Newcastle Diet

That,s week 1 done. I've lost 10lb, although for the last 4 days I've lost a pound a day and think I have normalised at this after the initial boost.

I did a repeat finger prick test on Saturday, just before lunch (breakfast +3.5 hours) and got a reading of 5.7 compared with 7.8 on Wednesday so I am seeing results already.

Diet for the last 3 days has been 3 slimfasts, 600cal, 1 tin of tomatoes, 70cal and 130 cal of stir fry vegetables.

Exercise has been 500 cals burned of on treadmill and exercise bike at the gym.

I'm feeling great, the hunger has gone and I'm determined to see this through now

Good to hear your optimisim and determination. I wish you every success. You're going to feel better in many different ways.

Any tips on cravings on this diet?
(stopping them without giving in!)

MCMLXXIII said:

Any tips on cravings on this diet?
(stopping them without giving in!)

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Not really got any tips all i can say is its a lot easier than you might think

I think you mustn't be disappointed because any more than 7lb in a week really would be meaningless water loss, not fat loss. That is the sort of weight which just goes straight back on when you start eating normally again. If you want reliable, meaningful fat loss then steadier is better.

Hi Tashaleigh

I was diagnosed 22/02. Went on a VLCD (something like Newcastle) using Cambridge. I have lost 16 lbs so far (only 8 days of sole source and then eating low calorie), my glucose levels is back to normal. My blood pressure has lowered considerably and my HbA1C is 42 or 6%. I expect that to go lower when I get tested again in June. My cholesterol is high for a diabetic, 4.9 - but I hope to lower this by June as well. My BMI is 24.3 (which is overweight, as I am South Asian) and my goal is to bring it down to 20, so another 20lbs to go.
Diet can reverse it, so persevere and good luck! x

Day 11. Feeling really good, lost my first stone today.

One problem though, my eyes have weakened since starting this diet, I'm struggling to read text i could read easily before, although they are slightly better today than yesterday. I have an opticians appointment booked for next Tuesday. Has anyone else ever come across this problem? and did it resolve itself after the diet?

drayman4 said:

Day 11. Feeling really good, lost my first stone today.

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Awesome work. :thumbup:

I'd postpone the opticians as this MIGHT well be a temporary thing related to the sugar in the shakes.

No point in having a prescription for glasses written if it's not permanent.

Well done Drayman4! x

Patch said:

drayman4 said:

Day 11. Feeling really good, lost my first stone today.

Click to expand...

Awesome work. :thumbup:

I'd postpone the opticians as this MIGHT well be a temporary thing related to the sugar in the shakes.

No point in having a prescription for glasses written if it's not permanent.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the support :thumbup:

I panicked and made the appointment hastily, focusing is up and down all over the place so eye test would be a complete waste of time. I wouldn't mind speaking to the optometrist though for an opinion about what is causing it.

Mini40 said:

Well done Drayman4! x

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Thank you Mini40, I hope you're still getting results too

Two weeks done and 25% of the way. I've lost 1st 2lb so far . Even though I've stuck to the diet, I've actually put a pound back on since yesterday :thumbdown: .

Even though I feel fit and full of energy, this weekend has been hard, I've been hungry and not been able to get to the gym because of work and the snow. I'm going to have a really long workout at the gym this morning to pay back some of what I've missed.

My eyesight has not improved

drayman4 said:

Diet for the last 3 days has been 3 slimfasts, 600cal, 1 tin of tomatoes, 70cal and 130 cal of stir fry vegetables.

Exercise has been 500 cals burned of on treadmill and exercise bike at the gym.

Click to expand...

drayman4 said:

my eyes have weakened since starting this diet, I'm struggling to read text i could read easily before

Click to expand...

Hi Drayman just a thought here but you seem to be burning an alarming amount of calories in one gym session compared to your daily diet, are you doing this under medical supervision and are the gym aware of your diet too?

I only ask because you are now saying you are getting blurred vision and I wonder if the two are connected in some way.

