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Yet Another Program.......

Safi

Well-Known Member
Messages
515
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Catalyst had another 'beat diabetes' program this week that may be of interest to some http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4888637.htm not sure if it will play outside of Australia though.

Followed/assisted four people with pre-diabetes or on the brink of pre-diabetes for 10 weeks. Nothing earth shattering - host/nutritionist got in a couple of digs about 'fad diets' & suggested everyone eat less/move more. One dropped out & the other three saw pretty impressive reductions in visceral fat. One apparently returned to normoglycemia.

Vaguely interesting was the hosts own post prandial blood sugar testing & a brief section on healthy sumo wrestlers. The hosts numbers went (to my mind) fairly high after eating toast but she seemed happy with them.
 
Hmmmm......... seems the images of the host's blood sugar readings were doctored. No reason yet given as to why but something to do with the magic of television I imagine. Still pretty poor form. Catalyst used to be an excellent program.
 
Tipetoo said:
It's the cutback in funding to the ABC and SBS by the Federal Government.
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And the constant political & commercial interference.
 
Tipetoo said:
There is a download link for the video file here, the file size is 193 Mb.

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/tv/catalyst/catalyst_18_19_05.mp4
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Thanks for the link though did take me almost 30 seconds to down load it. I have watched catalyst now and again though missed this one.

I also like some of the NHK WORLD-JAPAN (English) Medical frontiers programs some are very informative especially the one on high blood sugar spikes.

 
@Safi, saw this Catalyst programme, and wondered why the presenter Dr Joanna Mc Milan tested the white toast with Vegemite, and the grainy bread toast with avocado on herself, producing glucose spikes, then said that although she herself was not diabetic, these foods would have even greater, longer lasting effects on someone who had T2D or prediabetes.
It seemed that testing on someone with prediabetes or the four/three participants would have been more to the point. The whole thing seemed inconclusive to me.
 

The whole program was pretty light on details wasn't it? I didn't think her own post prandial results were all that hot if I'm honest & she was pretty shady/non-forthcoming on timing & the like. There was very little in the way of info/data on the actual diets or the results of the three guinea pigs at the end too. I couldn't even be bothered to shout at the telly which is not my usual style at all
 
Safi said:
I couldn't even be bothered to shout at the telly which is not my usual style at all
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I use old tea towels to throw at the television or my partner, when I reckon some programme stink.
 
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Tipetoo said:
I use old tea towels to throw at the television or my partner, when I reckon some programme stink.
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I'll have to try that! All the shouting can't be good for my throat
 
Although Diabetes Australia endorse low carb diet, the Royal Aussie college of GPs appears to be sitting on the fence (? time to get the bull ants out to help them decide)? and the Dietitians Association of Australia have in the past deregistered a dietitian in 2015 for promoting low carb diet to T2D patients. This latter story might have made a better story for TV ? ( I am of course prepared to be corrected if any of the powers that be have changed their tune).
 

I fully expect the DAA will be the last to come around & will have to be dragged kicking & screaming. Having said that, there is already some gaslighting going on - their spokesbots have started saying "we never said the food pyramid was suitable for everyone" which is not how I remember it but ...OK I think they're also being a bit more careful about deregistering people too - I know of at least one member who openly (flagrantly!) recommends low carb & she's still open for business. Of course they still won't let up on Gary Fettke but then he's not one of them......

I can't remember if Jennifer Elliot's story made it into the Four Corners episode in which Fettke appeared but I agree it would be far more informative than poor old Catalyst!
 
Thanks for the info , I was not aware of Gary Fettke's story. A view of who sponsors the DAA is also informative !!
 
kitedoc said:
Thanks for the info , I was not aware of Gary Fettke's story. A view of who sponsors the DAA is also informative !!
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Gary's story is infuriating! They've not really succeeded in silencing him though - indeed I believe they've made it worse for themselves

Agree on the sponsorship issue too - I believe Joanna McMillan is supported by & supports the grain & legume lobby.
 
I didn't throw anything at the telly because I didn't bother watching it. The fact that Joanna McMillan was the presenter told me all I needed to know about how it would be presented - she's probably the most high profile and highly conflicted with industry sponsorship of the "celeb" RD's in Oz.

Catalyst has completely lost all scientific credibility with this latest incarnation of the show. Once they sacked all the older presenters who'd been presenting real science for many, many years and started this light, fluffy, dumbed down magazine format, I stopped watching altogether. Too hard on the blood pressure to do otherwise.

A lot goes back to the flak they received over Maryanne Demasi's two shows on low carb and heart disease. If you don't recall them, this is Dr Malcolm Kendrick's inimitable dissection:

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/06/15/youre-killing-my-patients-again/
 
Apart from the fudged BG readings, apparently there was also a lot of not-so-subtle product placement going on, particuarly of Joanne's "sponsors" Tip-Top Bakeries. I wonder what her connection is to Cobram Estate olive oil
 
Thanks for the Kendrick link @Indy51 - I well remember the brouhaha but hadn't read that piece. The loss of Demasi was indeed a blow - she was a 3 time winner of the Nat. Press Club award for Excellence in Health Journalism for crying out loud.

I can certainly see why you didn't watch the program but telly shouting is a hobby of mine so I couldn't resist. Of course good ol' Catalyst even managed to disappoint me on that front
 
@Indy51, I remember those two ABC programmes and thought that Maryanne Demasi was unfairly dealt with. And I could not believe the criticism from Norman Swan -I can recall shouting at the radio on the way to work.
 
Let's just say, I've been unable to take Norman Swan seriously on any medical issue since he went boots and all on Maryanne. Establishment d!ckhead IMO.
 
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