Newcastle Diet......Again

[Ardbeg]

Forgive me if this question has been answered already.

Is there any harm in continuing the ND eating regime beyond the 8 weeks?

What was the significance of an 8 duration for the clinical trial?

 

[geordie90]

Ardbeg
Im not medically trained etc etc but my understanding was that the diet is designed to mimic the extreme weight loss experienced by bariatric surgery patients who lose a large amount of weight initially, from this weight loss their diabetes dissappears, this is a repeatable provable phenonemen apparently.
The eight week period was to shock the body into mobilising the visceral fat around our organs and in our livers which seems to be the main reason we are predisposed to type 2.
After the eight weeks the people on the trial were given an eating program to follow after the eight weeks, as staying on such an extreme diet for extended periods could be counter productive.
If its any help Im going to try to utilise a low carb diet but with elements of the newcastle diet, mainly shakes at work for breakfast and dinner and maybe veg and meat for tea or salad and meat or cheeses but in sensible portions for two reasons:-
Maintain my bgs for the long term
Maintain my weight loss until i reach my goal of 13 1/2 stone which for me will be enough tbh due to my body shape

I think in reality we will forever have to have a modified diet if we want to really control the diabetes, how many times have we dieted then put more back on, but i have to say this has been the easiest diet i have followed and my body actually does not crave things like it has in the past, i also think i have trained my very small brain to understand what goes in has a direct affect on my illness, therefore be careful what you put in lol.

 

[Ardbeg]

Good answer and thanks for replying so promptly

 

[Sid Bonkers]

this is a repeatable provable phenonemen apparently.

Sorry but a group of 11 subjects does not make a repeatable proven anything, it is just a starvation diet so its no surprise that it causes weight loss and with weight loss comes a loss of visceral fat which in turn reduces insulin resistance. Quite simple really but not proven to do anything especially reverse diabetes.

As for "is it sustainable past the 8 week program"? Yes lots of super models do it :thumbdown: but no not if you want to live a long healthy life as you will not be getting the nourishment that a body needs to function day to day.

Far better IMO to chose a healthy diet rich in all the vitamins, nutrients and amino acids that your body needs, thats not to say that you need to eat as much as you did before the Newcastle Study diet, smaller meals and fewer carbs is a way that has worked for me for three years now and I have maintained the weight loss I initially achieved, no need to count carbs or calories and no need to eat extra fat or take a handful of vitamin pills every morning

 

[youngmanfrank]

I do not believe that there was much significance in the 8 week period.In my case my weight bottomed out at 7 weeks at 12 stone,which I still maintain four months later.

I was almost 16 stone at diagnosis,I used a combination of conventional diet and exercise to get down to a plateau of 13.5 stones and then used the Newcastle diet to get down to 12 stones.It was the only diet to break through the weight on which I was stuck.

You cannot diet indefinitely as eventually you will run out of fat and your body will cease to function,however if you start off with more fat you could keep it going longer.Gastric band patients are issued with multivitamin and multimineral tablets in case their diet does not contain enough of these elements.

I have now been off all meds for four months.The one month tests came back with blood sugars all within the normal non-diabetic range ,I will get my latest Hb test either today or tomorrow and post latest results then.

 

[youngmanfrank]

I posted my results yesterday,which once again are within the normal range.

My take on the whole issue is that once you have removed the internal fat from the pancreas/liver/heart/muscles etc and got your body weight under control your insulin sensitivity is reset to normal,and your blood sugars will also be normal.To this extent you have reversed diabetes,however something made you insulin insensitive in the first place.If this something was lifestyle and diet related then conceivably you could remain normal and non-diabetic by making the required changes,however if the something was genetic then you would expect a slow decline back into the diabetic condition.Either way the first step is to complete your Newcastle diet and achieve your ideal weight,which should be within the normal BMI range for your height.

None of this will help those poor souls who after years of being diabetic have suffered irreversible damage to their pancreas.

