Michael Mosley blood sugar webchat Thurs 10 March 1-2pm

Oh heck. Now I do have to bite my tongue.

Why is this book "timely"? Is he running out of money?

Perhaps it is well timed for Gransnet because there has been discussion of food high in sugar and carbohydrate levels?

Why do the reviews of the book say, for example, "two weeks in and over a stone lost"? And what happens after the eight weeks?

And how can he be so sure the widely accepted advice that slow and steady weight loss is healthiest, is a "myth"?

This book advocates leaving out a whole food group. Gorilla breath anybody?

Michael I'm afraid I find it hard to agree with your statement that it is a myth that slow and steady weight loss is healthiest.

Anyone (considerably) overweight could crash diet and lose a stone or two in a short space of time although chances are they would not be able to keep it up. By cutting out a lot of alcohol, sugary drinks , sweets, biscuits, cake, crisps etc. the weight would drop off very quickly but pile back on as soon as the "normal" diet is resumed.

Surely the best kind of weight loss is to train yourself over a longer period of time to eat healthier.

I have a lot of time for Michael Mosely and the book follows on nicely from the latest series of Trust Me I'm a Doctor which gave details of ground breaking new research about dieting, sugar and sweeteners.

My question is

I'm already trying to follow the 'Swedish Diet' i.e. Low Carb Healthy Fat (dietdoctor.com), but I really struggle with a sweet tooth and miss eating a couple of pieces of fruit every day. Have you any tips for healthy snacks other than nuts?

14kg in 8 weeks is a deficit of nearly 2000kcal/day, is that safe? I read a study by Sours et al which suggested that such extremely low calorie diets risk sudden death from arrhythmia.

Re: low carb, the FSA recommends 35% of total calories from fat and 50% from carb. In 2008 my fat intake was 35% and I had a Xanthelasma, but by 2011 I had reduced my fat intake to 25%, and the Xanthelasma had gone, with a cholesterol level of 4.48. Since then my fat intake has crept back up to 30%, and my cholesterol is now 5.26.

It doesn't seem that my interests would be best served by a high fat low carb diet. (My free sugar intake meets the recommended 5% limit.)

Forgetting about the weight loss, how much sugar do you think we should have for a normal diet?

I'm a fan of Dr Mosley. I find his advice tends to be based in science rather than opinions.

I've certainly enjoyed his TV programmes so I will probably read this book.

Sugar has no useful purpose in our diet.

I've just been diagnosed as pre diabetic so thought I'd try advice in this book. I don't necessarily want to lose weight but lower blood sugar. MM says it worked for him and he had type 2 diabetes so unless he's telling porkies it is worth giving it a shot. The proof's in the pudding. ha ha.......... Will think of questions to ask him once I'm into the diet.

DH has type 2 diabetes and recently read a book by an American doctor who recommended the Glycaemic Load Diet. Basically veruy low in starch. So far the results have been very good, his blood glucose readings are well within the normal range and he is using far less insulin.

Two questions for Michael.

I have a fatty liver, caused by having too much fat around my middle. Will your diet address this for me?

Am I at risk of having type II Diabetes?

Thanks.

My question is: Did you get fed up with your creation, the 5:2 diet? You were extolling it's many and varied virtues, but now you appear to have moved on and be evangelising just as hard about this new one; are we to take from this that you are focused, as are many others, on simply jumping on to the bandwagon and demonising the next new 'bad guy'? What new diet might we expect from you in another couple of years, I wonder?

I totally agree that reducing sugar is a good idea, and having been doing this for a while with great success, (2 1/2 stones lost so far) my only concern is people replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners, I have also abandoned the use of sweeteners when I noticed my arthritis pain improving when I stopped using them, what do you think about artificial sweeteners? I now notice that stopping these also has reduced my craving for sweet foods.
What really bugs me is the addition of sugar to products unnecessarily such as ham having sugar and phosphates injected,is it any wonder that there is an obesity epidemic?
I do wish that the government would legislate against this, what is your opinion on government intervention, this must be costing the NHS in the long run?

Just a question, can anyone tell me how to view the web chat on the day?

princesspamma Mosely's latest book is aimed at pre-diabetics, those with T2 diabetes and anyone concerned about their blood sugar levels. The clue is in the title. Losing weight is not the primary reason for this book, it's lowering your blood sugar levels.

The diet dovetails with the 5:2 diet, they are not exclusive.

So glad you asked that, Cotswoldgran!
wilma I'm wondering why you can't have any fruit. My understanding was that although fruit juices are bad (the fructose going directly to the liver and stored as fat) in whole fruit there is much less of it, and it is contained within the cells of the fruit, so that it is only slowly and partially absorbed , so that you avoid the harmful sugar spike that you get from drinking fruit juice.

Don't you just come to this thread? The web chat continues on the end of it.

jane basically fruit is like the chocolate of the food world. It's full of sugar and when you are trying to eliminate sugar from your diet, fruit should be an occasional treat. That's the theory anyway behind this approach to eating. It's also one of the things I struggle with because I love fruit. I have started eating berries every day with my Greek yogurt and that helps, but I do miss the range of fruit I used to eat.

It's important to realise this approach to eating stems from doctors in Sweden with diabetic patients who realised it was a healthy way for anyone to eat.

Dr Andreas Eenfeldt gave a presentation in the USA in 2011 that explains why obesity became an epidemic in less than 30 years. I watched it on YouTube and found it a revelation. You can watch it here. It is almost an hour long, but I thought it was excellent. The Diet Doctor website gives masses of information, including lots of shorter videos. I'm sure this is the healthiest way to eat, but I am such a sugar junkie that it is not an easy option for me.

So, does this mean that apples, pears, kiwi fruit, bananas, figs, melon, avocado, cherries, etc. etc. are actually bad for us? But strawberries, raspberries and the like are ok?

cobblers Totally confused now.

I realise you can get fat by eating too many apples, or any fruit, but that applies to all food with calories.