Programme Reminder Wednesday Itv 9pm

we all know that being over weight is not good for us, but to go on a 800k liquid diet, when they could have gone on a low carb diet I dont understand I have been on a low carb lifestyle for around 5 weeks now, with fantastic results.

EXSMOKER said:

I cannot understand why there was so much emphasis on liver fat.
I was diagnosed with Type 2 8 years ago and have never heard it mentioned before.
Can anyone help me on this please ?

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Liver fat is one of the reasons why we end up with Type 2. Fat round the liver stops the essential hormones, including insulin, from regulating our blood glucose. The liver and pancreas work in tandem to regulate glucose. Without a fully working liver, the system breaks down. Liver fat is very bad for everyone, not just diabetics.

JohnEGreen said:

Somewhat mixed reviews then. Though I don't see it being reversible as news though, as so many here have already done that.

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Basic premise of the first episode:
Shame. Don't you realise you are breaking the NHS.
Stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere without food, four sachets of powder per day.
Misery. Weakness, lethargy and cold.
At which point participants threatened to give up.
Fright. Shown tape of autopsy of 62 yo man with T2. Shows fat and farrt liver.
End point. Loss of weight and improvement of markers.

Very little in the way of education. I have left out the celeb bit because it was, frankly, the most boring bit.

EXSMOKER said:

I cannot understand why there was so much emphasis on liver fat.
I was diagnosed with Type 2 8 years ago and have never heard it mentioned before.
Can anyone help me on this please ?

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https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/itv-the-fat-fix-diabetes.151249/

here's a link to a thread about the content of the program. Very disappointing. Obviously funded by the food/pharmaceutical industry. The word carbohydrate was not mentioned once! There was a much more educational program called The Truth About Carbs which should still be available on catchup on BBC1.

Just watched the second part, I'm hoping that the professor or Zoe can tell me why I lost 15% of my body weight without any change in my BG, until I also cut the carbs.

Professor Jason Gill said "What we are trying to achieve is something we simply do not see in routine diabetes care, we do not see people getting their diabetes into remission".

Simply scandalous that a professor is so ill informed and out of touch with what is happening in the world of diabetes.

DavidGrahamJones said:

Just watched the second part, I'm hoping that the professor or Zoe can tell me why I lost 15% of my body weight without any change in my BG, until I also cut the carbs.

Professor Jason Gill said "What we are trying to achieve is something we simply do not see in routine diabetes care, we do not see people getting their diabetes into remission".

Simply scandalous that a professor is so ill informed and out of touch with what is happening in the world of diabetes.

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I agree. And also why I have only lost about 10% of my body weight, yet still have good control, except if i overdo the carbs.

Its a mystery

Just in case anyone has got to this without seeing my previous comments, I have no doubt that if one is overweight, weight loss is desirable, however, I have a problem with their "hypothesis" that it's the weight loss that's solely responsible for the better BG control.

When they compared their HbA1c scores at the beginning and after 8 weeks. Dramatic improvement all round. As the HbA1c reflects a sort of average for the previous 8 to 12 weeks then obviously their BG dropped as soon as they went onto the VLCD. The 4 week scores may not have been so brilliant because it would have included several weeks before they started. The fact that their BG dropped straight away was obviously expected because they were told to stop taking their medication at the very start.

It would be very interesting to see exactly what their diets were before they started because with their blood results looking so appalling despite being on medication, their diets must have also been appalling. Certainly they seemed to relish in filming the welsh guy eating the biggest burger I've seen AND chips.

The whole setup was very contrived, four weeks away from the real world must have made it easier to stick to 4 shakes a day. Not impossible in the real world, just a lot trickier.

Interesting and disappointing because it glossed over so much, including what they did after the 8 weeks.

Posted elsewhere.... I too was confused by the message this programme was trying to send. If it is saying that averagely overweight, genetically predisposed, middle aged people like me, with relatively well controlled Type 2, and relatively good diet/no meds/un-symptomatic (unless my heart disease was caused by it -who knows)....... diagnosed within last 10 years can reverse my type 2, I will sign up.
Do I have to spend a month fasting on around 800 calories a day? At the end of this can I revert to my current diet? Will I be cured thereafter? ??? Confused....

beano1000 said:

Do I have to spend a month fasting on around 800 calories a day? At the end of this can I revert to my current diet? Will I be cured thereafter? ??? Confused....

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They did seem to be very keen on the idea that weight loss was behind their diabetes being in remission. I've looked at the carb content of the Cambridge Diet shakes, assuming they used those or similar, which is about 14gm per packet, so about 60gms a day and not much more than my 40 gms (OK 50% more) but substantially less than they were eating although that's just one of the things they never mention.

I think along with the fact that their HbA1c was so good after 8 weeks then their BG must have dropped as soon as they went on the diet, or shortly thereafter.

So, in answer to your question my thoughts are that although you might benefit from dramatic weight loss, being cured, I would suggest. might not be a foregone conclusion.

I mention in an earlier message that I lost 15% of my body weight after coming off Rosiglitazone, if I add to that the weight loss after going low carb, it's 30% weight loss. I now only take Metformin and looking at my morning readings I question it's usefulness, but I still need to be low carb or my BG goes all over the place. It would be interesting to see how tolerant of carbs the subjects are now, I only have to have one slice of bread and I'm up in the teens.

beano1000 said:

Do I have to spend a month fasting on around 800 calories a day?

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Not unless you want to. It doesn't work for everyone.

A great many people have had similar, or better, results by eating a low carb diet and enjoying good healthy food. As for being "cured" as yet there is no cure. Reverting to a diet with loads of carbs, and regaining any lost weight, will send us back to where we started.

