• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

NHS Dietitian Contradicting Himself

Zilsniggy said:
My comment was aimed at HCAs who aren't trained nurses. Most nurses I know have no idea of low carb eating, are openly sceptical of it, and are patronising at the very least(and I'm a nurse.......so I know a lot of nurses)! I have had several dealings with an HCA in my local hospital clinic who really shouldn't be allowed near a hospital patient at all, she is rude, obnoxious and very belittling of people. Because she isn't on a register or have a code of conduct to uphold, she gets away with this behaviour. Good for you you have a nurse who is supportive! I find my consultant more supportive than all his nursing staff put together........
Click to expand...
Well, I have had 14 years of nurses, there are good and bad in all walks of life. Does she work for the NHS? I am talking about NHS nurse who I see at my doctor's. If you feel that you are being treated badly then well say so. Explain to the nurse how she makes you feel. If I thought that I was being belittled I would tell them to be honest
 
derry60 said:
I like the word controlled. We control our BG levels with low carb eating
Click to expand...

Yeah... Fully agree here. Reverted means for me, that OGTT starts at max 5.6, spike max 7.7 and in one hour you will be back under 5.6.

I did not hear any cause that this was done successfully with someone previously diagnosed with T2D.

So reversion is not possible at this time.

Remission can be used from medical point of view, but it is not real remission, just very well controlled. Make an OGTT test and you will see “remission”.
 
Surely the cheating is being done by our Health Care Professionals, by treating the symptoms - not the causes. By using drugs to prevent sugar entering the blood stream, doesn't that give a false reading? Surly by restricting the intake we are doing nothing more than operating within our capabilities.
If you cannot run 26.2 miles, but can walk that distance, you have still completed a marathon, you have not cheated, just achieved the task within your capability

Edited for Grammar
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology
derry60 said:
I like the word controlled. We control our BG levels with low carb eating
Click to expand...
From what I undestand "remission" (and remissione in Italian, both are coming from Latin remittere) means that the symptoms of a condition are lessened or abated. So if the symptom of diabetes, the blood glucose level, is in the normal range, diabetes is in remission, because the carbohydrate intake is low and is controlled.
 
derry60 said:
Well, I have had 14 years of nurses, there are good and bad in all walks of life. Does she work for the NHS? I am talking about NHS nurse who I see at my doctor's. If you feel that you are being treated badly then well say so. Explain to the nurse how she makes you feel. If I thought that I was being belittled I would tell them to be honest
Click to expand...

Hi Derry60, yes, she works for the NHS, and I have complained about her behaviour twice now, as well as having a word with her privately. She denies she is belittling and patronising and thinks her behaviour is fine......I won't be dealing with her next time I'm at clinic. Best thing is it's only once or twice a year! And I agree with you that there is good and bad in everything.
 
If I had the time and money, I would have sued the NHS for providing wrong dietary guidelines to their dietitians and diabetic nurses.

I was also told by the dietitian to eat “anything” in small portions ie I can have a bit of potato, chocolates, ice cream, pasta, anything really as long as they are in small amounts.

And I was sitting there in his office with a red face.

Shocking and Unbelievable!!!

The dietary guidelines which are based on what I observed as mere “opinions” (not based on research) and being implemented by the majority of diabetic teams are careless, dangerous and absolutely appalling.

Low-carbing is the answer to better blood glucose control...and stick with it forever.
 
NHS guidelines for diabetic low carb diets changed a bit in 2018 so couple more years and your nurse can actually say that low carb could be good for you
 
My dietician says it’s changing, but the NHS is such a behemoth that it takes time. She and my consultant are happy for me to low carb, although they’d prefer it if I stayed out of ketosis - officially. I’ve been given the unofficial okay to keep on doing what I’m doing as it seems to be working.
 
NewTD2 said:
Just had a visit with my NHS Dietitian.

Whilst congratulating me for going into "remission" and lowering my HBA1c from 85 to 38 in just over 4 months, he did not like the fact that I changed my diet to an extremely low-carb and very healthy diet.

