I love the sun. But I never thought I would be in it...
But we have had some amazing coverage for #DiabetesAwarenessWeek this year. And some great pieces written about #TheFastFix AND www.befreeoftype2d.co.uk and about me as Dan Sodergren as the founder of one and the successful participant in the other :)
Which had a cracking full centre page spread.
The extreme measure is being put to the test in a two-part ITV documentary involving five obese patients. By Emma Pietras
LIVING on a strict liquid-only diet of just 800 calories a day could help reverse type 2 diabetes.
The extreme measure is being put to the test in a two-part ITV documentary, which continues tonight.
The ground-breaking experiment sees five obese and overweight patients restricted to just special shakes and soups for eight weeks.
Each 200-calorie meal replacement shake contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals though the intake is less than a third of the 2,500 calories men need and less than half the 2,000 calories women need for a balanced daily diet.
The regime was carried out at a clinic in Sussex under the supervision of two experts – GP Dr Zoe Williams, who appears on ITV’s This Morning, and Prof Jason Gill, a leading name in the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
The extreme diet causes the body to go into a state called nutritional ketosis, where the liver starts to break down body fat to use as fuel.
Each participant must lose 2st to help reverse the condition.
Obesity is closely linked to type 2 diabetes – 90 per cent of sufferers are obese or overweight.
Around 4million people in the country have the condition and another 12million are at risk of it. The show, inspired by pioneering research at Newcastle and Glasgow universities, focuses solely on people with type 2 diabetes who are not being treated with insulin.
Tonight viewers see that the gruelling process can work. Dr Williams said: “This shows it is possible to put people out of the diabetes zone with diet and a lot of commitment – and it could save the NHS billions.”
Here, we talk to two of the participants who no longer have diabetes.
- The Fast Fix: Diabetes is on ITV tonight at 9pm.
Technology and digital marketing expert Dan Sodergren, 42, credits the experiment with saving his life – after it revealed his liver was ten times fatter than it should have been.
He had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes six months ago, having gone to his doctor’s fearing early-onset dementia.
Dan feared early onset dementia before being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
He recalls: “I’d noticed I’d become a bit forgetful and had been getting tired. I was relieved when the doctor told me it was type 2 diabetes.
“But then I realised by looking online just how dangerous it is. It basically rots you from the insides and kills you.”
Being from an Afro-Caribbean background, 5ft 11in Dan was at a higher risk of getting the condition, but he was also overweight.
He admits: “As I’m tall, people were saying I carry it well but it turned out all my fat was internal. It’s good for vanity, but that’s the stuff that kills you.”
Coming from an Afro-Caribbean background Dan was at higher risk
Dan, who has never had to take medication for his diabetes, only made the grim discovery after having an MRI scan as part of the experiment.
“My liver was ten times fatter than it should have been,” he says. “I had no idea.”
Dan who lives in Manchester with his wife Leanne, 42, and their daughter Mia, seven, says following the strict liquid-only diet was the hardest thing he has ever done.
He says: “You’re basically almost starving yourself. The only way I got through it was by telling myself it wasn’t a diet but the shakes were my medication to get rid of type 2 diabetes."
Dan said following the strict liquid-only diet was the hardest thing he has ever done
“Some of the shakes were delicious but the soups were disgusting.”
The most difficult part was when he returned home after the month at the clinic. Dan explains: “I do most of the cooking and I was almost in tears frying sausages one night as I couldn’t eat them.”
He has started eating solid food following a low-carb diet but still drinks the shakes.
He says: “The first time I ate solid food was like something out of I’m A Celeb when they leave the jungle. It was amazing. I can still remember it now.
“The experiment has changed my life profoundly. Being told I no longer have type 2 diabetes has made all the pain and hard work worthwhile.
“I know I can live for longer now and see my daughter grow up. If I hadn’t found out about my fatty liver I would have died.
“It’s been life changing.”
Thanks again to Emma who wrote this piece for The Sun Newspaper. Here's a link to it in FULL.