War on Diabetes Newsletter 13th July 2025
Welcome to the fith War on Diabetes newsletter, your weekly tips and ideas from someone who has had diabetes for five years and learned a lot about it. It's a practical and actionable guide to details your doctor probably won't have time to tell you about.
This week I've made good progress on the Diabetes UK's One Million Step Challenge and clocked up over 200,000 steps so far. I've been exploring lots of local farmland and wooded areas with some very overgrown paths. I'm going to have to rest for a few days due to blister problems which I was expecting at some point so I'm glad to have a good chunk of steps already in the bank.
I had another four hour shopping trip for outdoor clothes as jeans and shirts just don't work when hacking through nettles and brambles. I hate shopping for clothes but it all adds to the step count. Weight loss is going well which makes it tricky to find the right sizes so I had to spend ages trying things on and mens' clothes sizes don't make any sense... I came back with medium, XL and XXL. Please make it make sense 😅
Last Sunday we were out in Manchester and I survived diabetes-restaurant-roulette by having a chicken curry with salad instead of rice or bread. Then a few days later I had a daal-disaster involving peas and naan bread. My love for Indian food isn't helping my glucose control.
What I learned this week
I put bacon and spinach on trial in a deep-dive on nitrates, nitrites and nitrosamines.
Read more
Progress Update
Sunny days bring blisters and too much booze. I'm also experimenting with fasting and foraged-leaf tea.
Read moreThis week's food heroes
Bolognaise breakie
It might seem odd to have leftover bolognaise for breakfast but it's a big protein boost to start the day. I added some chopped leeks and spinach to add fiber and vitamins. Don't let anyone tell you parmagiano or parmesan is unhealthy - gram for gram it contains nine times as much calcium, and eight times as much phosphorous as milk.
Sausages, eggs, broccoli and... strawberries?
It might seem like an odd combination, but strawberries are much higher in vitamin C than tomatoes so that's going to promote nitric oxide production from the nitrites in sausages instead of nitrosamines.
Dhaba style chicken curry, Delhi House Cafe, Manchester
This is a favourite Indian restaurant of mine in Manchester and they've recently updated their menu, giving you a choice of side dishes to go with your mains instead of just a rigid pairing of breads and rice. Their kachumber salad is a great diabetes restaurant survival hack. As side salads go, it was refreshingly enjoyable and I'll definitely be doing this one again.
New Recruit Tip
Stop worrying about consuming fats - it's all marketing and out-dated, and flawed science. Fats contain vital nutrients and fatty acids such as C15 that help to improve insulin resistance. They are also more satiating and produce lower glucose spikes than carbohydrates. Yes, they contain more calories per gram, but you will feel full so you won't eat as many total calories because you won't be as hungry.
Watch "Sugar, The Bitter Truth" lecture by Dr. Robert LustigDiabetes Veterans
Foot care is important but what does that involve? I've always had medical professionals tell me to check my feet regularly but they never give any advice on what to actually do if there is a problem. I've been struggling with blisters this week so I've read through dozens of websites trying to find the most informative and practicle guide to dealing with them. I'd have never thought that cotton socks could be a problem...
How to prevent and treat blisters
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I struggled to find where to buy non-homogenised milk locally and eventually found The Modern Milkman. Their organic whole milk in my area is non-homogenised so I've been getting milk and eggs from them for two yeas now. Use this link to get 50% off your first two weeks and they'll give me 50% off my next delivery as well. Cheers!
