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Newcastle diet

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Simon W Everett

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I am 196cm and weighed in at 101kg. Having followed the VLCD (600 calories a day in shakes plus 200 calories of green veg) I am now down to 92kg. Sometimes tough going but manageable. Anyway, I am now getting morning/fasting readings of 5.8 to 6.3 (an anomaly of 8.3 once but had a lousy night’s sleep). I try and cycle 10 to 20 miles a two or three times a week. Interestingly my local GP/diabetic nurse we’re totally unsupportive of me doing this diet but upshot is I am now off the slow release gliclazide (4 x 30mg a day - with the nurse wanting me to take 500mg of metformin which made me very I’ll…so stopped those). I digress, at no point since diagnoses has anyone (GP or nurse) suggested I steer clear of carbs, lose weight and exercise more…they simply offer more meds.
 
Well done on finding a way to manage your own health condition, @Simon W Everett . Were you given any indication of what your HbA1c reading was, before and after starting on medication? Just interested to have better understanding of how the changes you made have affected these.

As for the VLCD, as a veteran of this method myself, I feel I need to check with you to see what your diet plan is now you have completed the calorie restriction phase. It really won’t help if you include lots of carbohydrate foods. The standard NHS diet advice for starchy carbohydrates with every meal is not at all helpful to those of us with T2 diabetes. (I am making an assuption, here, that you have T2. It is not mentioned in your profile). To maintain lower blood glucose levels we need to keep carbs to a minimum, especially if we want to keep free of medication .
Have a read around the forums, particularly the low carb areas for more info, and do ask questions. Members here love to help and advise from their own experiences.
 
Thanks Pipp. And correct I am type 2. HbA1c readings weren’t good ranging between 8 and 10 first thing and sometimes (when on a long course of antibiotics) up to 13. A real worry. Very aware of the need to keep clear of the likes of rice/bread /pasta etc and have now pretty much switch to pulses, nuts and a Mediterranean diet (including the wine ). Thank you for the pointers about the forums, I know have Covid so have plenty of time to browse! Thank you again.
 
This thread is posted in the Low Carb Diet forum, but I think the references to VLCD are actually Very Low Calorie Diet especially when referencing the Newcastle Diet plan. However, it just happens that in that particular case, the diet plan happens to also be Low Carb by the use of meal replacement shakes, but the ND people are often at pains to avoid calling it so since that is a nutritional NO-No in the wider NHS world.
 
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