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Wednesday 11 May 2016

British Dietetic Association playing their part in the increasing type two diabetes epidemic.

The number of adults with diabetes has quadrupled worldwide in under four decades to 422 million, and the condition is fast becoming a major problem in poorer countries, a World Health Organization study showed on Wednesday.

In one of the largest studies to date of diabetes trends, the researchers said ageing populations and rising levels of obesity across the world mean diabetes is becoming "a defining issue for global public health".

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term condition characterized by insulin resistance. Patients can manage their diabetes with medication and diet, but the disease is often life-long and is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.

"Obesity is the most important risk factor for type 2 diabetes and our attempts to control rising rates of obesity have so far not proved successful," said Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London who led the WHO research.

Published in The Lancet journal ahead of the United Nations World Health Day on April 7, the study used data from 4.4 million adults in different world regions to estimate age-adjusted diabetes prevalence for 200 countries.

It found that between 1980 and 2014, diabetes has become more common among men than women, and rates of diabetes rose significantly in many low and middle income countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Mexico.

Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, said the findings showed an urgent need to address unhealthy diets and lifestyles around the world.

"If we are to make any headway in halting the rise in diabetes, we need to rethink our daily lives: to eat healthily, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain," she said in a statement from the WHO's Geneva headquarters.

"Even in the poorest settings, governments must ensure that people are able to make these healthy choices and that health systems are able to diagnose and treat people with diabetes."

The study found that northwestern Europe has the lowest rates of diabetes among women and men, with age-adjusted prevalence lower than 4 percent among women and at around 5 to 6 percent among men in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands.

No country saw any meaningful decrease in diabetes prevalence, it found.


More on this story here. my bold text.

Unhealthy diets and unhealthy foods are arguably the most profitable businesses in the world. The diet industry alone is worth billions per year. Mass produced poor nutrient foods trillions, the same for big pharma. It's a vicious circle from the cradle to the grave for countless people. The sad fact is, most people do not have a clue regarding what constitutes a healthy diet, including the majority of dietitians.

For decades we have been told saturated fats are a health hazard, these are the fats man has ate for thousands of years, some from the beginning of the human race. Saturated fat is found in meat, fish, eggs, butter etc. and many other natural whole foods. The mainstay of official dietary guidelines across the world, and continues to the present day, has been to reduce saturated fats and increase carbohydrates. This equates to eat less fat and eat more sugar. How many people realise all carbohydrates turn to sugar once digested.


The main source of carbohydrates, for most people, come from potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereals, and baked products, such as pastry, biscuits and cakes etc. Almost without exception, if you study almost any data source, you will find as the consumption of healthy natural saturated fats has gone down, the consumption of unhealthy man made fats, and highly processed factory made high carbohydrate food has gone up. The increase in obesity rates and the often linked type two diabetes, matches perfectly. 


"The Eatwell Guide has replaced the Eatwell plate and continues to define the government’s advice on a healthy balanced diet." UK Government. This Eatwell guide features on the British Dietetic Associations advice for type two diabetics here. "The BDA is the largest association of food and nutrition professionals in the UK and is the only body in the UK representing the whole of the dietetic workforce" BDA The Eatwell guide, is a very long way from a healthy diet for anyone, let alone a diabetic, and illustrates perfectly, why obesity and type two diabetes rates go forever upwards.

For a very detailed description, outlining why the Eatwell guide is anything but a healthy diet, please visit the site of Dr. Zoe Harcombe PhD here.

Eddie

10 comments:

PerthDailyPhoto said...

The diabetes statistics are pretty scary Eddie. Eating healthy should be the easiest thing to do, but it seems it's just not so easy to do for so many.

Cheryl said...

It is worrying when you read posts like this one. Many of the people I know are completely unaware of the problems they could have due to their diet.
If you mention it they think you are a health fanatic.
I believe there are those that are conscious of what they eat and why............and to others food is there just to eat, no matter what it is.!!!!

Anonymous said...

When the public are relentlessly told that they can only 'trust a dietitian' to know about nutrition, it only leads to public confusion and concern about what dietary advice to follow to treat conditions such as diabetes.

In addition, the British Dietetic Association released a statement criticising Dr Ranjan Chattergee's approach, following his dietary advice for diabetics on the BBC programme 'Dr in the House'. This lead to further negative (and extremely offensive) British Dietetic Association twitter feed regarding the apparent 'minimal' level of dietary knowledge that Dr's hold.

Dr Ranjan Chattergee himself stated that the British Dietetic Association did not appear to be interested in the results - in fact his dietary advice had resulted in better diabetic control for these patients. However, we have another association, BANT, the British Association for Nutritional Therapists, which released a statement saying how pleased they were with the advice that Dr Chattergee had provided on the show.

