HAS ANYONE EVER CHALLENGED THE NHS EAT WELL PLATE/GUIDE RE DIABETICS?

[Mr_Pot]

I actually wonder if the NHS eatwell plate (over 20 years old?) was aimed at type 1 diabetics back then, when they were mostly (if not all) on a set amount of insulin at set times, like my Mum. Then of course, you were forced to eat carbs in order to counteract the fixed insulin you were on, if you didn't you were at serious risk of a hypo. Now it has changed to a flexible regime BUT has the eatwell guidance changed to go with it? I think not. In addition to that, maybe they have never bothered to distinguish the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, so even the type 2's get lumped into this 'eatwell' advice on the basis that it's 'diabetes', you're all the same.

The Eatwell Plate was not not aimed at diabetics at all but at the general population. Presumably the emphasis on carbohydrates was to prevent you from getting your calories from fat, which was considered evil at the time. Why it was not modified for diabetics, bearing in mind the sensible low carb advice from earlier times, I don't know. I guess nobody wanted to go against the conventional thinking but it is difficult to imagine that no medical people could spot the simple logic of too much glucose in the blood so don't eat things that turn into glucose.

 

[Oldvatr]

It's hard to believe that they don't prescribe monitors and strips. These weren't available in bygone years but they come free in many cases now and are an amazing resource. What with that and mysugr app my BS are under control. Even if they just gave these out then people can come to their own conclusions re what to eat. My mum was t2d insulin dependant. I always thought she was t1d due to the insulin injections. But when I was diagnosed I verified it at my surgery. She was t2d. If you don't mind me asking about your mum so I understand, what happened that they moved her from 2 to 1? Thanks

My mum was DX'ed at age 14, and in those days such early onset of severe symptoms was assumed to be T1D. There was no GAD or C-peptide test then, so probably an OGTT was used to confirm the urine analysis of diabetes. I am definitely a T2D and I am still producing engenic insulin so the orals and diet works for me. Eastwell did not work for me but I manage on a low carb intake. I am on annual HBA1c testing/ review which is due in November I suspect it will have gone up this year sice I am not being strict with my diet, and am more carb tolerant now so can take risks.