DavidGrahamJones said:

I wonder why they couldn't find some slimmer type IIs. They happily mentioned how we diabetics are costing the NHS £14 million a year and then, to put it mildly, find test subjects who are all over weight. They all had terrible BG control and you have to ask "what are their GP/DNs doing while their patients keep turning up with high HbA1c?". Probably telling them to eat sensibly.

When they showed the guy eating burger and chips, I really felt they were saying "look, fat person eating loads of stodgy food, they're all the same". I might be over sensitive, but when you have avoided that sort of **** food for more years than you can remember, I do get just a tad sensitive about the suggestion that my weight problem is down to poor eating choices.

I would at least like them to explain why not all overweight people become diabetic and why do slimmer people also become type II.

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Well said...newly diagnosed myself and as a slim 9st 8 starting to get annoyed with the implication that all type 2s are overweight

Using information freely given by folk on this forum I got my HbA1c down from 85 to 38 by increasing exercise (walking quickly), dumping carbs and reducing food intake (portion size). I have no idea how many calories I had, and still have, each day but weight went down by 15kg and I got rid of my fatty liver. Unlike the poor guinea pigs in the programme, I ate a hearty meal every day.
However, I was not involved in a TV programme making sensational comments and using bias evoking scenes. (fat bloke eats burger - so there you go).
I wonder when the “as seen on TV” and, I suspect, quite expensive Fast Fix Diet will available in Boots.
I did though enjoy the BBC programme, the truth about carbs with Dr Xand van Tulleken. It was stated on that programme that the low carb lifestyle approach used by Drs David and Jen Unwin will soon be rolled out across the NHS.

DavidGrahamJones said:

They did seem to be very keen on the idea that weight loss was behind their diabetes being in remission. I've looked at the carb content of the Cambridge Diet shakes, assuming they used those or similar, which is about 14gm per packet, so about 60gms a day and not much more than my 40 gms (OK 50% more) but substantially less than they were eating although that's just one of the things they never mention.

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Thanks, I agree and it annoys me they imply a cure or 'remission'.
Also, what would lay-persons think regarding the readings they quoted for the so called celebs who were 'in the diabetic range'. Do they have type 2? or don't they? If not why not?

What the programme was seemingly saying to me is that if I go 8 weeks on a semi starvation diet, then keep that weight off I am effectively cured. Or was it?

My understanding is simple; you have it, its chronic, it progresses. You can control it. However to control it well you have to make often considerable dietary/lifestyle compromises/sacrifices, and over time more sacrifices will be required.

beano1000 said:

What the programme was seemingly saying to me is that if I go 8 weeks on a semi starvation diet, then keep that weight off I am effectively cured. Or was it?

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Believe it or not I have had several people in the past, complete strangers, ask me questions like "have you thought of going on a diet" or "have you considered bariatric surgery" and even "oh, you're diabetic because you're overweight".
I'm just waiting for some idiot to suggest "Oh, all you have to do is . . . . . . .".
Who said people in the south weren't friendly LOL

So my last hba1c was 37...im cured according to the tv programme. ....funny my consultant didnt mention that to me...i must ask at next months appointment

james11 said:

So my last hba1c was 37...im cured according to the tv programme. ....funny my consultant didnt mention that to me...i must ask at next months appointment

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Aye, funny that. I have learned that excercise is "crucial" in the battle to lose weight and attain remission.
Note to self: Must have a word with those lab boys!

DavidGrahamJones said:

Just watched the second part, I'm hoping that the professor or Zoe can tell me why I lost 15% of my body weight without any change in my BG, until I also cut the carbs.

Professor Jason Gill said "What we are trying to achieve is something we simply do not see in routine diabetes care, we do not see people getting their diabetes into remission".

Simply scandalous that a professor is so ill informed and out of touch with what is happening in the world of diabetes.

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Well thank you for watching and updating the thread.. after the first episode I was so angry by the end I figured I'd do my blood pressure a favour and skip the second! What an absolute joke.. but as a friend of mine pointed out ITV makes its money by being paid for adverts from these food/pharma giants. If I didn't know better and was watching that program hoping for some help with my diabetes I think I'd have been reaching for my ipad to order a takeaway and comfort eat my way up another dress size! I bet the word carbs didn't get mentioned in the second instalment either.. what a load of B****X!

ThePenguinPimp said:

Well thank you for watching and updating the thread.. after the first episode I was so angry by the end I figured I'd do my blood pressure a favour and skip the second! What an absolute joke.. but as a friend of mine pointed out ITV makes its money by being paid for adverts from these food/pharma giants. If I didn't know better and was watching that program hoping for some help with my diabetes I think I'd have been reaching for my ipad to order a takeaway and comfort eat my way up another dress size! I bet the word carbs didn't get mentioned in the second instalment either.. what a load of B****X!

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You are right. Throughout both episodes there was never a mention of carbohydrates. Prof. Gill did a short section which included him counting the calories in fruit, I thought he must mention fructose because of the emphasis on fatty liver in the first episode but no, not a word.

ThePenguinPimp said:

I bet the word carbs didn't get mentioned in the second instalment either.. what a load of B****X!

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I wasn't aware of it being mentioned. I've tried very hard to be objective, I've even tried not to **** it off, but it's impossible. I'm genuinely concerned that many people will see it as some sort of "cure all" for type II. Even though the content has to trimmed down to get it across to the masses, it seems to deliberately miss what we all know in favour of the idea that it's all down to weight. I'm really surprised that an academic, a professor no less, can be so blinkered.