 

[Ardbeg]

A lot of sense in what you say young man :wink:

My thoughts are along similar lines.

First and foremost, this forum has been an invaluable wealth of knowledge for which I am eternally grateful. The Newcastle Diet has been brilliant, BUT, you must stick to a low carb diet thereafter otherwise you will be back to square one PDQ.

I also have a multivitamin regime that I will continue to stick to rigidly; based upon some previous research on here (benfotamaine mainly) plus several vitamins and minerals as recommended within such books as Syndrome X, etc.

Personally, I haven't felt this good in years and I'm determined NOT to slip into my old bad habits.

 

[youngmanfrank]

The problem up to now is that so many theories as to the cause of diabetes have been put forward when in fact they only describe the symptoms of the condition.For example many diabetics suffer from "Metabolic Syndrome" where their weight ramps up inexorably due to steadily increasing insulin insensitivity.This is a by product of the condition and not a cause.Other theories shoot into prominence and then die back into obscurity.I tried benfotamaine and it made no difference to my blood sugars.I came off glucosamine and chondroitin because apparently one piece of obscure research claimed that the pancreas was metabolising the glucosamine and increasing insulin insensitivity.In the end de-fatting everything with the Newcastle diet was the only thing I tried which worked and the difference could be measured.

Today I had breakfast and later went out for a run and came back with blood sugars of 4.1.Later I had lunch and swam 30 lengths,this time I came back with blood sugars of 4.7.After tea I will go for an hour long walk and then watch England being hammered by the Dutch on the box with a clear conscience.

I now take omega 3 capsules,plus glucosamine and chondroitin pills,both to help protect my joints from the exercise I do.I am still taking one a day multivitamin and multi mineral tablets,however this has more to do with replenishing the trace minerals you lose when running than anything else.

Good luck,I also feel great and fitter than I have been for years.My motto:never give up and never give in!

 

[geordie90]

'no retreat no surrender' is better young man lol

 

[Rici]

Hi,
I'm looking for guidance. I would like to try the Newcastle DIet, but I am having a difficult time finding a lead on it..... Can someone point me in the right direction.

Thanks

 

[Ardbeg]

Just Google the words "Newcastle Diet" and all the links will come up. The diet sheet you need is a PDF file which I found on the first page of the Google search

 

[antmos]

What I dont understand is that I did the ND very successfully, lost over 2 stone, but since stopping and going on to a low carb diet my weight loss has stalled and I am having problems with my blood pressure. It went really low during the ND and I came off quite a few of my BP pills but now I have had to go back on to all of them and still cant seem to control it. Very frustrating. Has anyone else had anything like this and do you have any suggestions on what I can do about it?

Thanks,

Ant

 

[youngmanfrank]

I have now gone almost five months since completing my eight week Newcastle diet experiment.If anything I have the opposite problem.Over the years my blood pressure has dropped from 150/85 on diagnosis to 120/60 after the diet.Since the diet I have experienced dizzy spells every time I get up to quickly and measuring with a cuff shows that at rest I can go as low as 111/55.
My diabetic nurse shows no concern about this and I have learnt to live with it,however it shows no sign of abating.I am not on any medication at all at present.

Other than that all I can say is that I am still maintaining my post diet weight (12 stones) and still exercising 2-3 times a day.My fasting blood sugars have settled into a narrow band of 4.7-5.6,with a normal reading of 5.1/5.3.This seems to happen almost irrespective of what I ate the night before and when I ate it.

Did you get your weight down completely so that you now have a normal BMI?

 

[phoenix]

.My fasting blood sugars have settled into a narrow band of 4.7-5.6,with a normal reading of 5.1/5.3.This seems to happen almost irrespective of what I ate the night before and when I ate it

That's great. Seems to suggest that 'defatting your liver has, at least for now, resulted in less insulin resistance.
Lets hope it continues.