VERNER Wheelock, who lives in Glusburn, studied agriculture, which included animal nutrition, at Queen’s University, Belfast. He gained his Ph.D. in Reading and moved to the University of Bradford in 1967. Since the 1980s, he has focused on the relationship between diet and health in people. He completed his career as Special Professor in food science at the University of Nottingham. His book with Marika Sboros, “Healthy Eating: The Big Mistake. How modern medicine has got it wrong about diabetes, cholesterol, cancer, Alzheimer’s and obesity” has just been updated and revised.

THERE is no doubt that the nutritional quality of the food consumed by the majority of people is disastrous. And it is getting worse. This is because of the increasing content of sugar/refined carbohydrates, processed food, and vegetable oils in the food supply.

As a result, the standards of public health are deteriorating steadily. Here in the UK, the incidence of those diagnosed with diabetes increased from two per cent in 1994 to seven per cent in 2018.

Currently, there are about five million people in the UK with the disease. However, a much greater number are undiagnosed. It would not be an exaggeration to estimate that at least half of the population will eventually become diabetic. The predictions for the US are even more frightening!

Diabetes is a very nasty disease. Those who suffer from it are at increased risk of blindness, kidney failure, stoke and loss of limbs by amputation.

A man diagnosed with diabetes at age 40 will lose almost 12 years of life and 19 Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) compared with a person without diabetes. A woman of the same age will lose about 14 years of life and 22 QALYs.

Diabetes is just the tip if the iceberg. Those with Type 2 Diabetes have an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s Disease, which is now regarded as Type 3 Diabetes.

There is no mystery about the cause. It is undoubtedly a high consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates, which are almost entirely composed of starch. The sugar is digested to produce glucose and fructose (fruit sugar), while the starch is broken down to release glucose.

When the glucose is absorbed into the blood, it stimulates the secretion of insulin by the pancreas. Excessive insulin production is likely to result in the cells becoming insulin resistant - that is, there is no shortage of insulin, but the body is resistant to its effects. Insulin resistance (IR) is bad news.

It is the trigger for a whole range of common chronic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, and polycystic ovary syndrome to name but a few. In an investigation of 208 healthy men and women, the incidence of serious chronic diseases over six years was monitored.

It was found that there were none recorded in those with the lowest IR but that there were 28 in those with the highest. Furthermore, there were no deaths in those with the low IR, 2 in the middle group and 4 in those with the high IR.

This is just one result, which illustrates the extensive evidence which demonstrates that low IR is the basis for good health and longevity.

Ask yourself which group would you prefer to be in? If you want a convincing reason why you should adopt a low carb diet, then this is it.

First, avoid all foods that have been subject to extensive processing. These are based mainly on cheap industrial ingredients, including vegetable oils, free sugars, poor quality protein and many different additives. In addition, that they have restricted quantities of minerals and vitamins.

Second, limit the intake of the staples that are the main sources of starch. These include potatoes, rice, and foods such as bread that are made with flour from grains.

Third, you will need to increase the fats in your diet. Despite all the fears about blood cholesterol, the good fats are made from milk and met such as dripping and lard as well as plant products such as the oils made from olives and coconuts.

There is also very good news for those who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. It can be reversed successfully. This has been confirmed by many different independent studies.

This is exactly what has been achieved by many members of our Low Carb Skipton group. They are helped to make changes to their diet so that the amount of sugar and carbohydrates is significantly restricted, or in some cases, almost eliminated entirely. Consequently, they reverse the diabetes, there is an immediate improvement in health and well-being, and many also lose excessive body weight. In addition, if they have been on prescribed drugs, these can be stopped because the blood glucose is being controlled successfully.

It is not just diabetes. We have individuals who have been suffering from heart disease who have improved their health significantly by adopting the low carb approach.

The scandal is that this strategy is rarely offered by those who make use of the NHS. This is no surprise. If you go to the NHS website, you will see that if you have Type 2 Diabetes, you are advised that you should: “…eat a wide range of foods – including fruit, vegetables and some starchy foods like pasta, potatoes and rice.”

It is inevitable that their health deteriorates. In Low Carb Skipton, I have lost count of the number of people who come to our group and discover that there is an alternative approach and that it works.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. There are some encouraging developments in mainstream medicine. In Southport, Dr David Unwin is a GP who has been successfully promoting Low Carb to diabetics for years.

Our Low Carb Skipton group meets every month at the Rendezvous Hotel and if anyone is interested to discover more knowledge and insight about the relationship between diet and health, they will be very welcome to attend.

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