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Having Trouble Justifying Low Carb To Family Or A Doctor?

pdmjoker

Well-Known Member
Messages
426
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
There have been numerous press reports recently about a recent study that supposedly shows Low Carb diets can shorten life expectancy. Actually, the study in question DOES NOT show anything of the sort. Firstly, the "Low Carb" quintile had a median of energy from carbohydrate of 37%, which isn't Low Carb! Secondly, it says :

"Participants who consumed a relatively low percentage of total energy from carbohydrates (ie, participants in the lowest quantiles) were more likely to be young, male, a self-reported race other than black, college graduates, have high body-mass index, exercise less during leisure time, have high household income, smoke cigarettes, and have diabetes."

which probably says more about smoking and lack of exercise than diet. Funny how the press "missed" that! This is the study in full:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(18)30135-X/fulltext

HOWEVER, I came across this by Dr David Unwin and Dr Jen Unwin. It simply and plainly describes how they have helped 18 patients do genuine Low Carb and the subsequent improvements to the health of all participants, including their cholesterol levels. It is very readable and contains enough data for health professionals. I hope it is of use to you:

https://www.practicaldiabetes.com/w...etes-experience-from-one-general-practice.pdf

Update: Dr David Unwin is quoted on p182-184 of Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code as having treated 160 patients in 4 years with Low Carb and estimates his practice is saving the NHS £50k pa on diabetes meds that would otherwise be needed. I sincerely hope that the financial imperative will persuade GPs and other health professionals to give Low Carb a serious look...
 
Hi @pdmjoker people and Dr's do not like change they have been "conditioned" to follow what they have been told by the food companies and big Pharma. They want you eating high carbs because its their profits and also has knock on effects that needs medication from big Pharma. There is no profit in a cure.
 
Hi @Terrytiddy
It is easy to criticise HCPs and I often do. However, with such a large organisation, it is important that they obey the guidelines set by those in control, just like the army. You wouldn't want each GP to follow his/her own agenda. What is wrong with the system is that the guidelines are wrong, so we should be working with those in the NHS to get the guidelines changed.
 
I do not have to justify my lifestle choices to anyone whether they be medically trained or the 'expert' in the pub. My choices are my own and as long as those choices are legal and not driven by mental illness then it has little to do with anyone else. Advice, I will consider but opinion based on dogma or misinformation just wastes the time I could be spending doing something I enjoy.
 
BrianTheElder said:
You wouldn't want each GP to follow his/her own agenda.
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Except that if you read enough of the threads here , especially from newbies, that seems to be exactly what happens.. some get test strips some don't, some are told about dietary changes others given a prescription, some go low carb others go Eatwell and some GP's devolve it all to the Diabetes Nurse others don't. A few (and nowhere near enough in my opinion) go full Unwin.. so there's no consistency anyway which either means the guidelines are so vague as to be meaningless or no-one follows them...
 
Hi @BrianTheElder I know its not the HCP fault they have to do as their told and advised. Agree things need to change as its been proven that the old way is not working.
 
Surely GPs are there to help their patients? If what they are told to do is obviously wrong why don't they stand up and be counted? Yes, money I suppose. Not exactly a caring profession then...

Thank you @Southport GP for speaking out.
 
Terrytiddy said:
Hi @BrianTheElder I know its not the HCP fault they have to do as their told and advised. Agree things need to change as its been proven that the old way is not working.
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If they know the advice they are giving is wrong then they are harming their patients. I feel duty bound to speak out on this forum to tell the world what has helped (and not helped ) me. I am not an HCP, just someone who cares about others. Don't doctors and other HCPs care anymore?
 
My GP and Diabetic Educator have no problems with me being on a LCHF diet.
 
I’m lucky, my own GP is happy with LCHF and admits that dietary advisors need to be more enlightened. I read Dr Unwins comments on this report and liked the fact that they were well considered and objective The report in the OP is clearly flawed.
 
