starting newcastle diet on 2nd jan

I hit three weeks on this diet tomorrow, I have to say I've nearly caved so many times (making my daughter a cheese sandwich and not eating any cheese as I sliced it has to be similar to waterboarding!!). Still kept to the letter of the diet so far.

Day 1
Morning BG 17.0
Weight 14st 7 1/2 or 92kg

This morning
Morning BG 4.6
Weight 13st 7 1/2 or 86kg

Very happy that I hit the 1 stone lost today. Being 5'7" my BMI is now under 30 and I am lighter than I have been for over a decade. 12st 9lbs would get me into the green zone on a BMI chart, not sure that's possible but going to give it a bash.

I managed to play golf yesterday and was wondering how the diet would affect the way I play (getting tired, not concentrating etc). Happy to report went round as normal, shaved one stroke off of my handicap in fact.

I hope those of you that are coming to the end of your diets will keep us all informed of how you're doing once you return to "normal" food. How your BG readings are holding up etc. Be interesting to know if anyone gets told by their GP they're no longer diabetic.

Congratulations to all of you who are doing so very well on this diet, some fabulous results!




I am starting this diet today .. very nervous as I am usually not very strong willed when it comes to food, hence the weight and diabetes lol .. BUT I am determined to try.

Day 1
Morning BG 13.8
Weight 18st 12lbs

Good luck to you! :thumbup: :clap:

I did a (home based) glucose tolerance test on Sunday. Fbg was 4.0 and 2 hours after drinking 75grams of glucose disoved in water, it was 7.5. That's .3 below the limit for non-diabetics! It is now 2 weeks since I completed the diet, and I have not really constrained myself at all, although I now prefer a plateful of veggies to a couple of spuds or slices of bread. I'm starting on a second round of my version (which I based on the original experiment) of the diet for another 4 to 6 weeks, just to get my BMI into the safe range. I'll be seeing the consultant tomorrow, and getting my first HbA1c result, so fingers crossed. Keep it up folks!

Good luck Momblegoose. I think you will find it much easier than you expect. I thought that I would be ravenous the whole time but I have found that I dont have that much in the way of hunger pangs.
Another 4lbs off this week so thats a total of 29lbs so far.
I am now under 13 stone so very pleased with the weight loss. I am 6ft. 1in so BMI is down to 24
My total body fat is just over 16% which is low for my age (59) but still having trouble shifting the visceral fat which at 12% is the top end of normal.
I think the visceral fat is keeping my BG slightly higher than I would like (5.9 this morning) apparently this type of fat is very active producing hormones and chemicals that increase resistance to insulin so its got to go!!!!

How can you tell how much visceral fat you have? I thought that this could only be found out by means of a MRI scan?

Evensteve,

Just before I started this diet I bought a body measure scales and they tell me amongst many other things my visceral fat.
It's not in a quantifiable form, ie kg's, but in a rating.

Hi All.
I`m seriously p****d off!! Just had a call from my GP to say that she was not going to give me a repeat prescription for my test strips as I was now controlling my diabetes by diet !!!!
She said that NHS guidelines state that if the patient was not in danger of having a hypo then they are not entitled to test strips. I pointed out to her that I would shortly be resuming normal eating and needed to closely monitor my BGs during this transition but she still wouldn`t budge saying that a HB1Ac test would be enough. I told her that it was very short sighted not to support someone who was trying to take positive action to control their condition as it would be cheaper in the long term by reducing costs of medication and long term complications.
I`m afraid it all fell on deaf ears. Many GPs seem content to sit back and take the easy route of writing prescriptions for medication allowing their patients condition to progressivly worsen rather than encouraging them to take responsibility for their own health.

Bluehills, I am so sorry to hear this. I have not got a good opinion of the healthcare professionals generally, but this is outrageous. The lesson appears to be to pretend that you are still taking the pills, so that you can have access to the resources you need to manage your condition. Ridiculous.

When I was first diagnosed, in my first clinic, we were reccomended to use the 'food pyramid' (i.e. skewed towards processed carbohydrate) and 'exercise a bit'. No hope of remission or any mention of the Newcastle diet, just a steady progression into a degenerative disease.

The original experiment is two years old, and so far very little follow up on a larger scale, or on people with longer term conditions. I don't want to shout 'conspiracy' but there must be billions at stake here, with the drug companies rubbing their hands at the oncomming epidemic, and whole careers based on research projects etc. None of these vested interests can be pleased that a simple low cost 8 week intervention can turn things around for the victims of the disease. OK. rant over.

Can you get strips at a reasonable cost from Amazon?

Immis, what model of scales did you get? I have read a few reviews, and they are very mixed. Price does not seem to be an incicator of performance.

Bluehils .. so sorry to hear that your GP is being so unsupportive. It would seem that most are happiest to just sit back on their laurels and pass the buck. Don't be dis-heartened though.



Well .. had a good day yesterday though really struggled when everyone else was sitting there eating their tea and I had a plate of veg LOL! Here's to day 2 .. I am feeling positive so that's good.


Day 1
Morning: BG 13.8
Weight: 18st 12lbs

Day 2
Morning: BG 11.8
Weight: 18st 9lbs

I was told exactly the same Bluehills re testing strips. To be fair, up until the appointment I had with her regarding this diet, she had been nothing short of brilliant. Really took her time to explain the condition, causes, effects, treatments etc. Not unusual for a 5 min appt to take 25 mins.
When I told her I was starting this diet, she completely shut down. She didn't want to know any of the details only to say that the NHS were aware of the study but because it was so small scale it's not something they support. When I said I'd be testing myself more regularly so could I get some more testing strips, I was told they're no longer available on prescription to type twos.
I did feel a little put out by the GP's reaction. Not sure what I was expecting, but I wasthere saying I'm about to start this diet, I thought it would be an excellent chance for the GP to use me as a guniea pig. Considering this could eventually change the way type 2 is treated I honestly thought she'd be more interested in what I was doing.

