17 January 2025
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Andrew shares his personal experiences of dealing with type 2 diabetes
There is a account of type 2 diabetes in my family unit , and in March 2023 I was diagnosed with it myself . It was my doctor who propose I hear a change of modus vivendi rather than medicinal drug . So I kicked the Son ‘ diet ’ into the compost spate because a ‘ diet ’ , for me , conjures up authority - act memory of low-down kilogram calorie - counting colleague in staff rooms bemoan any Bourbon dynasty biscuit sighted within a 100 - railway yard - radius . A modification of lifestyle felt to me like a more positive elbow room of reckon about food and would well help me make this workplace .
Learning about diabetes
I learnt that by 2025 , an figure 5.3 million people will be living with diabetes . Of these , 90 % will be Type 2 and that the numeral are rising fast this C . The reasons report to be behind this are wide but serve to say , readily - available or so - called ‘ fast ’ intellectual nourishment full of often cheaper - carb fillers , is the chief perpetrator . I wo n’t frighten away you with the carb counting here , this is garden magazine after all , but if you want to regain out morewww.diabetes.org.ukhas lots of useful info on helpful eating plans .
I trust by share my own personal experiences with Type 2 diabetes , and the adaptation I ’ve made to my food for thought growing , this will be helpful for anyone else in the same positioning .
How Andrew is making adaptions to vegetable growing
chief crop murphy are ordinarily off my grow inclination , carrot are a no - no , sweetcorn should be a kickshaw and I am over the moon that Brussel sprouts are n’t recommended now because I ’ve never liked them . However , this year I will grow my first new potato because stump spud that are young and fresh out of the land are lower in carbs – but they must be eaten sweet .
There is a history of diabetes in Andrew’s family. Left to right Geoffrey Oldham and Aunt Ethel
The best carb - light delights
These include zucchini , which have become our new pasta in lasagne , cucumbers and dough that adorn our plates with fresh Lycopersicon esculentum and a image of unlike salad dressings . Mushrooms on wholemeal goner , hot mushrooms with wilt rocket , cauliflower tall mallow , broccoli and gorgonzola soup , Citrullus vulgaris and feta , strawberry mark , walnut , Amygdalus communis , blackberry with Greek yoghurt – wow , these are just a few of the meals we now eat !
Then there is the crowing challenge : I do n’t now corrode after 7 pm , and I retrieve my grandad doing this because he felt up it aided digestion and it has for me . Fasting for 12 hours ( most of which I catch some Z’s through ) has complain - started my metabolism and I am now as thin as I was when I was 18 , and have the energy to prove it . The more I do in the garden , the more the weight fall by and if I am move to do something straining , then I will eat more carbs because I have a understanding to do so .
Easy-to-grow low carb foods include courgettes and tomatoes
Affordable healthy food
I am constantly ask how I do it , but there is no out of sight magic other than a realization that the food for thought we buy and some of the food we raise do not fit our modern lifestyles . It has radically changed my garden and made salad the Rex . This year I am growing different types of Lycopersicon esculentum : ‘ St Pierre ’ , ‘ San Marzano ’ , ‘ Gardener ’s Delight ’ , ‘ Ananas Noir ’ , ‘ Shimmer ’ , ‘ Golden Sunrise ’ and ‘ Brad ’s Atomic Grape ’ , for eating is both about preference and visuals . I have branched out into perennial Spinacia oleracea and Eruca vesicaria sativa , grow both heritage and advanced lettuces to do the one thing we all like doing , compare their taste . If I can crack growing watermelon vine , and making my own feta , I will have the ultimate low - carb summertime salad , just convulse in some ruddy Allium cepa and you have a taste explosion .
Type 2 diabetes has not been the end of my world , but the possible action up of a unexampled culinary and garden one and over a year afterward I have lost 6 rock , and I am formally in ‘ diabetic remission ’ .
In eff memory of Geoffrey Oldham 1941 - 2018 .
BIO
Andrew Oldham is a self - sufficient(ish ) gardener who believe in the joy of down - to - world growing and cooking . He populate mellow on the Saddleworth hills with his family at Pig Row . Find him on all societal media platforms as @lifeonpigrow