He said my fasting blood glucose readings between 4 - 6 mmols/l are false and I'm cheating.

He also emphasized to me to eat "normally" and stressed out that the NHS does NOT agree with low-carbing and it's strongly NOT advisable.

So I was sitting there in his office thinking this is just another waste of my time and while I was listening to his sermon, I saw a book sitting on his desk about "Carb and Calories", the best selling book on counting carbohydrates and calories for Diabetics!!!

Absolutely confusing!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Interesting "logic" on the part of this dietitian.

The fact he is a dietitian surely means that he believes that you can influence your health with what you eat. Yet he asserts that you, by influencing your health with what you eat, are cheating.

Clearly a case of confirmation bias. He can see that your diet has had great results, but he ignores it and writes it off as an anomaly, because you aren't eating what he thinks you should eat. It's a dangerous thing, confirmation bias. It switches off that part of your mind which allows you to see data and to let that data influence your opinions.

I'd bet anything, that if he saw 40 patients in a week, 20 of which had had great results through eating LCHF, and 20 of which had had poor results through the 'eatwell plate', he would not even realise that he was being presented with data.

The sad thing is, that doesn't make him a bad person, it makes him normal.
 
derry60 said:
When I have gone for an appointment at the hospital. I usually after my appointment go to the hospital restaurant and have a cup of coffee. I was absolutely shocked to see the nurses and doctors eating chips, crisps, pies etc. My appointment was nothing to do with diabetes as I am pre-diabetic or not sure if I am now with my numbers, because of eating low carb, but these people should be setting an example. Many are overweight themselves
Click to expand...

I posted this further up in this thread “.... fat shaming anyone is so unfair. I was an obese nurse until retirement in 2016 and believe I did a good job despite my weight, plus I probably was more empathetic to obese patients. Working for the NHS is stressful and with irregular shifts, it’s all too easy to have irregular eating and sleeping patterns and also to comfort eat. Who knows if my diabetes diagnosis was as a result of this, but having struggled to lose weight during my nursing career I now realise that this was probably due to my diabetes gradually developing. Who knows how many other obese health care professionals will end up on this forum?”
 
I'm grateful that I was never asked to see a 'dietician'. Why see someone who follows a an outdated view of diet and nutrition and isn't medically qualified either.
 
Rachox said:
I posted this further up in this thread “.... fat shaming anyone is so unfair. I was an obese nurse until retirement in 2016 and believe I did a good job despite my weight, plus I probably was more empathetic to obese patients. Working for the NHS is stressful and with irregular shifts, it’s all too easy to have irregular eating and sleeping patterns and also to comfort eat. Who knows if my diabetes diagnosis was as a result of this, but having struggled to lose weight during my nursing career I now realise that this was probably due to my diabetes gradually developing. Who knows how many other obese health care professionals will end up on this forum?”
Click to expand...

I was just about to quote your original post!

I was going to say "well said". My mum worked in the caring services all her life - hospitals, social services, Mencap etc. She has Type 2, and, up until getting very ill a year ago, was overweight for most of that time.

I also noticed last year when I was at hospital, that a significant majority of the staff there had lots of body fat in spite apparently spending all day on their feet.

I couldn't help feel that I'd much rather be sharing my planet with them, than the skinny scumbag family being aggressive in A&E as I left.

The only people who deserve shaming are people who consciously decide to harm or harass other people.
 
derry60 said:
When I have gone for an appointment at the hospital. I usually after my appointment go to the hospital restaurant and have a cup of coffee. I was absolutely shocked to see the nurses and doctors eating chips, crisps, pies etc. My appointment was nothing to do with diabetes as I am pre-diabetic or not sure if I am now with my numbers, because of eating low carb, but these people should be setting an example. Many are overweight themselves
Click to expand...

1) we do not know the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, but there is a strong indication that obesity is a symptom, not a cause.

