Food is one of life’s greatest joys and if you want to go low-carb long term and keep your type 2 diabetes in check, it is important to find foods you enjoy. That’s where this series, with chef Katie Caldesi’s recipes, comes in — delicious low-carb dishes to help you make the change in lifestyle. It’s a change that could transform your health.
My type 2 diabetes patients who have signed up to low carb have so far lost, on average, 9kg (1st 5lb). And our greatest weight-loss success, Anna Eastwood (whose story was told last week in the Mail’s Good Health section), lost nearly 9st in just over a year! Imagine the difference that has made to her life.
When I first started offering a low-carb approach to type 2, many of the patients who signed up were particularly interested in avoiding lifelong medication for diabetes and its side-effects.
So far, half of them have been able to come off their type 2 medication completely. Others have also reduced the dosage of their blood pressure and cholesterol pills, or come off them entirely (under medical supervision, of course). These findings were reported in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health last year.
Contrary to what some critics say — that people can’t stick to low carb in the long term — my patients have made it a lifestyle choice and to date the average length of time they have been low carb is two years. I think that’s because low carb can be filling as well as appetizing, and you can also enjoy the good things, such as olive oil, avocados, cream, full-fat Greek yogurt, and butter. Even champagne can be on the menu, on occasion!
