Today, in the fourth part of our life-changing series, pioneering GP Dr David Unwin explains why cutting carbs could lower your blood pressure level, while chef and food writer Katie Caldesi offers more of her super-quick recipes to tempt your tastebuds.
Earlier this week I explained how a better diet can improve not just type 2 diabetes but obesity, fatty liver disease even high blood pressure.
I ve seen this effect in more than 200 of my patients, and experienced it myself!
The thing about high blood pressure is that you don t really see its effects until you have a heart attack or a stroke so some people tend not to bother with their pills. But imagine if you could take the uncertainty away just by eating the right food.
Today, in the third part of our life-changing series, Dr David Unwin looks at simple ways to help you tackle your sugar cravings, while chef Katie Caldesi offers more of her delicious recipes that show ‘low carb’ doesn’t mean missing out!
Looking back I feel a certain shame about the way I treated my overweight and type 2 diabetes patients before I came across low carb. For years, I found looking after them unrewarding because they didn’t seem to improve.
Now, of course, I realise that I was actually to blame for giving them poor advice!
These days thanks to what we now know about tackling weight gain I’m proud to tell you the average weight loss for 336 of my patients who’ve gone ‘low carb’ is 1 st 10 lb (11kg) over 28 months, and 14 have lost more than 4 st (25kg) each.
When my husband, the Italian chef Giancarlo Caldesi, celebrated his 69th birthday recently, my sons and I clubbed together to buy him a bike.
It might seem an unremarkable gift, but for Giancarlo his new bicycle marks an exciting milestone not only in his battle against type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease that affects nearly four million Britons, but also his long-term gout.
Six years ago, Giancarlo amazed everyone by losing three stone and putting his type 2 diabetes into remission after discovering low-carb eating, a movement that’s gathering momentum among patients and doctors worldwide thanks to its transformative effects on health and happiness.
Let me start with an embarrassing confession: for years, patients with a weight problem were among my least favourite cases to deal with as a doctor.
Back then they filled me with despair, because despite giving them the suggestions set out in official guidelines, they rarely if ever lost weight, and the health of those with type 2 diabetes so often just got worse.
When I look back, I see now that it was my fault: I gave poor advice, then blamed my patients when it didn t work.
But now I ve found a proven way to help them. And these days I actually enjoy helping people lose weight because we re seeing such great results with this in my GP practice.