My addiction to white powder

It's the start of the New Year and the traditional time for new beginnings. As such I want to use this blog to come clean, to make a confession: I have been an addict for most of my life - it started way back at school. I developed an addiction to a harmful substance that is regularly digested as a white powder but more commonly taken neat in crystal form. 

My addiction has taken its toll and has affected my health so badly that I developed a “chronic illness” and I’m now dependent on full-time medication. 

Whilst ultimately I am responsible for my addiction, I do believe the government, modern society and culture are partly to blame. My fix is freely available in airports, supermarkets, schools and even hospitals. Furthermore, the drug is regularly handed out as a prize or reward, distributed freely at celebrations and pushed during festive occasions such as Easter, Christmas and the ever-growing Halloween. My addiction is to a substance that is not only freely available to all, but also heavily marketed (particularly aimed at children) and hidden in most of our food chain. 

I am, of course, talking about SUGAR. An evil life-threatening refined substance, the success of which is built on the Caribbean slave trade. The consequence of the marketing subterfuge and continuous pushing of sugar has resulted in 4.7 million diabetics across the nation (6% of the population), of which I am one. 

Cost to the Nation – The consequence of treating diabetes is a staggering annual cost to the NHS of £9.8 billion! In addition, £7.7 billion is spent on treating health “complications” due to diabetes. That’s £17.5 billion in total equivalent to 18% of the NHS annual budget. Sadly, 12.3 million (19% of the population) are considered at risk of diabetes. Thus, the cost of treating diabetes and its complications is predicted to rise to £30.4 billion over the next 25 years. That’s 31% of the current NHS budget. 

Cost to Health – Whilst the above financial facts are quite alarming, the ones related to the health effects are the real shockers. The aforementioned complications refer to treating life-threatening illnesses and surgery required as a consequence of diabetes. As well as increased risk of kidney failure, complications related to diabetes in the UK include: 

• 25 cases of blindness (severe retinopathy) per week
• 169 amputations per week 
• 680 strokes per week
• 530 heart attacks per week 
• 500 premature deaths per week

That’s an incredible 26,000 premature deaths per year, which is approximately 14 times the number of deaths due to road accidents. In my opinion, there are disproportionally more adverts on avoiding road accidents than on the risk of consuming sugar – the silent killer.

Thanks to the NHS – The NHS often receives criticism for providing poor health care. I just want to make it really clear here that I have been thoroughly impressed with the staff ands treatment I have received. A routine urine test revealed my diabetic state and diagnosis and treatment began immediately. Perhaps we can help reduce the strain on, and cost to, the NHS by taking better care of ourselves and leaving more resources for emergency services and conditions beyond our control.

Symptoms – When I was first diagnosed with Diabetes 2, I didn’t believe it and I was convinced I didn’t have any of the symptoms. But in hindsight maybe I did get tired in the afternoon, maybe I did feel like I wanted to pee more often (but couldn’t), maybe I did get angry and yearn for carbs (hangry), maybe I was more thirsty than usual and maybe my waist (around my belly button) was over 40”. 

What is diabetes? – Basically, glucose builds up in the blood vessels causing all the complications I have mentioned above. We all need some glucose, it’s what gives us our energy, and we obtain glucose when our bodies break down the sugars and carbohydrates that we eat or drink (carbs are complex sugars). That glucose is released and stored in our blood and then transferred into our body cells, particularly muscles, when needed. The hormone insulin, generated in the pancreas, regulates the glucose that is transferred to the body tissue to fuel our bodies. Normally, the pancreas senses when glucose has entered the bloodstream and releases the right amount of insulin, so that the required glucose can enter the cells. Diabetes 2 is a serious lifelong condition in which the insulin regulating system doesn’t work properly, resulting in high blood glucose levels as it cannot pass from the blood stream into the body tissues (in Type 1 diabetes insufficient insulin is produced). 

Imagine you have a new car, but you abuse it by accelerating everywhere and using enriched high-octane petrol (like the Nitro button they use in Mad Max). If the car is not maintained, then eventually the richer fuel will take its toll. The engine will continue to work but it won’t work as well due to excessive wear and tear on the pistons and valves. Also, as the car can’t burn off the fuel so efficiently, carbon deposits will form and clog up the engine and make it even less efficient until eventually it stops working altogether. 

Solutions – You can’t completely cure/reverse diabetes (fix engine) but you can send into remission. You can put less pressure on the engine and extend its life by driving more carefully and burning low octane fuel at a steadier pace. You could also lower the strain on the engine by carrying less weight, using better grade petrol and introducing regular maintenance. 

So, first and foremost cut out sugar! There are no medical guidelines but as a rule of thumb keep the sugar intake (grams per day) in single figures, the lower the better. The images show the percentage of sugars in various foods and the associated grams per portion. Food that appear healthy options are not always good for diabetics. You may be pleased to see that beer has minimal sugars, but unfortunately it does have high carbs. 

Also switch to a low carb diet and eat foods with a low Glycaemic Index (GI) – low GI foods release the carbs more slowly avoiding a glucose spike and giving the damaged pancreas a better chance at processing them. Basically, if you eat carbs then make it brown – brown rice, brown bread, brown pasta. You might also want to try some of the vegetable-based pastas now on the market and pastries made with coconut or almond flour. 

Exercise also assists the conversion of sugars into energy – one theory is that a lack of exercise makes the muscle cells more resistant to accepting glucose. Recent medical research shows that just standing after lunch significantly reduces blood glucose levels. 

Stay healthy people – It's been several years since I exercised due to multiple knee injuries (probably the catalyst for my condition along with the high sugar/carb diet) but I have now joined a gym and exercise (spin) regularly. I've also given up sugar, reduced the carbs and moved to eating brown foods. (I am also continuing with my Metformin tablets for now.) As a consequence I have lost nearly one and a half stone in weight, but more importantly I have lowered my blood glucose (HbA1c) levels to within normal limits.