My own account of very low calorie dieting is out there.
I embarked on it ten years ago, in desperation, because I just could not lose weight, had been diagnosed T2 6 years previously, and done everything, I mean stuck rigidly to the advice I had been given by NHS, including the specialist weight management team. That team was made up of doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians, psychologists. I took part in hydrotherapy sessions, gym exercise sessions, nutrition classes, behavioural therapy, and followed the advice rigidly. Over 2 years no improvement in HbA1c, which did in fact increase. No weight loss,other than a couple of pounds. I was being told that the only solution available to me was bariatric surgery. Although I don’t decry that option for those who choose that route, to me it felt like an assault, and emphasised I was not in control of my own health. At this time I read reports of the Newcastle studies, and insisted I wanted to try that route. It was the hypothesis in those early days of the Newcastle research that the restricted diet that is undertaken post bariatric surgery could be as successful in ‘reversing’ T2 as the surgical route, but without the surgery that attracted my attention. To me it was a lifeline. I had not, then,heard of low carbing. The only other options I was aware of were bariatric surgery, or the low fat ‘healthy’ carbs with every meal regime that was being touted by the multi-disciplinary team. Due to my desperation, I now understand that I was ‘blinkered’, in that I did not diligently research further than the ND. In mitigation that was a very stressful time in my life, and I was quite ill, too, with several other health problems.
The Taylor personal fat threshold theory, does seem to fit what happened to me. Within days of starting the Very Low Calorie Diet, my blood glucose levels returned to non-diabetes levels, and stayed there, several years. Suggests support for the theory that the visceral fat is first to be lost. I lost a great deal of weight within a few months, but it was those first few days that were most significant for me. The weight management team, to my satisfaction, could hardly believe that I had succeeded without their help. A year or two later I needed abdominal surgeries for a different condition. post surgery I had a conversation with the surgeon. He told me that although I still had some considerable subcutaneous fat, he had found very little visceral fat.
Of course, following this I was euphoric. I had achieved what the (current at that time) knowledge had said was impossible. After all I was supposed to have the chronic, incurable, progressive T2! I cringe now when I think how evangelical I became about how easy it was. Don’t get me wrong, unlike some, I do see a value in Very LowCalorie Diets , with the caveat that it has limitations, and is not the appropriate method for everyone.; it is not a ‘one off cure’; it has been over-hyped in the media; the definition of ‘reversal’, is a loose one, as it defines HbA1c 48, (usually accepted as highest level prediabetic) as reversal. Despite this, for
some people with a lot of weight to lose, and like me had struggled, it can offer a lifeline. Though they need to know and understand that the calorie restriction phase is just a very small timescale in the rest of life management that has to follow.
What I do have great concern about,
@Tannith, is that from reading your posts, and the responses, you are taking a perfectionist approach, and, have gone to extremes with an obsession about needing to have HbA1c of less than 39, and really low fasting levels. Also, the obsession with frequent OGT tests. The amount of glucose, and the need to consume higher levels of carbs for the few days before could cause erratic increase in BG levels, and the damage on a micro vascular level that you are trying to avoid. Also, I am concerned about your emotional health, too. It appears you have been triggered by a comment from a member, regarding your HbA1c. One member, offering an opinion, that seems to have been misconstrued. Yet lots more members are offering other opinions, supported by research papers, and personal experience, that you choose to ignore. I don’t understand.
@Tannith, please don’t feel you are being ‘got at’. I do admire your tenacity, and determination to follow your chosen path, however misguided many think that is. I also see there are some metits to ND methodology, in the right circumstances. Another big concern I do have is that you are promoting what you suggest are Professor Taylor’s methods, when what you are doing is not that at all. Very misleading, and confusing for people new to T 2 and looking for ways to improve their health.
I am not sure of your age, Tannith, and background, but perhaps as a retired , contented with my lot, type of gal it is easier for me to accept that good enough is good enough. I know that I will die one day. Meantime,I want to do some living, so if I can keep HbA1c on an even keel, (if it stays under 45 that will do, though prefer under 42) and don’t see too high numbers fasting, or post prandial, or have any retinopathy or neuropathy complications, then life is sweet, and there is no need to strive for the perfection that is never going to be attainable. I really wish the same for you.