FREE INSIDE Deliciously effective way to reverse diabetes

BEAT DIABETES TYPE TYPE2 2

MOUTHWATERING RECIPE PULLOUT

STRUGGLING with excess weight and type 2 diabetes? This groundbreaking low-carb plan — which we launched in Saturday’s Mail and are continuing all this week with superb pullouts of tasty recipes — should put you back in control and could even help to reverse your type 2 diabetes. Here, the NHS GP behind the plan explains how it works, while top chef Giancarlo Caldesi and his food writer wife Katie reveal their scrumptious low-carb ‘pasta’ dishes...

Cereal and fruit juice at breakfast, a sandwich and low-fat yoghurt for lunch and a pasta supper — these meals are now the staples of our busy lives. Take a step back and you may see that you are eating high-carbohydrate foods for most, if not all, your meals.

Many people would not think that these are unhealthy foods. Yet for increasing numbers of us, eating like this, day in, day out, can lead to potentially severe health problems, with repercussions in terms of weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

So why might carbs be a problem? essentially, people who develop type 2 diabetes have difficulty processing the sugar — or glucose.

as a result, it builds up in their blood, over time, damaging small blood vessels in vital organs.

eventually, this can trigger complications such as nerve damage, blindness, kidney failure or stroke.

and sugar is all around us — it is found even in ‘ savoury’ carbohydrates, low-fat foods and ‘healthy’ cereals, and is hidden in processed meals and snacks.

I am a GP and I began my work on the transformative benefits of a low-carb diet after becoming

deeply concerned about the increasing numbers of people being affected by type 2 diabetes and obesity, both at my practice in Southport, Merseyside, and more generally.

It was through my work on low carb that I met top Italian chef, Giancarlo Caldesi, who revealed in Saturday’s Weekend magazine how he ‘sleepwalked’ into type 2 diabetes — suffering vision loss, weight gain, arthritis and nerve damage to his feet — after decades of a high-carb diet. He had attributed the symptoms to ‘getting older’ and his busy lifestyle. He never imagined his choice of food could be to blame.

REVERSE TYPE 2 WITHOUT PILLS

LIKE most people, Giancarlo knew that cakes and other obviously sugary foods were bad news if managing type 2 diabetes or struggling to lose weight. But, like many people, he was unaware that starchy carbohydrates — found in grains such as wheat, rice or cereals, root vegetables and potatoes — are also made up of strings of sugar molecules that are digested and absorbed into the bloodstream in the same way as sugar itself.

Then he cut these foods out when he went low carb — and saw dramatic effects on his waistline and health. Not only did he lose more than three stone, but he also reversed his type 2 diabetes. Now he’s regained the feeling in his feet, improved his sight and feels mentally clearer and happier than he has for years.

like Giancarlo, you might be surprised at how little glucose is in your bloodstream normally —

often only up to two teaspoons. But then imagine what happens if you eat something really starchy, such as a baked potato. Once it’s in your digestive system, your body’s enzymes get to work on it to break down the starch into surprisingly large numbers of glucose molecules. These are absorbed into your bloodstream very quickly.

But it’s not just obvious carbohydrates that we need to think about. Many processed foods contain lots of sugar, in addition to the starches that break down into sugar. One study estimates that up to 74 per cent of packaged food and drink includes added sugar or sweeteners to enhance flavour.

This means that the shop-bought tomato sauce in a jar that you add to your bowl of spaghetti probably contains a disturbing quantity of added sugar.

Even products that are promoted as being low fat or sold in healthy-looking packaging can be high in carbs and sugar. This includes many popular foods that we think of as healthy choices — wholemeal bread, breakfast cereals with wholegrains and low-fat dairy foods.

Good fats are a cornerstone of this low-carb plan. In the early days, I did worry about the effect on cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular disease in my patients, given that I was recommending they consume a diet arguably higher in full-fat dairy, eggs and fat. But the average cholesterol in my patients came down.

For any readers who worry about cholesterol and this diet, you can ask your GP for a cholesterol test. Better still, I suggest you ask for the ‘fasting lipid profile’ test. This is better because it measures other important blood fats such as triglycerides and ‘good’ HDL cholesterol levels, which are arguably better indicators of heart disease risk than a simple cholesterol test.

In my own patients on a low- carb diet, I was delighted to find the triglyceride scores improved by about 30 per cent.

This is not to dismiss the importance of medication in treating health conditions. And you should always consult your GP before embarking on any new diet plan, particularly if you regularly take prescribed medication.

However, the combination of my own work, my patients’ inspiring results and Giancarlo’s experiences have given me great hope that by changing to a low-carb diet, we can do much to fight the diabetes and obesity crisis.

This is why I teamed up with Giancarlo and his food writer wife Katie on The Diabetes Weight-Loss Cookbook, which we are sharing with Daily Mail readers exclusively this week.

The book focuses on the mouthwatering recipes that the Caldesis created to help Giancarlo recover his health.

The dishes are based on a simple plan that reduces carb intake while focusing on proteins, good fats and dairy, leafy vegetables and low- sugar fruits. There’s no calorie counting, strict portion control or weighing ingredients.

While not being a weight-loss programme as such, you should find that as your blood sugar levels normalise, excess pounds just slip away — helping you on your way towards a healthier and more satisfying lifestyle.