The inspiration is from my client Giancarlo Caldesi, who reversed his diabetes through changing to a low carb diet. In the process he easily lost 3 stone and experienced dramatic health improvement, including reversing peripheral neuropathy which now means he can play football again with his teenage sons!
As an Italian chef and restauranteur, together with his cookery writer wife Katie, this was a story we had to share. Katie’s recipes are fabulous, and we found we shared a passion for good food – hence the idea of a cookbook! We were fortunate that Dr David Unwin, one of the lead proponents of diet to reverse T2 diabetes in the NHS, agreed to join us. Even better, his wife Dr Jen Unwin, a psychologist with an interest in food addiction, joined the team.
The cookbook includes a section on ‘unlocking the science’ which I’ve written as a nutritionist. We include David’s sugar infographics (now endorsed by NICE) and his excellent clinical results. There is a lovely double page spread of ‘easy swaps’ which even includes a fabulous peanut butter and jelly cake (jelly = chia & raspberries!).
All of the recipes include nutrition info and we use a ‘Carbscale’ with a quick quiz to allow people to decide how low in carbs they want to go. Ultimately we believe this is a diet for overall health that everybody can benefit from.