In 2012, TV expert and author Dr Michael Mosley went to see his GP and discovered that he had type 2 diabetes. Now, he has a personal and professional interest in food. As Dr Mosley has discovered, you can do something to both prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes. If you reduce your body weight by 10 to 15 per cent, this shrinks the visceral fat, unclogs your liver and pancreas, and in the majority of diabetic patients, enables them to come off their medication.
If you are a prediabetic – you have raised blood sugars, but you’re not yet in the diabetic range – a 10 per cent reduction in body weight will cut your chances of becoming diabetic by an amazing 90 per cent. Whether you are diabetic, prediabetic or looking to lose weight, Dr Mosley, his wife Dr Clare Bailey and Dr Sarah Schenker have released The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Recipe Book to guide you through what you can eat with a collection of easy meals. You’ll find some of the ingredients pleasantly surprising!
– DAIRY QUEENS
Until recently, full-fat dairy products were shunned because of a misguided fear that they are bad for you. In 2014, a systematic review by the British Heart Foundation found no evidence that eating saturated fats leads to a greater risk of heart disease. In fact, they found that people with higher levels in their blood of a particular saturated fat called margaric acid (the sort you get in milk and dairy products) had a lower risk of heart disease.
– IN PRAISE OF FULL-FAT GREEK YOGHURT
‘We generally recommend Greek yoghurt, as it has been strained to retain a higher protein content,’ Dr Bailey says. It will satisfy without significantly raising blood sugar, and there’s evidence that a diet containing dairy products does not increase the risk of diabetes or have a significant impact on cholesterol. Live, unsweetened yoghurt will also help boost the healthy bacteria in your gut. The trouble with low-fat yoghurt is that it contains a lot of added sugar or sweeteners and starchy thickeners, which kill vital bacteria. So beware!
– YES PLEASE TO CHEESE!
Cheese goes brilliantly with fruit, such as apples or pears, for a healthy ploughman’s lunch. It also works well with blackberries or blueberries. For a simple lunch snack, eat a matchbox-sized piece of hard cheese and an apple, pear or a handful of berries, along with a stick of celery and a couple of seeded crackers.
– WHY WE LOVE EGGS
Eggs are nutrient-dense, vitamin-rich, high in protein and healthy fatty acids, naturally vacuum-wrapped, fast to cook and incredibly flexible. They also keep you full for longer without raising your blood sugar or cholesterol. Yes! ‘Many of my patients are surprised to hear me recommending eggs, a legacy of the years in which they were unfairly blamed for raising blood cholesterol levels,’ Dr Bailey says. ‘Let me reassure you: eggs are fine.’
– EAT MORE VEGIES
In fact, eat a rainbow! From purple beetroot through to red and yellow capsicum, and dark leafy greens… Non-starchy vegetables are also a great way to top-up on all those vital phytonutrients.
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