Hi Sid.
I'm not doing this diet under medical supervision although I know advice is that you should. I've been thinking of making an appointment with my diabetic nurse at some point and saying 'look, this is what I'm doing'.

Even though my BMI is 32, I'm quite an active person with an active job so 500 cals isn't that much extra to burn off for me. I suffer from high blood pressure, doing the diet and combining exercise each morning has brought my readings down to high side of normal without medication, 140/85 one hour after exercise. (although it is up to 160/95 in the evening).

I'm going to see what the optometrist says about the eyesight tomorrow but I know I am not alone, two other participants of the diet had the same effect in this thread. viewtopic.php?t=25893&p=261866

If you look at the sample recipes produced for this diet, http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/di ... ecipes.pdf you will see that initial side effects are: headache, dizziness, tiredness, hunger and cold and the advice is to keep up with fluid intake. If you are exercising and have a high BP, you'll probably already know about starting and finishing at a more sedate pace and not just go hell for leather all the way through.

You will be pleased to note a forthcoming publication (April), a follow up to the Counterpoint Study (typically called Newcastle Diet), which concludes:

These data demonstrate that intentional weight loss achieved at home by health-motivated individuals can reverse Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes reversal should be a goal in the management of Type 2 diabetes.

The actual results which were collated had been sent in by individuals like yourself. These are reported as:

"Self-reported weight fell from 96.7 ± 17.5 kg at baseline to 81.9 ± 14.8 kg after weight loss (P < 0.001). Self-reported fasting blood glucose levels fell from 8.3 mmol/l (5.9-33.0) to 5.5 mmol/l (4.0-10.0) after the weight loss period (P < 0.001). Diabetes reversal was considered to have occurred in 61% of the population. Reversal of diabetes was observed in 80, 63 and 53% of those with > 20, 10-20 and < 10 kg weight loss, respectively. There was a significant correlation between degree of weight loss and reported fasting glucose levels (Rs -0.38, P = 0.006). Reversal rates according to diabetes duration were: short (< 4 years) = 73%, medium (4-8 years) = 56% and long (> 8 years) = 43%."

The study is entitled:

Population response to information on reversibility of Type 2 diabetes.

and the abstract is available at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23320491

Hi all,
This is all the "proof" that anyone would need that weight loss ( however it is achieved) is the most effective way of managing or even reversing type 2.
My own weight loss has stalled but that ain't surprising, what with a few parties, meals out, illicit Easter eggs and a few takeaways.
BUT..here's the thing I popped in a 6.8 after breakfast this morning.
This breakfast consisted of a large mug of milk coffee with a teaspoon of ...... Sugar.....

I wish you all well on this venture..and I will read it with interest.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Well done Tashaleigh, 10lb is good in 2 weeks, far better than nothing at all. You should think of it as potentially 40lb over the eight weeks.

I'm sure adjusting the diet to suit yourself is better than dropping out altogether, its not easy at times. I think there are some similarities to sticking to this diet and stopping smoking, something I did eight years ago.

These data demonstrate that intentional weight loss achieved at home by health-motivated individuals can reverse Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes reversal should be a goal in the management of Type 2 diabetes.

Hi
I took this as the main message and went on a serious 600-800 cal diet for a few weeks, but based on normal food. (I don't like the drinks and thought they wouldn't help me change my eating habits, mainly portion size rather than balance of foodstuffs). It was successful for both weight and blood sugar, enabling a permanent reduction in medication. I've kept the weight off for over a year and am just restarting another phase of the diet to get rid of the next lot of kilos. It has helped to permanently change my eating habits and made me less afraid of making the effort (the goal of reduced/eliminated medication is very attractive). I'm hoping that a third push later in the year will bring me down finally to my ideal weight and much closer to no medication. The only side effect was a few occasions on which my blood pressure plummeted and I keeled over, developing migraine immediately afterwards - both sorted out by cutting the blood pressure medication.

Good luck to everyone trying for diabetes reversal via "intentional weight loss...."