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What is the story with Diabetes UK?

KathyCP

KathyCP

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Can anyone tell me why Diabetes UK still gives people such dreadful advice about diet? Since joining this forum, I have realised how many thousands of us there must be who have had brilliant results by adopting an LCHF diet - I don't for a moment want to suggest that everyone should follow it, and it may not work for everyone, but I would have thought that anyone with T2 should at least be told that it's worth trying to see what sort of an effect it has. Seeing as Diabetes UK is the leading national charity/organisation whose remit is to support people with diabetes, I find it pretty shocking that they seem to be so off beam.
 
KathyCP said:
Can anyone tell me why Diabetes UK still gives people such dreadful advice about diet? Since joining this forum, I have realised how many thousands of us there must be who have had brilliant results by adopting an LCHF diet - I don't for a moment want to suggest that everyone should follow it, and it may not work for everyone, but I would have thought that anyone with T2 should at least be told that it's worth trying to see what sort of an effect it has. Seeing as Diabetes UK is the leading national charity/organisation whose remit is to support people with diabetes, I find it pretty shocking that they seem to be so off beam.
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Are they ? I have never bothered to look, probably as I found this site first. I can only speculate obviously but it wouldn't surprise me if they were steered by certain health professionals who either hold the same views as the everyday NHS staff who regularly give outmoded info about dieting and about not needing to use self-testing meters or they wish to maintain a strong link with the management of the NHS for political or financial reasons to the extent that they would avoid rocking any boats (even if said boats are full of holes and are sinking possibly due to there being just too many carbohydrates on board).
 
pleinster said:
Are they ? I have never bothered to look, probably as I found this site first. I can only speculate obviously but it wouldn't surprise me if they were steered by certain health professionals who either hold the same views as the everyday NHS staff who regularly give outmoded info about dieting and about not needing to use self-testing meters or they wish to maintain a strong link with the management of the NHS for political or financial reasons to the extent that they would avoid rocking any boats (even if said boats are full of holes and are sinking possibly due to there being just too many carbohydrates on board).
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I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case,but the organisation is staffed by volunteers, not by health professionals, so you would have thought that someone should be rocking the sinking boat! I've been thinking about this for a while, as I religiously followed their advice for two years after I was diagnosed, and I'm pretty appalled that I thought that I was doing everything I could to help myself, only to discover that not only was this not true,but that I was actually making it more difficult for myself to keep things under control. I've just sent them a long e-mail - let's see what they say .....
 
KathyCP said:
I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case,but the organisation is staffed by volunteers, not by health professionals, so you would have thought that someone should be rocking the sinking boat! I've been thinking about this for a while, as I religiously followed their advice for two years after I was diagnosed, and I'm pretty appalled that I thought that I was doing everything I could to help myself, only to discover that not only was this not true,but that I was actually making it more difficult for myself to keep things under control. I've just sent them a long e-mail - let's see what they say .....
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Oh, I think you will find that a number of these volunteers are health professionals...and one or two quotes from their own site (which I have been exploring) might just indicate their "direction" -

"We work with professionals contributing to diabetes treatment and care".

"We are committed to improving care for all people with diabetes, and are keen that learning from one area or programme is shared throughout the NHS".

"Find out about the Diabetes UK Professional Conference – the UK's largest professional conference on diabetes".

I am not saying they shouldn't have professionals on board (it is a very good thing indeed)..nor am I saying that the intention is anything other than to inform and assist...and, as I said, I knew next to nothing of them before your post...but I am saying that perhaps there are reasons that Diabetes UK is less than progressive when it comes to dietary advice (as you have started and is I can see fairly true from the site) and that is probably not coincidental that the NHS "party line" is almost identical.

I would also stress that I believe very strongly in the principle of an NHS and have benefited tremendously from it. I admire the surgeons, doctors, nurses and carers very much. I am less than enamoured of the managers (generally) and can see that on the issue of control of diabetes, while the professionals I have dealt with personally are excellent...things are less than ideal. Hopefully, this is changing slowly for the better.

Meantime, I'll stick with this site as it does the job very well indeed.
 
I doubt they'll have much success stamping out recommendations to try LCHF as a strategy to address type 2 diabetes in their forum. It works so well for so many people that they won't be able to suppress it. I've heard that it took a while for LCHF to overcome resistance and become accepted here on our forum.
 
It concerns me more that a lot of folk will just ✻switch-off✻ from this debate ..and carry on trying to find their own, maybe detrimental, ways.

When I was Dx'd ..my physician supplied me with some dietary advice in the form of several A4 photocopies ..and that was it ..I'd surmise this has happened to most of us.

Please ..everyone ..identify some universally helpful dietary advice ..and put that in the public domain.
 
My DN gave me their web address as the online place to go. I'd already found this site and forum, got my Libre and started seeing what carbs (OMG look at how high my BS goes when I eat them) did and had started on an LCHF diet and felt great as a result. Personally I am hoping that my 3 monthly test results show evidence that a LCHF diet and exercise works. AND that in future years the new healthier and fitter me also proves the point. The medics can't really say anything negative if it does and at some point they will learn and change.
 
