Webchat with Dr Michael Mosley about preventing and reversing Type 2 Diabetes, Tuesday 26 January, midday to 1pm

[RachelMumsnet]

Dr Michael Mosley is returning to Mumsnet on Tuesday (26 January) between midday and 1pm. This time he will be on hand to answer questions about his latest book The 8 week blood sugar diet which reveals a game-changing approach to one of the greatest silent epidemics of our time - raised blood sugar levels.

Mosley’s book explains that because of the high sugar/carb diet we eat today, more than a third of adults in the UK now have raised blood sugar levels and most don’t know it. This is not only making us fat, but also putting us at risk of type 2 diabetes, strokes, dementia and cancer. His book shows how to shed the dangerous abdominal fat fast, reprogramme the body and prevent and actually reverse type 2 diabetes. The book has been described as “a potentially a life-changing book for people with raised blood sugar levels as well as those with type 2 diabetes" by Dr Tim Spector, Professor of Genetics at King's College, London. A former diabetic, Carlos says: "The diet cleaned out my liver and pancreas. It's not so easy for me to gain weight any more. It's as though my body is working metabolically like a young man's again, and I like the person I see in the mirror now."

Interested? Come and chat to Dr Mosley at midday on Tuesday and if you’re unable to join the live webchat, post a question in advance to this thread.

bigchoc HFCS is not rare in the UK...you try finding ice cream or fizzy pop without HFCS and a lot of other products such as jsm, hot chocolate, etc are laced with it

Why is fruit a risk for T3 and what effect does fruit have on T3? Would is also alter T4 production and in what way?

I'm another T1 pump user. Would this diet/way of eating benefit T1s as well as T2s, do you think? (Obviously without the side benefit of reversing the condition since that's pretty non-negotiable at this point!)

ivy The Mail ran their usual scare story, but according to Diabetes UK's comment afterwards

"In the UK, consumption of HFCS is negligible (0.38kg per person per year), whereas in the US it’s 65 times higher (24.78kg per person per year)."

I had gestational diabetes in my second and third pregnancies requiring insulin. Now 2 and half years later my A1c is 47.

I have lost some weight by decreasing the carbs in my diet (my BMI is towards the upper end of normal) and am in the middle of reading your book. My question around the blood sugar diet is, is it the weight loss alone that is important, or the rapidity?

In other words If I lost 6kg over a year rather than 8 weeks would it have the same effect on my diabetes risk?

Thanks

The issue with fruit is that the liver can only handle a limited amount:
I think every cell in the body can process glucose, but that only the liver can process fructose

ivy my T3 earlier was a typo for T2 of course

Oh sorry BCF, T4&T3 are all connected with thyroid production - so I assumed that was what you meant

I'd like to ask what is the long-term evidence for this approach? What happens after the initial 8 weeks?

Any low-calorie diet results in weight loss, whether it's Atkins, Cambridge, Lighter Life etc. However the weight is almost always regained within a short timescale. Does this approach do anything different in the long-term?

And what PacificDogwood asked - great question that really needs an answer!!

My husband is a T2 diabetic (diagnosed about 5 years ago). He's on week 3 of the diet. He's being supported by his GP and he went for a long chat before starting. He's lost 10lbs and his blood sugars are down to "normal" levels (mid 4s first thing in morning, mid 5a for 2 hrs after meals) (this is a massive improvement his last Hb1AC was 9 - although he was terrible at taking his medication).

He has started taing medication (metformin and glucosaide) regularly. GP said to drop glucosaide if he was having hypos, but he doesn't feel his blood sugar is dropping that low.

He has 2 questions:

1. Might he find in the next few weeks on the diet his blood sugars drop further and he can reduce medication?

1. If at the end of diet he finds he still needs medication (even with say doing 5:2/low carbing) could he redo the 8 week diet again? How many months should he wait to do again?

I am interested in the book from a parent's point of view. Diabetes runs in my husband's family. PILs told him it didn't and then changed their story when he was diagnosed pre-diabetic. They don't know which type it is but a few generations back a relative died aged 12 from the effects of diabetes, according MIL.

Children are now teenagers and making their own choices about food at school.

I suppose I am wondering if they eat a sausage roll/pizza every day at school can I counteract the effects with the food I buy and cook?

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes which I managed through diet until the last fortnight when my morning sugars were too high.

I'm still breastfeeding my 10month old, is the 8 week diet suitable if I am breastfeeding?

Also, would the 8 week diet reduce risk of GD in a future pregnancy?

SauvignonPlonker (What a brilliant name ) after 8 weeks, I presume, if you go back to eating what you were before, you'll undo the work you've done - just like any other diet!

I'd really, really, like to be able to attend this, but I'm at work. Please MNHQ, do these webchats always have to be during the day? Why do you always assume that we can attend?

Why do people need to lose the weight so quickly? 800 calories for eight weeks sounds extremely challenging. Why not 1600 calories for 16 weeks instead?

The basic idea of the 8-week diet is to reverse the T2 / pre-T2 by burning off fat from the liver and pancreas.

afaik, the earliest test subjects did this diet about 3 years ago and the reports I've read say those who achieved the reversal have maintained it, even when they have regained some weight.

I wonder if this is because the regained weight is the subcutaneous fat (which doesn't seem to cause T2), not the internal fat that was lost.
Presumably though, after a few years of a sugary high carb diet, the internal fat - and hence the T2 - return.

Hence the longterm maintenance plan on Low Carb Mediteranean, just no longer the 800 cals and with small amounts of grains, wine allowed.
imo, the book should make it clearer that this needs to follow the 8-week diet, for longterm health.