This attitude is rife within the field - in the past dietetic lead audits have taken place to assess whether Dr's have prescribed oral nutrition support sip feeds without the prior input or approval of a dietitian to assess whether the patients needs.
The self promoting slogan 'trust a dietitian' to know about nutrition - eludes to the notion that you cannot trust anyone else. Diabetics have been told for generations that saturated fats are 'bad' for you. Dietitians have told patients to avoid saturated fat, remove skin from chicken, opt for skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, and have essentially demonised fat - all whilst stating that nobody else can be trusted to know about nutrition.

Diabetics have been told to base their meals on starchy foods, to ensure they have a set quota of starchy foods per day. Dietitians have criticised nutrition professionals who gave opposing advice, even going as far as to 'rate and slate' the publications of others on the adequacy of nutritional advice provided.

However, we are now seeing some shift in opinion on low carbohydrate diets for diabetics, with some reputable dietitians speaking out - however facing the prospect of being struck off for stating the truth.

Thankfully, the work of Dr Jason Fung, Dr Rangan Chattergee and many others are enabling diabetics to choose for themselves how to better manage their condition. Dr's are specialists in endocrinology, neurology, all aspects of medicine, and believe it or not, they know how to critically review a research paper on nutrition! So lets stop trying to monopolise the field of nutrition by constantly reviewing and criticising the work of others, especially when they dietary advice provided to diabetics by dietitians for generations is all but questionable.

Anonymous said...

Never trust a "qualified" individual, my house is suffering from severe subsidence (I live in a coalmining area) and the last person I would call would be a certified surveyor, my friend knows a thing or two about building work so it's to him I will go! He's not part of any rip off real estate con, he more or less taught himself- though he does have a few building certifications from Leeds College of Building. Even he admits they are not worth the paper they are written on since they only teach you bollocks there and don't really have a clue (funded by Leeds City Council but some construction companies have injected cash also).

Anonymous said...

So many qualifications are not worth the paper they are written on. I have found this to be particularly the case in the field of dietetics. The dietary advice you receive from a dietitian is usually only as good as the person delivering it.

For example, my dietitian (and many other dietitians) have placed unnecessary pressure on patients to include a breakfast (or cereal) in the morning. Even when some patients have clearly stated they just can't tolerate eating first thing.

Everyone's eating patterns vary, and what is appropriate for one individual may not be suitable for another. I include a breakfast to start my day, but I do not profess that this is the 'only way' to be healthy. Interestingly, some very knowledgeable dietitians recently posted the top 'common myths about nutrition'. These myths debunked included core advice that was actively promoted by dietitians for decades. This includes myths surrounding saturated fat, low-carbohydrate diets, protein and the kidneys, the brains need for 'carbohydrate' rather than glucose, and the 'essential' need to base our meals on starchy foods.

In fact, depending on which dietitian you speak to in the UK, you are likely to receive very different and conflicting dietary advice on how to manage type 2 diabetes. Most dietitians in clinics around the UK will still advice that you include starchy carbohydrates at every meal, whilst on the dietitian founded X-pert programme you receive low-carbohydrate, high fat advice.

So, exactly how are we to supposed to 'trust a dietitian to know about nutrition' when it seems that the self proclaimed experts can not even agree amongst themselves?! Decades of ridiculing the level of knowledge of others has only lead to mistrust and scepticism in this profession.

Anonymous said...

I was in hospital for 3 weeks in August/September. I can only assume that the menus have to be approved by the hospital dieticians, as it was impossible to eat low carb let alone high fat. Breakfast was a total carb fest of cereals and toast, and the staff could not understand why I wasn't asking for fruit juice and yogurt or ice cream with lunch and dinner. I sincerely hope that I never have to be an inpatient again.

Anonymous said...

>Eating healthy should be the easiest thing to do, but it seems it's just not so easy to do for so many.

"Eat healthy", in of itself, is terrible advice.

The problem is, people have been brainwashed into thinking that "eating healthy" means a diet low in good natural fats and high in "hearth healthy" grains, industrial seed oils, fruit juice and lean meat. Ignore sugar content because it's not bad for you....oh....and snack often.

This is a perfect storm of bad dietary advice guaranteed to promote hyperinsulinemia, metabolic syndrome, CVD, obesity, diabetes etc, etc..

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately the hospital menu's do not have to be approved by the hospital dietitians, although they do try to build relationships with the catering department. There are a number of menu's available (other than the standard hospital menu) - however you have to request the alternative menu's (and insist if needs be as these menu's are not always put away properly to enable others to locate). If your lucky enough to be treated by someone who actually cares, they will take the time to inform you of the other menu's available. In my experience, this was not often done. There usually is a variety of menus available, including an Afro-Caribbean menu, Asian menu, Halal menu, Allergies, and countless others. Please inform others of this, as it could make others hospital stay more bearable.

Anonymous said...

The best advice I can offer to any inpatient based on recent experience is to claim a dietary uniqueness - say you can only eat halal food and they will order in from a curry house as happened to a gent in my ward, it was basically cartons of meat with chappatis.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention - the nurses do an excellent job, they are often juggling lots of tasks, and always do their very best for their patients. So if you ask a nurse (or HCA) for a special menu, they will always do their best to locate it.