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New to Low Carbs

Hi Verity,

yes i can confirm that in my view low carbs work. The problem as we all know is sticking with it.
last year i tried an experiment down to 60-70g per day for one month.
Hba1c droped a whole point 8.0 down to 7.0. Nurse fell off of her chair when she saw the result. but as i said at present we have this for life and its hard to stick to.

Regards

Steve M
 
Dear Steve, i promise you its not hard once you get used to it, look on amazon for low carb cookbooks by dana carpender, you will never miss all those stodgy carbs. Also The low carb Megastore is fab for things to substitute. Keep goIng and good luck!
 
hi fergusc, i am the mystery member, dont know why my name didnt come up. I am glad you agree, negligent is the word! Today i rang a company in london to ask if they had any further news on making a sugar free birthday cake for my daughter, "oh we are just waiting for a reply from Diabetes uk on sugar free suppliers" they said. I nearly laughed! They will just suggest eating a normal cake with white flour and caster sugar a plenty i suspect! Jane
 
Hi Jane,

Can you get your hands on any stevia for your birthday cake? I had some powder and some seeds sent to me by a friend in the US just before Xmas. It's just amazing stuff - a natural herb, very very sweet but with absolutely no effect on blood sugar!

Only trouble is, it's not approved for sale in the EU so it's tough to get a hold of. The fact that it's widely used in the US, Asia, South America and Japan doesn't seem to cut any ice with the FSA.
You might get lucky in London if you ask in the right places though?

All the best,

fergusc
 
Fergus,

Have you seen why the FSA have banned the sale of Stevia in the UK? It is also banned throughout Europe for the same reason. To quote from the FSA website:

"The data considered by the Committee indicated that the extract has the potential to produce adverse effects in the male reproductive system that could affect fertility and that a metabolite produced by the human gut microflora, steviol, is genotoxic (ie. damages DNA)."
 
Hi Dennis,

Yeah, I'd heard that too. Stevia's use is widespread throughout most of the rest of the world though, without any reported problems.

I think it's main problem is that it doesn't have any powerful lobbyists, unlike our friends at Tate & Lyle!

All the best,

fergusc
 
Hi, thanks for the advice everyone i will look on the splenda website and as luck would have it i am going to florida in 3 weeks so i will buy some stevia there,thanks, jane
 
Just a thought Jane,but if stevia is not authorised in this country won't you have trouble at customs if they find it?!

Knowledge is the key to control
 
I don't think so, Sue.
If I've understood correctly, the only thing the FSA haven't sanctioned is the sale of stevia within the EU. There's no restriction on using it, or bringing it in for your own consumption.
My mole in the US is doing nothing wrong in sending it to me either since there's no money changing hands.

This is why I suspect the real reason for blocking its sale over here has nothing to do with spurious claims of potential health risks. Vested interests at work again?

All the best,

fergusc
 
Have you tried using agave syrup? It's a sweetener from a cactus plant which is natural and doesn't affect blood sugar levels. Also tastes fine. I'm not sure how much you'd need for a cake as I don't do any baking, but you might be able to experiment/find a recipe! You can get agave syrup from Holland and Barratt.

Diabetes UK will just tell you to eat a normal birthday cake packed full of sugar, additives and yucky things, you're right!!! Am actually considering stopping my subscription as their magazines either depress me or make me angry because I don't agree with the advice they give!

Good luck

Claire
 
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