Great results for the short term
Doctor Michael Mosley’s book “The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet” is a bestseller. No wonder, because the author claims that you can reprogram your body in eight weeks. You could lose weight quickly and even reverse and type 2 diabetes. What kind of miracle diet is that? Health net spoke to the author.
Why do you recommend such a strict diet?
“Because the effect of this diet has been scientifically proven this book collaborated with British professor Roy Taylor. He will soon complete his research, in which he put 280 people with type 2 diabetes on a strict diet of 800 kilocalories a day for eight weeks. The people were then followed for two years. The results are astonishingly good, even in the longer term. Type 2 diabetes can be reversed and people with pre-diabetes can avoid getting diabetes. People often lose more than 10 kilos and their health improves spectacularly. That effect is much better than the effect of drugs in type 2 diabetes. It is a strict diet, that’s true, but in practice motivated people can persevere quite well.”
What kind of diet is it?
“The diet is based on the principles of the Mediterranean diet, one of the healthiest and most researched diets in the world. It is not, by the way, the pasta and pizza diet, which many people think. The classic Mediterranean diet consists mainly of vegetables, fish, eggs, nuts, full-fat dairy, fruit and olive oil. The blood sugar diet obviously does not contain sugar and snacks, but also hardly any complex carbohydrates such as grains and bread. The meals are modest but have a high satiety factor. In the book I give recipes and examples of daily menus.”
Can you follow this diet on your own?
“That is possible, but I think that support and help from your environment makes it much easier. To start with, from your doctor, who can measure the results and possibly help you reduce the medication. A good dietician can also be an enormous support. Then choose a dietician who is convinced of the usefulness of limiting carbohydrates, because that is the basis of the diet. Furthermore, all support from family, friends and colleagues is very important.”
Is it really just about losing weight?
“It actually revolves around the fat in the liver and pancreas. When you are overweight, fat eventually also accumulates in the organs and that fat causes the metabolism to be disrupted. As soon as you lose fat in the organs, the diabetes improves. Usually start that process when you’ve lost 10 to 15 percent of your body weight.”
And what happens after those 8 weeks?
“The trick is, of course, not to fall back into old habits, because then the kilos will come back on and the diabetes will come into play again. Your diet should be Mediterranean and carbohydrate-restricted, but not as strict as in the first eight weeks. In my book, I pay further attention to stress reduction through mindfulness and meditation and to exercise. Those two factors, together with healthy eating, are crucial to really maintain health gains.”
Michael Mosley trained as a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital in London. After graduating, he joined the BBC as a science journalist and executive producer. The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet. Lose weight quickly and reprogram your body by Michael Mosley has appeared at Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds. You can order it for € 16.95 at bol.com.
