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Time to talk about the link between COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes

Late last year we wrote a blog on the type 2 diabetes trap.

We saw that the cost to the NHS for treating type 2 diabetes has more than doubled in the last ten years, consuming 13% of the NHS budget for drugs. 

Recent figures have suggested that people with diabetes are X times more likely to die if they contracted the disease. 

Pre-lockdown, we were aware of the looming costs to the NHS in dealing with the Diabetes pandemic that’s coming down the track. COVID 19 has shown that this dietary pandemic is bigger than we might have otherwise realised, with diabetics twice as likely to have depression during this period  - because they’ve had to self-isolate because they are more at risk with lower immunity  - ‘diabetes was linked to a third of virus deaths in England from 1 March to 11 May’. 

Now is as good a time as ever to change official policy for doctors dealing with type 2 diabetics, and to prevent more people contracting this preventable, non-communicable disease in the first place. 

How?

By prescribing a low carbohydrate diet to starve the diabetes of the high levels of glucose that drives insulin production in the body. 

NHS UK has learned to do a lot things differently during this period. Pre lockdown there was a move towards diet related treatment of type two diabetes. Now that approach seems even more imperative.

What can I do to reduce my chances of getting type 2 diabetes?

Consume a low carb high fat diet - you might wonder where you’ll get your energy from when you reduce your carb intake, and the answer might surprise you.

By increasing the amount of healthy fats, your body starts to use the energy to replace the previous reliance on carbohydrates (glucose, sugar).

Fats found in macadamia nuts are proven to lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, oxidative stress and can assist in weight management. Other good foods with high healthy fats include avocado, cheese, dark chocolate (!), fatty fish whole eggs.

Now is the moment to really build on the information we have about diabetes and to save the NHS substantial savings by switching to a high fat based diet. 

  1. Macadamias have highest levels of healthy fats of all nuts - you can buy them here. 

  2. Check out some great macadamia based recipes we’ve done here.

  3. Keto (Low carb high fat) is a sure way to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. 

  4. Big Pharma - diabetes insulin pills. It is in their interest for more people to become diabetic to drive more sales of ‘magic pill’ pharmaceuticals. This is especially a problem in the US where unregulated privatised markets in US keep prices high. 

The government Eat Well guide was guide was established in 2016.

We believe the emphasis on carbohydrates as taking up 2/5ths of one’s overall intake is so wrong - its hard to explain how government dieticians and nutritionists don’t seem understand the harm of eating so many carbs. Is it really that they don’t understand, or that they won’t and would rather people get sick, obese, type 2 diabetes, cancer… just to profit big pharma? It's literally sickening. And in the ‘dairy and alternatives’ section they advise low fat products… while rather eating more healthy fat and fewer carbs actually helps lose weight. The only section size we actually agree with is the veg!  It should be 2/5 meat/fish/egg/dairy, 2/5 veg and 1/5 carbs (if that!).

It is good however to see the new Obesity strategy and the link to type 2 diabetes and the cost to the NHS – it was staggering before COVID but is even more so now. 

Overall however we feel the government needs to address the source of a preventable epidemic, and that has to start with changing the nation’s accepted diet.

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