No2D said:
It looks like the culture is cast in concrete per the little bit I just read.
Diabetes UK link. .. "What to do if LCHF shows up on our forum? Report them."
Send in the thought police.

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/board...appropriate-advice-and-reporting-posts.64990/
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In fairness the post does say " we are not against LCHF or Atkins" it's asking posters not to become combatative and that there are many ways to control/,treat diabetes. I understood the post to be referring more to the manner in which advice was given. Having said that, in my opinion, present NHS advice on diet is dire
 
In a recent post on that site a well known and frequent poster said that it was not healthy for a t2 to fast. And that we should eat 3 meals a day plus snacks.
 
13lizanne said:
In fairness the post does say " we are not against LCHF or Atkins" it's asking posters not to become combatative and that there are many ways to control/,treat diabetes. I understood the post to be referring more to the manner in which advice was given. Having said that, in my opinion, present NHS advice on diet is dire
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Sadly there have been times when this site has been combative as well. I can understand that people are pleased with a positive result but when they get that they seem to want to push it onto others as if it is the only way to go. It got to the point on a couple of occasions when supporters of a diet left this site to form a new site of their own. Since they all agreed with each other they ran out of things to say.

The way I read DUK is that they don't want something similar happening to them.
 
KathyCP said:
I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case,but the organisation is staffed by volunteers, not by health professionals, so you would have thought that someone should be rocking the sinking boat! I've been thinking about this for a while, as I religiously followed their advice for two years after I was diagnosed, and I'm pretty appalled that I thought that I was doing everything I could to help myself, only to discover that not only was this not true,but that I was actually making it more difficult for myself to keep things under control. I've just sent them a long e-mail - let's see what they say .....
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I joined them a year ago for a bit. I found if I posted anything positive about LCHF the debate was shut down with fairly hostile reactions. I've just read a few threads on LCHF and whilst its obviously appearing more and more, there seems to be a lot more focus on the downsides compared to here. its also quite confusing because the posters don't differentiate T1 and T2 so the answers seem muddled.

I think a lot of the problems stem from a misunderstanding of what LCHF actually is - a REAL FOODS diet with limited carbs and moderate proteins necessary for nutritional needs and the balance made up of fats. It is SUCH a shame it is called LCHF as that seems to fly in the face of everything everyone "Knows" . In any event its clear that when a website is supported by the food industry, it is going to continue to put out articles as to which brand of biscuit rather than saying get rid of the biscuits.

They continually put out misleading tweets. I reacted to one which defined friendship as " providing the needed slice of toast after a run " They came back and explained that this was a post about how a friend of a T1 diabetic person, had provided toast to counteract a hypo. - As a message tweeted to all and sundry with no context it was just bizarre.
if you look at their tweets, you can see that they have basically put their eggs i the "More exercise" camp - nearly all of the photos they provide are something to do with running or walking.

when they do tweet feed it includes such nonsense as

Jacket potatoes
Try filling potatoes with baked beans, jazzed up with some chilli powder or cayenne pepper, and a few mushrooms and caramelised onions.

  • Use food labels to choose healthier sandwiches, and cut down on your intake of salt and fat by choosing fruit and bottled water over crisps and fizzy drinks.
  • Try to avoid shopping for lunch (or any food!) when you’re really hungry – you might buy more than you need and you're more likely to make a less healthy choice.
  • Swap a canned drink for a diet version and save around 6tsp sugar.
  • coke90x90.jpg
    Cut back on fat by choosing baked crisps as a healthier alternative to fried.
  • Choose a two-finger chocolate wafer biscuit, rather than a standard chocolate bar, and save on both fat and calories.

With the best will in the world - its frighteningly inadequate advice that still meets the healthy eating plate- is notionally " good for you " , doesn't upset its food sponsors and leaves people with diabetes none the wiser. .

I deleted my account.
 
If I can play Devil's advocate for a second. DUK curing diabetes would be like turkeys voting for Christmas. I phoned them once about a booklet and they weren't interested in anything except how much money I was going to donate. To sum up, they are a charity interested in survival.
 
Why not try adding something positive about the Atkins diet, citing this forum on Wikipedia - then you can watch it vanish very quickly - Atkins is a dangerous fad diet according to them.
With that sort of pressure it is not surprising that to get normal BG levels is to be ignored by doctors - I have only seen one doctor since diagnosis, and that was to be pressured to take statins when I had them taken off my repeat prescription.
It is an attitude which goes back a long way - William Banting had to self publish his 'Letter on Corpulence' and went on doing so in the face of ridicule, a hundred years later Dr Atkins was mocked - something very strange is behind it, but now there is the internet it isn't something which can be put down in the same way as when we were more isolated.
 
Guzzler said:
Have a look at their list of sponsors. Jus' sayin'.
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DUK got into bed with ASDA who sponsored their latest book launch. They also hold their open days in ASDA stores, and the prizes for their raffles are also supplied by ASDA, So yes, they are totally dependant on their sponsors.
 
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