backed according to Zoe Harcombe but very resilient nevertheless as you say.
 
jellywey said:
Actually I have evidence of low carb "farinaceous' advice in 1897. Manual of Medical Surgical Nursing textbook 1897
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I bet the 'surgical' section is a barrel of laughs.
I'll let the drug companies make a few pounds from me there if I have the choice.
 
douglas99 said:
So were leeches.

Not my first choice now though.
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I'd like to split hair in four but they're still used on some cases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis#Medicinal_use
Anyway I agree the science marches on. This doesn't mean that in some case an old technology is worse than newer one in all fields, as an example vacuum tubes: they are prone to failure, generates a lot of heat, are energy-inefficient and need dangerous voltages to work. But ask to some guitar player or hi-fi nut about KT88 tubes...
 
Please don't bash the eatwell plate so quickly. It is an EXCELLENT replacement/guide for those who tend to live off crisps and doughnuts. That message has to be simple and repeatable for both the advice-givers and the advice-receivers!
Unfortunately, it is NOT suitable for those with disorders such as poor kidney function, multiple food sensitivities, OR faults in blood sugar metabolism. And that is where the mistakes are made which exasperate so many of this forum's members!
 
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