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Newcastle diet help

Abouna

Newbie
I'll ask for some patience in my first post here.

My father is 67 and has battled with Type 2 for about 20 years now. He's got to the point that he's very overweight and takes an enormous amount of insulin per day.

He stumbled on some reportage of the Newcastle diet and has asked me to find him the specifics on it. For the life of me I can't find the details anywhere. I've read about the promising results, but I can find an actual guide of how to follow the diet!

A little guidance would be appreciated. I'd love to see him try this.

Cheers,
FJA
 
There is this:

"What exactly was the research diet?
To carry out the research study the following diet was used:
a. One sachet of a liquid formula diet three times per day. There are several proprietary brands. The study used Optifast.
b. Three portions of non-starchy vegetables per day. As the big problem of the diet was one of lack of variety, we devised a few recipes to make the vegetables more interesting. The range of possibilities is infinite, but you can find the recipes we used on the website http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/di ... versal.htm
c. No alcohol (merely because alcohol itself is so calorific – 7 calories in every gram).
d. As outlined above a more gradual approach to calorie restriction is advised. You must consult your doctor before embarking upon any very low calorie diet. In particular any medication you are taking may need to be adjusted. Some general information about this is also on the website. None of this information is a substitute for proper, individual medical advice.
e. Our research subjects found the diet challenging to stick to. They were selected to be very motivated people, and support from the team was given frequently. Remember that the study did not test how easy it was for people to stick to the diet – we were testing a hypothesis which required us to establish the very low calorie intake successfully. Support from the families of the research volunteers was very important in helping them comply with the diet. Hunger was not a particular problem after the first few days, but the complete change in social activities (not going to the pub, not joining in the family meals etc) was a challenge over the eight weeks."

I believe total calories were restricted to 800 a day.
 
As your father has had T2 for 20 years I think you should take note of one of the statements in the FAQs
The study was of people with type 2 diabetes of a few years duration (up to 4 years). There is
good reason to believe that longer duration type 2 diabetes can be reversible, although after 10 –
15 years of diabetes it is likely that not everyone will be able to achieve a return to normal
glucose control despite major weight loss
 
phoenix said:
As your father has had T2 for 20 years I think you should take note of one of the statements in the FAQs
The study was of people with type 2 diabetes of a few years duration (up to 4 years). There is
good reason to believe that longer duration type 2 diabetes can be reversible, although after 10 –
15 years of diabetes it is likely that not everyone will be able to achieve a return to normal
glucose control despite major weight loss

Thanks much for pointing that out! At this point we'd be satisfied with weight loss and a more normal amount of insulin. His intake now is 200 units at times (IIRC).

Another question, there are going to be 2-3 days in his 2 months that it will be impossible to follow. He'll have to break the diet. Will that negate all his effort or will returning to the diet the next day resume progress?
 
Hi Abouna and welcome to the forum :)

Before your Father embarks on the Newcastle diet, I think you should read this information as it may be more suitable for him. Ask all the questions you like about it. This is the information which we give to new members.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
 
I seem to be very negative but I also think that he needs to discuss this with his doctor/nurse. Adjusting 200u of insulin will need some care.
 
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