Meal Replacements

Now that the medical profession are accepting the link between obesity and diabetes some patients are being put on low calorie regimes which consist of meal replacement shakes. Once enough weight has been lost the diabetes is often reversed and can last for up to two years according to an article I read. But why two years?. This is the time it takes those patients to put back on the weight they lost, because no-one ever teaches them how to eat properly. Unfortunately weight loss will only remain permanent when individuals are taught a new lifestyle which includes eating a healthy diet and exercising.

What people, including the medical profession don’t seem to realise is that healthy foods are also low in calories. Have you ever heard of anyone becoming overweight through eating too many vegetables. Eating healthily involves taking responsibility and actually cooking food and isn’t about abusing our bodies and expecting to receive a pill or an operation when things go wrong. People still listen to doctors and medical staff so if only they would give out some sound advice perhaps permanent changes in health could be achieved.

Sometimes I buy the Daily Mail paper on a Tuesday because it has a section on health and sometimes some interesting articles. One week there was an article by a Dr Scurr entitled ‘By the way, patients need food not body building drinks’

He was complaining about dieticians in hospitals issuing patients with a supply of fortified chemical drinks rather than advice on what food to eat. He questioned a friend who had graduated after a four year degree in dietetics. After her graduation she was handed the keys to the fortified drinks cupboard and was permitted to help patients decide if they would prefer chocolate or strawberry flavour.

Over the years whenever I have met anyone training to be a doctor I always ask how much time was spent on the course covering nutrition. So far no-one has passed the week to ten days mark. It’s a worrying situation. Dr Scurr ends the article by saying that he may have to change his mind about nutritional therapists who in the past he saw as untrained and there to peddle supplements and dubious exclusion diets. Now he feels that many are doing a better job than hospitals.