In these austere times, given the amount spent on treating diabetics in this country (£9bn a year I believe), I'm a little surprised the Government hasn't chosen to take the study to a larger scale.

Evensteve - The scales I got were the Tanita Innerscan BC-543.
I think there are newer ones on the market so I got it at a good price on Amazon.

Momblegoose - Totally up to you, but I would only weigh myself once a week. The reason is because your weight flucuates and you may find that some days it has actually gone up!!! and that is totally demoralising. If you do it weekly, at the same time, under the same conditions, you will get the more accurate and uplifting readings.

Thanks for the advice Immis .. will do.

Hi Evensteve
This a copy of one of my earlier posts:
"The scales I have are Salter MiBody 9119 . They Measure weight/total body fat/water %/BMI/Visceral fat/basal metabolic rate/muscle%. Has a USB slot so can download data to memory stick and put it on the PC. Comes with software and it plots a graph of the results.
Cant remember where I got mine but they are readily available on the internet for 40 odd quid. Amazon have them for £47.
The only complaint I have with them is that they are difficult to read unless there is good light but that may be my eyesight! Also the batteries are a bit loose in the holder so if you jar the scales it loses the date. This is a common complaint according to the reviews but easily remedied by packing between the batteries with a piece of card."

The visceral fat reading they give is a percentage of total body weight so you can work out the actual weight of visceral fat you have.
For me, if the scales are accurate: body weight 180lbs - total fat 16.4% - visceral fat 12% so I have 29.5lbs of fat in total
But of that total 21.5 lbs is visceral and only 8lbs is normal adipose fat.
I can only deduce that my body is genetically programed to store fat around my organs which is why I have type 2.
This means that I need to further reduce body fat and do plenty of aerobic exercise which is meant to keep visceral fat off

Please keep posting, Geordie. This thread has been so helpful for many people, and will serve as a record for the future as well.

For me the diet is only the start. Given that three months after the original study nearly half of the participants had reverted, I want to stay in the non reverting half, but don's know how to go about it. How much 'good' fat is it safe to eat without messing up my liver again?. From one of your earlier posts, (the one from the FDA, I think) muscle tissue remains insulin resistant, even after the diet. Is there anything that can be done to improve this through exercise or diet?

On another note, my visit to the consultant went very well. Liver and kidney functions are normal and cholesterol levels are excellent. HbA1c levels are now in the non-diabetic range. He looked a bit puzzled, as fbg was 14 when first diagnosed in October last.

Re scales, are your readings fairly consistent or do you have to make any special arrangements? One review I read said the user had to put the scales on a solid concrete floor before repeatable readings could be obtained. Another review said that the fat level had not changed despite a large loss in weight.

Morning all. Nearing the end of week 7 of the diet. Weight loss so far, down from 15'0 to 12'5", I'm 6'0 tall. Monitoring bloods twice daily, seem to be pretty stable at early 6's, for both FBS and 2 hours post prandial. I had an HAB1c at week 4 of the diet, recorded at 59, which is 7.5 in old money I believe. I'm exercising at the gym with a personal trainer once a week, work patterns and long commute don't really let me get there more often currently. I'm considering doing another week or two of the diet as I'm liking what I see in the mirror and becoming what I used to call a bit of a gym [mod edit] To be honest, I'm also a little nervous about coming off the diet, and returning to "normal" eating. Ideally I'd love to have am HAB1c after 3 months on the programme to see what it has really done for me. When I started the programme, I think I was realistic about my expectations. At the very least I would have fabulous cheekbones(!), and any weight loss would be good for me. Of course I was hoping for the silver bullet of "cure" but will see how that goes. Best wishes to all, you're doing really well about taking control here, stay with it!

Hi Guys,

Yesterday was the start of week 5 for me, so my weekly update with weight and BG.

Starting weight day 1 was 17st 10lbs - now 16 st 1lb

Starting BG

Mornings was 7 now 4
Evenings was 7.2 now 4.3

Not much weight loss last week; I think my body is getting "wise" to this diet.

In fairness, I am not keeping to the right portion sizes, so consuming more than 800 calories a day - no idea how many as I'm not counting. However, I AM sticking to the agreed number of shakes and only eating the foodstuffs allowed on the diet.

I find myself "snacking" a lot now on cherry tomatoes - a least two punnets per day. :shock:

Finding it remarkably easy NOT to crave alcohol, chocolate, dairy (especially eggs), red or white meat.

Like others before me, my mind is wandering towards "life after the Newcastle diet". My thoughts are I will probably continue with shakes, as I find them both convenient and tasty. Possibly just two a day rather than 3.

I will stick to the salad and veg as the staple back drop of my diet; gradually introducing fish, eggs, white and red meat.

I will always try and avoid pizza, potatoes, chips and junk food in general.

Will possibly go back onto acai berry supplements to ensure my cravings remain a thing of the past.

My goal for the remaining 3 weeks is to get to 15 and a half stone and thereafter try and keep below the 16 stone mark.

Good luck to everyone and don't keep taking the tablets. :wink:

What is everyone doing at the end of the 8 weeks of diet? I am finishing this weekend with a loss so far of 12kgs or about 2 stone. I am going straight onto Atkins induction which will be a feast after this diet! A lot of you seem to really have loved this diet but I have found it very restrictive and I have had an intolerance to the shakes. I cant wait for the 8 weeks to end and to start Atkins!