My family said nothing, then saw how brilliantly it has worked. My husband tells all and sundry how I lost 4 and a half stone, normalised my blood sugars, and maintained it all for 4 years by eating fry ups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never seen a doctor for my diabetes so I have no idea what either of my GPs think about it. My nurse is very supportive.

Some of my friends think I am nuts.
 
My Doctor thought my choice of low carb was ok but did tell me the diabetic nurse may think otherwise. Needless to say i didn't care as i never even saw her until 3 months later. Personal opinion is, i knew more about it then she did. However in her favor she was,is a lovely person and never argued with me on my choices. As for family members, little of them no i have diabetes and i simply can't be bothered telling them..
 
Hi @Bluetit1802 how on earth can your friends think you are nuts when you have done such a fantastic job?
 

I think so much of what we read is influenced massively by how things are expressed. I try very, very hard not to put labels on things, although in an environment like this titles/labels can be extremely helpful.

For example, in my reality or day to day living, unless I was conversing with someone from here (which isn't so likely) I never refer to my way of eating as low carb, and certainly never, ever as high fat, although the reality is my WoE is likely both of those things the vast majority of the time.

I learned a looooooooong, long time ago that there are trigger/flag words in this life and declaring "I eat a diet that is high in fat, because if I don't I'll fade away" is more likely to inspire panic, concern or simple abject horror in an uninformed listener, whereas expressing my situation as "reduced carb, because many of them just don't agree with me, then if I'm still going to be hungry, I'll balance the energy scales by having a bit more fat". That latter rarely raises an eyebrow, but both scenario describe the same situation. My doc is also very happy with my description, although I have since shared further info with her. Her response was that it certainly seemed to work, but just to keep an eye on things.

Should someone ask why I don't eat bread, or whatever, I tell them I had a load of blood tests, as part of a general health MOT, which showed some of the things I had been eating weren't doing me any favours, and bread went as a result. They seem to accept that if I was eating something not agreeing with me, giving it up made sense.

There is not one single bit of a lie there, but nobody (that I know of!) refers to me as the diabetic lady on an unsafe diet, but then I don't spend a lot of time banging on about it with those who have no interest. If folks ask for further information, I'm content enough to expand what I say.

That study has to be read carefully, as do some of the responses to it.

I don't believe there's a perfect study out there to fit us all, so I have accepted that and moved on. I manage my life to my v1 data and metrics and only really discuss my regime in detail with those impacted by it - i.e. my OH. Folks I bump into from time to tome aren't that interested beyond whether I'm well or not. You know that question, "How are you keeping?"
 
Dr Unwin is a forum member....

QUOTE="Tipetoo, post: 1864242, member: 308541"]My GP and Diabetic Educator have no problems with me being on a LCHF diet.[/QUOTE]
Mine neither - in fact my GP suggested Atkins as a weight loss tool after he diagnosed me with T2. My DN initially offered the standard "Eatwell" advice, but having seen my results from low carbing, just said keep on doing what I'm doing.

Robbity
 
britishpub said:
I don't give a *%£" what my GP thinks about my diet !!!!
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I know what you mean, I have had very little support from medical professionals. I did lchf for 18 months even though I was warned off by practice nurses and even Consultant Endocrinologist! Sadly no weight loss for me at the time but my hba1c halved and both my blood pressure and cholesterol were in the healthy range. I find many professionals have little knowledge about alternative diets other than 'healthy plate'. My current GPs attitude was '''what are you going to do about your weight?' .When I asked ''what do you suggest?' he came up with nothing. I've now taken things into my own hands again, fortunately my practice nurse is supportive and helping me keep an eye on adjusting medication
 
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Terrytiddy said:
Hi @Bluetit1802 how on earth can your friends think you are nuts when you have done such a fantastic job?
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Because they haven't a clue what diabetes is, how it all works, what triggers it, and see other people with T2 eating cakes. I also think it is that they are still brainwashed about high fat being a killer. I am past trying to explain.
 
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