Dietician

Excellent result Loobles.

Loobles said:

To my surprise, he said the NHS advice was all wrong, that recent studies are saying a lower carb, higher fat diet is better for BG control and weight loss, both in the long and short term. He says he can't understand why things haven't changed in the NHS yet, but seems to think they will as more and more studies with larger sample groups are being published. He said the eat well plate was a load of tosh! He also said fats have been demonised and we should all be eating more of them...yay, I'll go get me some cheese

Click to expand...

I'm still reeling at this. Never thought I would live to see the day.

Pipp said:

Two HCPs in less than a week of the list of demons then. Can't be bad, and there are more of them out there.

Click to expand...

I think there are probably lots out there who are very frustrated by the guidelines they really have to apply. I can't believe anyone joins a caring profession to deliver questionable messages.

That's great. I think the message is getting through. I know my GP is supportive of low carbing and told me that the low fat high carb advice looks to have done more harm than good( just need to get his fixation on statins sorted next) - the two senior partners that recently retired ( at 52 - fed up with NHS targets ) both low carb and twitter about it so maybe one day the rest will pop heads above parapet.

I been waiting 30 years to see a dietitian or even be asked what I eat or drink by any GP or consultant. I will after reading comments here ask next time why I've slipped the loop?

I know why it is, its because I look fit.. However, shouldn't they ask what I eat to avoid any weight gain?

Well done on anybody seeing a dietitian whether NHS or private, I can see how the majority of persons lower carbing fear telling them. Glad to hear of a dietititan that is not totally indoctrinated on carbs.

I saw a dietician way back in 1997 when I had my gall bladder out and was put on a low fat diet, which I have followed since, when I had my heart attack and by pass they just told me to carry on with the same low fat diet, and when I got diagnosed with diabetes in 2006 they said my diet was fine, my weight at 71k has stayed the same all through and I'm happy at this weight.

Loobles said:

There's a few reasons:
1. My employer has paid for this appointment - it was offered to me just before I had my blood results back, so at that point I wasn't actually on a LCHF diet. I was morbidly obese, having been on an 8 year long binge cycle of a 30 year long binge-starve thing...and not sure where to start finding balance.
2. I'm a binge-starver and have never managed to get the right balance. I know the key to getting healthy in the long term is to find some balance. Yes, it sounds easy. but there's more to it (see the next point)
3. Because my disordered eating habits were starting to affect me physically (in the form of recurrent abscesses requiring surgery), my employer suggested I have some CBT sessions with an eating disorder specialist. They've paid for that, but the condition was that I saw a dietician too. Hence, I saw a dietician because I really wanted, no, needed the CBT.
4. And finally, although I'm happy with LCHF, I'm struggling with certain aspects of it

Click to expand...

Understand now what a struggle you have had How good of your employer to pay for your appointments they must think highly of you and what a brilliant result with the dietician agreeing with what you are doing. It must have given you such a boost so really well done

That's so good to hear Louise ..... I know there are a lot of GP's and Dieticians out there who never think outside the box, but I always approach these experiences with an open mind as with every HCP appointment or book I read, I reckon if you can walk away having learned just one single thing, then it was a worthwhile experience.

Having recently moved house I had to find a new GP (which I hate) but I found one whose interest is lifestyle medicine. I have visited him about 3 times for various ailments and to date he has not prescribed me any drugs - I came away being told to take magnesium for pain and muscle spasm in my shoulder, fish oil for dry skin and curcumin for arthritis. As he said to me, he is only a paid medical adviser, it's up to me whether I take his advice.

At the end of the day, I'm the CEO of me!

I wonder if NHS dieticians are allowed to give differing advice from the national guidelines that say carb, carb, carb? Would they actually be putting their jobs in jeopardy if they went against the carb, carb, carb indoctrination and then say somebody had a heart attack 2 years later?? How would that dietician stand in their job if such an occurence happened?
Are the NHS dieticians actually allowed to say "go low carb?'

I do understand their dilemma.

I'd be pretty cheesed off if a medical professional started burning incense and chanting to treat back pain.
That should only happen if I go to an incense burning chanting person.

Poor doctors and nurses are trapped in a dilemma that they may not even know exist. The guidelines are the problem. If they changed, the ideologically trapped drs and nurses would have to switch to the new guidance - even if they disagreed with it.

That what I was thinking... It not going to be easy for any nhs dietician to go against their wage peovider or employer really!!

A

Pipp said:

Just read through thread. After first post I was about to say, why make assumption that it would be a negative experience?

Ok, so they often are negative, but if we go to these appointments with closed minds, we get nothing from them and waste our time and that of the HCP. They must get fed up with people coming to see them, just because they were referred, who have no intention of taking any notice.

I had an appointment last week week with a health trainer. Went with an open mind, but secretly doubting it would be of use. I was prepared to listen, but made sure I was listened to as well. The result was we both gained from the experience. I got some new information on exercise sessions available, and she had info from me on how I had managed by diabetes and weightloss, which she promised she would use to advise other and share with her colleagues.

As I got to the end of the thread @Loobles , I realised you found the appointment was better than you had anticipated. So, you have demonstrated that working in collaboration with HCPs, sharing knowledge, is a good way to go.

Well done, if more of us take this approach we can effect change.

Click to expand...

An empowered partnership is something I love to,hear about , great attitudes ...

Hello there, I'm new to your forums. I'm from the US, I'm going to assume most of the members here are in the UK. Very sadly the dieticians here are the exact same

My BG was never tested even though I have 4 auto immune conditions, have had accute pancretitis, and have gone hypo with sweating and shaky hands a couple of times. I was prescribed prednisone recently, 4 weeks in I had symptoms of hyperglycemia but had no clue what was going on. THREE weeks later I went to the ER after calling the hospital that prescribed the prednisone to me to get labs drawn and get myself check for infection (had a persistent cough and I couldn't taste a thing, everything tasted like iron and copper). My BG level was at 699mg/dl, they immediately started me on insulin and got a taper plan to get me off the steroid. It's been a week since I've been off and I'm sure I still have some insulin resistance because of it, but I'm assuming I've always had some kind of issues (at least hyper/hypo reactive) and need to start trying to reverse this whole thing.

About four days in at the ER I saw a dietician, she wanted me to be eating 60 carbs in the morning! I wake up in the 80's now, and a bowl of cereal with 30g from the cereal and 6g from the milk makes me shoot down to the 60's in three hours! a 60g meal shoots me up to the 180-200 range. Some meals with a little fat are perfectly fine though, 2% cheese, two fat free tortilla shells (40g of carbs), put them in the microwave and add something on the side for filler like a tomato or a cucumber and my hourly measurements after don't go above 120.

Had an appointment to see a "nutritionist", saw her on monday... This was at the hospital that prescribed the prednisone, a well known, large, nationally recognized facility. She asked me about things like sweets and soda, suggested something like 1800 calories to get my weight back up to 125, told me I should be getting like 30g of carbs per meal (I don't remember, wasn't paying too much attention) told me not to have too much salt for my liver (already knew this) and that was it... didn't ask me about my blood sugar, didn't talk about insulin, didn't seem to care if I get diabetes... just generalization for the masses.

It's all backwards... nutrition should be specialized for EVERY case...

@EPhantom

Hi and welcome!
Sorry to hear about your experiences.
You've come to the right place - just hang around, read, join in, and if you are anything like me, you will start picking up the most fascinating information. I am so glad I found this forum!