David R Hack - The Back to Basics Diet (2018 Edition): Seven Weeks to Change Your Life

Copyright 2018 David Hack

First published 2014

This edition published 2018

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To Carol, the love of my life

DH

DISCLAIMER

The ideas and concepts in this book are for information and educational-purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. This book is sold on the understanding that the author is not offering medical advice nor attempting to replace the advice of a doctor or other health care professional. It is vital that before beginning any diet or exercise programme, including the Back to Basics Diet, you receive clearance and guidance from your doctor or other appropriate health professional.

The decision to follow any information in this book remains solely the discretion of the reader, who does so of their own free will and assumes full responsibility for any or all consequences arising from such a decision. The author is not responsible for any specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision and is not liable for any loss, damages or negative consequences that might arise directly or indirectly from the use, application or interpretation of the material in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources.

Contents

Foreword

Eddy Marshall

On the morning of the 28th of January 2015, I popped in to my local doctors surgery to learn the results of a blood test. I wasnt even vaguely prepared for what I was about to be told.

Although Id been overweight for years, I remained reasonably fit and well, or so I thought. I definitely wasnt expecting my stony-faced GP to inform me that I had advanced Type 2 diabetes, requiring immediate medication and some stern doctorly admonishment.

At that point, I didnt know much about Type 2 diabetes (T2D) but the little I did know didnt fill me with joy.

I knew T2D meant as many as 10 years struck from my life expectancy, a sobering thought, especially for a happily married man with a four year-old son. That said, death might be considered a blessing if presaged by some of T2Ds many awful comorbidities, including blindness, nerve-death, amputation and a far greater likelihood of heart attack, cancer and stroke. I knew T2D could well mean a creeping, unpleasant and premature decline.

Fortunately, things turned out to be a little less dark than Id first thought and over the following week I learned a lot of new information about the condition.

In the week following my diagnosis, my wife Claire ordered a copy of Dr David Cavans Reverse Your Diabetes , which provided invaluable information and also hope that my T2D perhaps wasnt as intractable as I and my GP first thought. A couple of days after that, we purchased a copy of the 2014 edition of The Back To Basics Diet .

I went on to lose 50 pounds over the next five months, by changing my diet to something pretty close to the one advocated in this book. Just over a year after my diagnosis I was signed off my surgerys Diabetic Register, unmedicated and with no remaining indication of the condition.

The reversal of my T2D rests largely on these two books.

Theres little similarity between the food I eat now compared to what I ate pre-T2D diagnosis. I now eat more consciously and with more relish and enjoyment than I ever did before diagnosis.

Inevitably (and logically), the free market has provided us with an ample choice of foods which are appealing and thus profitable but, because of their often essentially sugary/carby components, are also frequently unhealthy, even addictive. The consequent extremely poor health outcomes, with mass overweight and burgeoning T2D, have led to some equally extreme dietary cures and in the midst of all this weve lost track of a lot of older wisdom regarding food, fasting, diet and health.

The Back to Basics Diet redresses that, bringing the essential truth about food back to the fore: that the food we eat ought to, first and foremost, nourish us.

In the course of making an ongoing film on the subject of T2D reversal, I was delighted to discover that David Hack is a fellow Cumbrian and near neighbour of mine, living a mere 20 miles away. Since then, David has helped out with some of our group work on T2D reversal, giving our participants lucid and witty talks on diet and evolution.

I recommend The Back to Basics Diet very highly indeed. Too many of us have been taught too little about these most basic facts of life, about the right foods to eat for our best health and wellbeing.

This book is necessary and timely and I hope you gain as much insight, good health and enjoyment from it as I have.

Eddy Marshall

Grange-over-Sands, September 2017

TV Director & Co-Founder of Dia-Beat This!

Type 2 diabetes reversal course and film

Welcome to The Back to Basics Diet 2018 edition

I first published The Back to Basics Diet in 2014 and since then have been delighted with the overwhelmingly positive response to the book. Unfortunately, the world of nutrition and obesity research never sleeps, so in an effort to keep things up to date I thought it would be sensible to update the book for 2018.

I decided to sit down and write a diet book some years ago when I was going through a difficult and challenging phase of my life. Notwithstanding my own personal troubles, one day, when I was at a particularly low ebb, I stood alone in front of my bedroom mirror and got the shock of my life. Somehow, I had become really fat. To make matters worse, my doctor told me I was suffering from numerous obesity-related problems, i.e. disruptive sleep apnea, hypertension (high blood pressure) and pre-diabetes. I was stunned; if I carried on in this way, I was headed for a lifetime of illness and an early grave. How on Earth had I got myself into this state?

I grew up eating home-cooked food prepared by my mum, who like many women of her era had grown up during the War and so was adept at making ends meet. My parents had lived abroad before they married, so mealtimes included wonderful curries (my father had lived in India during the War) and Mediterranean foods inspired by the years my mother had spent in Europe. Together with lots of sport at school, this home-cooked, real food diet kept me healthy and slim.

Unfortunately, after leaving home, the dietary wheels began to fall off. Mealtimes became dominated by takeaways and beer, so slowly but surely I began to put on weight. However, it was to be many years later before I finally took that long, hard look in the mirror. At this point I had reached nearly seventeen stone (240 pounds), almost 50% over my ideal weight. Enough was enough.