For Dr Mosely / Prof Taylor:
Would a more gradual weight loss with a less dramatic reduction in calories burn as much internal fat ?
Do the pancreas and liver need this 8-week period to rest & repair, durimg which they have much less work to process the small amount of food ?

Stuntmun 1600 calories is above maintenance for some women

I'm assuming the drastic reduction is because of the way the body begins to utilise its own internal fat stores when there is a deficit in calories ingested. The aim would be to get maximum reduction in fats stored in the liver and pancreas - but that's just a reasonably educated guess based on what I know about intermittent fasting

I'm not convinced on the advisability or necessity of fast weight loss.

DH was diagnosed with type 2 three years ago. He was just over the boundary between normal and overweight BMI. There's a strong genetic component in his case - his mother also has type 2, despite never being overweight. DH lost some weight in the first year after diagnosis and is now at the lower end of normal BMI. He has no symptoms and his check-ups show that he is stable. He no longer needs metformin. He lost weight gradually by doing lowish carbs and low GI/GL. It's resulted in sustainable healthy eating patterns, which I think would have been much harder if he'd gone the Newcastle route. It's a crash diet which comes with its own risks, especially for those who already have a difficult relationship with food.

I'm not sure the NHS recognises such a thing as an ex-diabetic. DH needs no treatment, has no symptoms and diabetes doesn't impact his life at all except for the yearly appointments, yet he still has type 2 according to his records.

Oh yes, question - how do we get the standard NHS advice changed? DH is still being advised to eat a low fat diet based around generous portions of pasta, rice, bread or potatoes. He ignores that advice because he has the time, energy and skills to research properly but lots of people don't and are reliant on the advice of their GP and practice nurse.

"Crash" diets got a bad rep because of ridiculous sleb maple syrup diets and some much earlier US vlcd shakes with crappy ingredients.

However, new studies imdicate that fast weight loss over a short period on a healthy system may be more effective than slow weight loss over a long period.

The book references one of these studies, comparing a 36-week standard diet to a 12-week vlcd, both aiming to lose 12.5% bodyweight.
The slower group had a more than 50% dropout rate compared to below 20% dropout from vlcd.
Both groups were followed for another 3 years and had similar amounts of regain.

What is the 'maintainance' programme, after the 8 weeks. It's 800 calories for 8 weeks, and then ......? It is then 5:2? How many calories?

Type 2s need to control Carb intake. Type 1s can eat carbs but have to inject specific amounts according to Carb intake and their own personal ratio.

Carbs should not be cut out for kids as they are growing. His is essential for Type1 kids.

NHS advice to type 2 adults is dire. As a parent to a type 1 we weigh all the food my child has and adjust inulin taken. We Carb count which is something type 2s should do and be advised. Carbs are in bread, potatoes and rice as a starter. Exercise is great for both types (and anyone actually).

Watching - I'm a t2 diabetic, insulin controlled (pregnant but insulin controlled even when not - last Hb1Ac 32).

Started with gestational and didn't go away. At time of that pregnancy I had a normal BMI (23, had fertility treatment) and was very fit (running 2x marathon distance a week). BMI after pregnancy slightly high (27), breast fed for 11 months. Currently pregnant again.

It runs in my family, several t2 diabetics, including my mother who has a BMI in the normal range.

1. Would this diet help somebody whose BMI is normal?

1. I'm tempted to try it as soon as I've had this baby, I'm concious I've gained weight - is it safe to do while breastfeeding?

Obs Maintenance is Low Carb Mediteranean:

• NO added sugar or junk carbs
• Lots of non-starchy vegetables, lentils, beans
• Nuts, avocado, olive oil.
• Fish, eggs, yoghurt, cheese
• Maximum 1-2 portions low sugar fruit (no juice)
• Optionally v smallportions (side dish) of bulgur wheat, steelcut oats, oat bran
• Optionally red wine some evenings, but within nhs daily & weekly limits.

I think fasting is optional, so long as you eat the appropriate amount to maintain weight

Fuzz, I'm really sad to see that you are weighing all good.
The mum of a a recently diagnosed t1 child also told me this. I had no idea this was being currently recommended.
It harks back to the dark ages. I thought we'd moved on from all that nonsense.
What a shame.

Thank you BigChoc re maintainence.
I'm surprised it's not recommended to t1, because of the fasting.
Goes against everything I've been told. Or is that caution?

Many type 1's now fast. Even more are low carbing.
Many type 2's are low carbing aswell.

But they get told off when they go to their diabetic clinics.

Because these clinics are still dishing out the the same advice as they have for the last 20 years: all the current NHS guidelines that seem draconian- plates of carb equivalents and recommendations of a certain number of carbs, high fibre, low fat advice which led us to eating low fat young, which now turn out to have all sorts of nasty additives to make up for the missing fat and missing sweetness.

Fasting for a certain number of hours.
Most people can manage the 8 hour window.
Plus, they could then eat a no carb meal.
I was always told that my basal Pump settings were deliberately set, to give me the required amount, for my basic needs.
If I choose to eat tonnes I just bolus more. If I chose to eat nothing at all, or no carb, then no bolus required, and it should function nicely.

And if that's the case, and it does give me the freedom to choose to eat different amounts every day and different times, then a choice to fast should be fine.

So why is this not suitable for type 1's?

All patients have already been told to contact their HCP before making any changes. So Molesley has already covered himself there, so why is it do risky?