2) there is no problem with those who are not diabetic eating carbs, in the same way as there is not problem with those who are not lactose intolerant eating dairy porducts

3) they may be on shifts and have to eat two meals in one go due to staffing issues

4) the causes of obesity are many, varied and fat shaming in this way is not acceptable in this day and age. (in my opinion)
 
mazza 2 said:
I find it hard to understand why your dietician thinks you are cheating!!!! I can only assume he is thinking that if you go back to what is classed as "normal eating" your levels would rise. To me that is like saying to someone with a peanut allergy they are only keeping healthy because they are not eating nuts!!! As long as people are happy to maintain their new lifestyle and as long as it keeps working I don't regard it as cheating and think we should be congratulated for taking (for some people) drastic changes to their diet and lifestyle. Rant over lol
Click to expand...

The peanut allergy analogy is a great one to get across just how bizarre this dietitian's thought process are!
 
NewTD2 said:
His registered patients are mixed from T1, T2 to Gestational etc.

I won't be seeing my NHS Dietitian again. Absolute waste of time.
Click to expand...


I have read these posts with great interest. After losing about 9 kilos, i had a routine check up at diabetes clinic and am now considered 'in remission'! When we began to discuss diet i told her that i had started to LCHF in May last year and lost on average 1 kilo per month. My weight has now stabilised and my HBA1c is now around 6. She asked me to keep a food diary and told me to come back to see the dietitian in one month. The dietitian now tells me that i am not following a 'healthy' diet and i should cut out the eggs and the cheese and replace with...... more cereals, wholewheat pasta and potatoes - in fact, to make up at least 50% of my daily food intake in slow release carbs and lower the fat content to less than 20% and the protein content to about 20 - 25%. I followed this sort of diet for about 20 years and over the years i gained weight steadily and eventually was diagnosed pre diabetic about 10 years ago and then diabetic about 4 years ago. She suggests that i 'try' this new regime and lose a further 6 - 7 kilos, but i know in my heart that this amount of carbs will send my BS up and i will slowly gain the weight. I too will not go back to her! I read many of theposts on this forum about diet. it seems that a great percentage of T2's DONT follow the standard dietary advice. I live in France, if i tell them i am not following 'their' recommendations, i will get a gallic shrug and be told 'serves you right then'.
 
lucylocket61 said:
1) we do not know the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, but there is a strong indication that obesity is a symptom, not a cause.

2) there is no problem with those who are not diabetic eating carbs, in the same way as there is not problem with those who are not lactose intolerant eating dairy porducts

3) they may be on shifts and have to eat two meals in one go due to staffing issues

4) the causes of obesity are many, varied and fat shaming in this way is not acceptable in this day and age. (in my opinion)
Click to expand...
I work 12hr night shifts in a very stressful enviroment and only eat when I get home from work, since going on a lchf diet I have lost over 6st and have now levelled off at 16st 9lb and my hba1c is now in the non diabetic range.
 
If I had followed the advice I was given by the NHS I would probably be on a waiting list to have one or both of by feet chopped off. I just can't get my head around the fact that the NHS has not looked again at the dietary advice they give to patients and save themselves millions of pounds.
 
lucylocket61 said:
1) we do not know the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, but there is a strong indication that obesity is a symptom, not a cause.

2) there is no problem with those who are not diabetic eating carbs, in the same way as there is not problem with those who are not lactose intolerant eating dairy porducts

3) they may be on shifts and have to eat two meals in one go due to staffing issues

4) the causes of obesity are many, varied and fat shaming in this way is not acceptable in this day and age. (in my opinion)
Click to expand...

You are missing my point. These are the same people who give advice to patients, telling them not to eat junk food and to eat a sensible diet, only for the same patients to see the Doctors and Nurses eating the rubbish food that they have slammed to their patients. Sorry I disagree..There were plenty of alternative food in that restaurant, nothing to do with shifts. The other choices of food there were the foods that they advise patients to eat, pasta rice, veg etc..They went for the pie and chips or sausage rolls and crisps. No different from a Doctor advising a patient to stop smoking only to see that Doctor smoking her or himself
 
Back
Top