User talk:Barry Pearson/Blood Sugar Diet

Notes before the Move
These are notes I made while initially developing the article in order to leave the article in a clean state for other editors. Obviously they are not constraints on other editors! But I hope some editors will find these notes useful, and I expect some editors will respond here. I've created a new heading below for different discussions after the publication of the article.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

What is the purpose of the diet? This is described by the book that defines it. (ISBN-10: 1780722400. ISBN-13: 978-1780722405). The book cover says "How to prevent and reverse Type 2 Diabetes (and stay off medication)". Its content identifies that this is achieved by dietary means, by greatly reducing visceral fat. Body-weight will be reduced, but that is almost a side-effect! This diet is not primarily a general-purpose weight-reduction diet, and should not be analysed as though it is.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Disclaimers: Website: "Medical disclaimer ... This website contains general information about medical conditions, nutrition, health and diets. The information is not advice and should not be treated as such.... Before starting any diet, you should speak to your doctor. You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter, you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.... You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website....". Book: "The information contained in this book is provided for general purposes only. It is not intended as and should not be relied upon as medical advice. The publisher and authors are not responsible for for any specific health needs that may require medical supervision. If you have underlying health problems, or have any doubts about the advice contained in this book, you should contact a qualified medical, dietary, or other appropriate professional".Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Is this topic notable enough to warrant its own article? Yes, for three separate reasons. (1) If Type-2 Diabetes can be reversed by dietary means, this has potential massive humanitarian and economic implications worldwide. Anything (diet or book) that makes such a claim is potentially noteworthy, whether it is right or wrong. (2) The diet's name "Blood Sugar Diet" has been widely publicised across much of the English-speaking world via a book (hardback, paperback, and Kindle) of that name (ISBN-10: 1780722400. ISBN-13: 978-1780722405) that has been in a best-seller list for much of 2016. An indication of awareness of it is that there are over 1500 reviews of it at Amazon UK. (3) Several related activities have been spawned on the strength of this name: an associated website, and a number of books.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Has enough time elapsed for this to have sufficient historical credibility, rather than simply being "news"? Yes, although perhaps not in a simple way. The website with this name was registered in June 2015; the book with this name was published in December 2015. But the basis of the diet has been published by the research team since December 2012 or earlier, although under the name "Newcastle Diet".Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Other sources also make similar claims, for example "Reverse Your Diabetes Diet ....", (ISBN-10: 009194824X, ISBN-13: 978-0091948245) by Dr David Cavan (17 Mar 2016), (I have that book), updating a previous version dated 6 November 2014, and "Diabetes:: Reverse Your Diabetes With a Clear and Concise Step by Step Guide", (ISBN-10: 0091948258, ISBN-13: 978-0091948252) by David Corr (22 Jan 2016). But this article is not about the subject "Reversing Type-2 Diabetes by Dietary Means". That would be a medical article, for which different rules (WP:MEDRS) would apply, and for which I don't have sufficient expertise. This article is about a named entity in the real world, the "Blood Sugar Diet", described by a book which I have read and a website that I am registered on (under my own name, for personal research purposes).Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Is this a fad diet? No. The main reason is that it is grounded in sound, published, and continually funded science. The food choices are not highly restricted, and are freely available in a typical supermarket. The initial calorie-restricted diet is expected to last for 8 weeks, after which weight-management can be more conventional, although it should avoid food-components likely to re-cause type-2 diabetes. Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Is the diet suitable for everyone? No. The book lists 3 groups of people who should not attempt the diet, and 9 groups of people who should consult their doctor before attempting it. Anecdotally, some people can't stick to the initial 8 weeks of calorie-reduction and so give up. But, also anecdotally, many people succeed. The can/can't ratio is not published, and is probably not known.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

The book is a secondary source. The author is a qualified doctor, who himself developed type-2 diabetes, which he reversed by dietary means (although not with this diet). The recipes were provided by a registered dietitian with a PhD in Nutrition (mentioned on Pregnancy vegetarianism). It has 53 citations to academic papers that support its narrative. 9 are concerned with exercise, 1 is concerned with avoiding chronic stress, and the rest are in various ways related to weight-control and Type-2 Diabetes.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

I've attempted to avoid references about "Blood Sugar Diet" with the following characteristics: written by the contributors to the book; written in blogs and forums; or written by other sources expecting to make a profit from the book, such as book-sellers or authors of related books.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

To avoid the complications of "Biography of Living Persons", I've avoided naming any of the researchers. But given the number of references made to academic studies, and the fact that one of them provided the foreword to the book, their names can't be entirely hidden.

The long-term effects of the diet are not known, (although it should be noted that the most extreme level of calorie-reduction lasts only about 8 weeks). In contrast, the long term effects of having type-2 diabetes are known! A new study to examine the long term effects of the Newcastle Diet, (and so by implication the long-term effects of this diet), has been funded by Diabetes UK and is registered at the World Health Organisation.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Should this article conform to WP:MEDRS? Examining the diets at List of diets, there appears to be no rule that diet-pages should conform, nor even a convention that they should conform. And this article is not about medical advice, it is about a diet that states that it is not about medical advice.Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

(I have no connection with the researchers or authors or sellers or reviewers. I have never had type 2 diabetes).Barry Pearson 15:54, 4 November 2016 (UTC)