Diabetes and Bad Diet Recommendations in the UK

AODM-blue-circleDiabetes in the UK has now topped four million people. This is 1 in 16—a lot. Our own opinion is rather severe. We believe the British National Health Service (NHS) recommendations are the primary cause of this.

Here are these recommendations (linked to the NHS site, in case you think we are making this up):

“The important thing in managing diabetes through your diet is to eat regularly and include starchy carbohydrates, such as pasta, as well as plenty of fruit and vegetables. If your diet is well balanced, you should be able to achieve a good level of health and maintain a healthy weight.”

What? Want to cause type 2 diabetes, or make it worse? Here is a very, very reliable way to do that: “…eat regularly and include starchy carbohydrates, such as pasta, as well as plenty of fruit …”

So is the British National Health Service recommending a diet known to cause type 2 diabetes? Essentially, this is the case. Diabetes is the inability to metabolize glucose, and for all practical purposes, starch is almost fully converted to glucose in the intestines. Same story for fruit, except fruit is a mix of glucose and fructose, but the impact is similar.

What is type 2 diabetes?

Also known as adult onset diabetes or AODM, is usually defined as an inability to properly metabolize glucose (sugar). Hence sugar levels build up in the blood. This is, in fact, the definition of the disease: chronically high circulating glucose levels. You do not need to be a highly trained specialist to figure out that if glucose levels are chronically high, making them higher by eating more glucose is not a solution. This is plain common sense. You would no more give excess glucose to a diabetic than alcohol to an alcoholic—at least not to one you were hoping to cure.

We had it right in the US. Why did we change?

great-grain-swindle-food-pyramidIn the US in the late ‘60’s type 2 diabetes was relatively rare. However, the federal government the nation’s health was deteriorating and decided to pronounce itself an authority on nutrition. Panels were impaneled, politicians pontificated, and behind the scenes, lobbyists scurried about hoping to throw things their way. The big winner was the starch industry (think breakfast cereal), with grain-based products being practically elevated to the level of wonder drug. On the other hand, fats, especially saturated fats, were pronounced the root cause of all things evil—nutritionally at least—and all but forbidden. This resulted in the famous food pyramid, with a huge portion devoted to starch, and only a minuscule bit at the top left for fats.

Now this is not a good diet for anyone. Other than raw energy, starch has little in the way of nutritional value. However, for a diabetic, it is a disaster. Besides the obvious absurdity of attempting to impose a standard diet on people with a huge breadth of needs, the high starch change launched the diabetes epidemic in the US, and likely the Alzheimer’s one as well.

It does not appear that the UK adopted anything like the food pyramid as national advice. In fact, prior to the late 1990s there is a nearly complete paucity of dietary advice of any sort form any UK organization. Perhaps Brits have more sense that to listen to government advice. However, by 2,000 the strange “give ‘em glucose” recommendations seems to have been put in place in the UK as well.

The Brits are not alone in this dangerous advice.

Whether the British National Health Service came up with diabetic dietary recommendations on their own, or cobbled it up from some US advice is unclear. However, there was ample bad advice available in the US to cobble it from.

Here we have…

American Diabetes Association

“Starchy foods can be part of a healthy meal plan, but portion size is key. Whole grain breads, cereals, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables like potatoes, yams, peas and corn can be included in your meals and snacks.”
“Wondering how much carbohydrate you can have? A place to start is about 45-60 grams of carbohydrate per meal.” [50-60 grams of carbs per meal is A LOT!]

“A healthy meal plan for people with diabetes is generally the same as a healthy diet for anyone—low in saturated fat”

U.S. National Institute of Health

“Eating a variety of whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables every day”

“Eating less fat”

“Using less salt”

Is there hope this will some day be straightened out. This harmful advice filters down to clinicians in both countries, and this is very detrimental.

Some times there is a glimmer of sanity. The British National Health Service got it right on eggs. Although it had been known for at least 70 years that eating dietary cholesterol did not effect circulating cholesterol (and hence, eggs could be eaten as desired, yolk and all), the NHS was right on top of things, and by 2000, and given eggs the green light. On the other hand, the American high priests of nutrition stood their ground for another 15 years, only recently relenting on eggs. (This is being currently challenged in court by a vegan group claiming the egg cartel cooked the data. Really!)

The advice to reduce saturated fat is equally misguided.

Fat, and especially saturated fat, has never caused adult onset diabetes. In fact, in trial after trial, those fed high-fat, low-carb diets immediately reversed their tendencies toward diabetes, meaning their circulating glucose dropped. When the opposite diet was applied, one very similar to the British National Health Service recommendation, quite the opposite occurred: glucose levels rose.

Quantitative Medicine Has Reliably Cured Type 2 Diabetes

By applying the dietary and exercise protocols found elsewhere on this site, Dr. Mike has achieved a cure rate of 100% on patients that presented with type 2 diabetes. In some cases, people were cured within three months. It should be borne in mind that maintaining the cure is a lifetime commitment, though well worth it.

  2 comments for “Diabetes and Bad Diet Recommendations in the UK

  1. Richard
    May 5, 2017 at 10:04 am

    How about Insulin-resistance vs. Fat (saturated, unsaturated)?

    • May 5, 2017 at 4:18 pm

      Hi Richard,
      Even a ‘touch’ of insulin resistance (IRS) is bad. Fat, either one being fat or consuming fat, is less of an issue than the IRS; of course being obese is often linked to IRS but, oddly, not always. We see a little of this paradox in natives of India, for example. By the way, what is reported as a normal ‘fasting insulin’ range is far too permissive of higher insulin. Dr. Mike

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