Newcastle Diet question

MCMLXXIII said:

Did you get the results you desired from it and may I ask if you're taking anything at present? Forgive me if that's too personal and discard.

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It was way back in 2011, when ND was still in development, and this forum still had the jury out on Low Carb High Fat diet. I hadn’t even heard of LCHF at that time, and the only advice I had been getting from HCPs was the for same high carb low fat regime I had been following on their advice for years. With an alternative offered being bariatric surgery.

The results for me started within days, of starting the Total Food Replacement diet.. BG levels returned to non-diabetes levels . Which had been my main concern. Over time I did a twelve week TFR diet, break for 6 weeks, followed by another 6 Week TFR. In total I lost 49 kg during that period. I did regain some 20kg over a period of a few years, but have since lost some of that, and although currently still overweight, remain 40kg less weight than I was back in 2011. I worry less about weight now, as long as I keep to healthy HbA1c . Which, apart from a bit of a hiccough when I have in recent years had severe, unrelated to T2, health issues, and needed steroid meds and surgeries, managed to maintain below diabetes levels, though sometimes in pre-diabetes levels. This is due to keeping generally to low carb of approx 60 -70 gr. of carbs a day, though I can vary that to average it out over the week. (I like my bacon butty on Sunday, so have less carb on Saturday).
Hope that explains things a bit for you, @MCMLXXIII .

I confess, on Total Food Replacement diet the only time I caved in to temptation was when I ate a single Brussels sprout. It had been sautéd in garlic butter and was the most delicious thing I ever tasted.
However, I did find that sticking with the very low calorie programme and staying in ketosis, all food cravings and hunger disappeared.

MCMLXXIII said:

Good morning.

Day 9 of The Newcastle Diet and I tested my ketones this morning, they were 1.5.
Interpretation of this is new to me so I had to turn to Google which if I have this correct means I am in "ketosis".
I was left to believe in my ignorance that ketones in your pee were a bad thing if they were too high,
Should I look to maintain this level please? (The level of 1.5 not the diet) Thankyou for all your help.

Chris

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It could mean you are now fat burning, a level of 1.5 with normal BG is usual for anyone in ketosis, but I see you are on dapagliflozin, which means you are at higher risk of ketoacidosis, which is a different thing altogether from ketosis. If you feel at all unwell or your BG becomes high with high ketones then please get yourself medical attention immediately.

My advice would be to speak to your GP to ask if what you are doing is safe for you to continue or ask for a review of your medication

MCMLXXIII said:

Good morning.

Day 9 of The Newcastle Diet and I tested my ketones this morning, they were 1.5.
Interpretation of this is new to me so I had to turn to Google which if I have this correct means I am in "ketosis".
I was left to believe in my ignorance that ketones in your pee were a bad thing if they were too high,
Should I look to maintain this level please? (The level of 1.5 not the diet) Thankyou for all your help.

Chris

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Hi

I've had ketones in my urine for five years now, and therefore have been in dietaryketosis all that time. Unfortunately there is often some confusion between dietary ketosis, which is at basics using body fat for energy with normal BG levels, and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which is both high blood glucose and high ketones, and is a serious emergency.

I've found it next to impossible to predict what level of ketones there's going to be in my urine - it varies enormously, and lot seems to depend on external factors. I've taken very well to indefinite ketosis - lack of hunger, weight loss, tons of energy, which was unexpected for someone of my age. These days I can go out of ketosis in the evening and be back in the following morning.

However, you're on glucose lowering meds and that changes things. I would ensure that you talk to your medical team about this. You might ask them to do a review of your current meds programme?

MCMLXXIII said:

Thankyou. I await a call from the Doctor to review my medication. I don't necessarily trust this process to be forthcoming but I'll call again tomorrow if I don't receive any correspondence from them.

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Bearing in mind what you have told us about your medications it does seem imperative you get medical advice . If this is not forthcoming from your GP, you could find the pharmacist that dispenses your meds to be an excellent source of information. They have great expertise in the meds, after all.

Hmm. Whatever works for you, I guess.

For what tr's worth, I don't restrict saturated fat at all. You might find this, from 2020, interesting reading. The Journal of American Cardiology was previously low-fat central, and this paper represents a significant shift:


There's plenty of indication that real-world results don't match the theories - this is one -


The thing about alcohol - in my view, as far as impact on BG goes, it depends. I generally don't (these days) drink alcohol with significant levels of carb - ie normal beer. I do drink low/zero carb beers, red wine, and spirits, none of which affect my BGs or my ketosis as far as I can detect. So it's not the alcohol itself, or the associated calorific values (7kcal/gram alcohol) that are relevant for me. It's the carb content.

The issue I have is that because I'm running with BGs generally in the fours and fives, the effect of alcohol on my liver needs to be considered. Alcohol above a given level (no idea what that is) will in the short term slow down down or stop one's liver generating glucose. If glucose is not available from dietary sources, as it generally isn't during ketosis, this can pose real problems and on a couple of occasions I've had very low BG levels in consequence ( I mean low 3s and falling). I now think it's essential for me to be consuming some carbohydrate if I'm going to drink in any quantity - this means two drinks or more...

The carb doesn't have to be a massive amount - a small packet of crisps etc does the trick for me. It's similar to how in many places in Europe, when you order a drink you get a little plate of nibbles with it. Good plan.