My secret to a healthy new you? Eat real food
WHEN I was told a man who had been struggling with type 2 diabetes for 10 years had gone into remission after following my lifestyle medicine book The Pioppi Diet, I felt we were close to a tipping point for truly reversing the twin epidemics of type 2 diabetes and obesity that have brought our NHS to the brink.
It’s instructive to note that the impact on health of simple lifestyle changes happens within weeks. In Holland a current affairs health programme followed a man with recently diagnosed heart disease, the type 2 diabetic man with the diagnosis of more than 10 years and an obese lady who were all asked to adopt The Pioppi Diet for just 28 days.
The effect was even more dramatic than I expected. The man with heart disease significantly improved his blood pressure and cholesterol
DR ASEEM MALHOTRA helped transform the lives of a diabetic, an obese woman and Labour’s deputy leader with his Pioppi Diet and lifestyle plan. Here the leading cardiologist explains his weight-loss methods which involve eating “real food”, including healthy fat and butter, along with spending more time moving and relaxing
THE EatWell guide from Public Health England recommends putting starchy carbohydrates, from foods such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, at the base of our diet while opting for low fat options.
This outdated and flawed advice has, in my view, been a root cause of epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. This is because these foods are not the most nutritious, not the most satiating and also cause the most significant rise in blood glucose and insulin.
Too much insulin leads to a condition known as insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and the number one risk factor for heart attacks. Also, as pointed out by independent obesity researcher Dr Zoe Harcombe, Public Health England consulted with representatives of the food industry – whose primary purpose is to sell you more food – in devising the guidelines.
It’s scandalous that they put ultraprocessed cakes, chocolates and biscuits as part of a healthy diet. These should be occasional treats, once or twice a week, not for every day.
Make the daily base of your diet five to seven portions of whole fruit and vegetables, a handful of nuts, at least two to four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, fish, full-fat dairy and unprocessed meat and eggs. Avoid cooking with industrial oils such as corn, sunflower or soybean. These release toxic compounds (aldehydes) which are strongly linked to cancer and dementia.
As long as you cut starch and sugar this will give you good nutrition, reduce your risk of chronic disease and keep your weight down. The most important thing is to cut consumption of ultra-processed food which is now half of the British diet and has also been linked to the development of cancer.
A rule of thumb, as I tell all my patients, is: if it comes out of a packet and has five or more ingredients, it’s best avoided.