Yes, it’s official! Cyndi and I have managed to persuade Isabella to release the very first beta version of Ayuda into the eager hands of our rapidly growing beta testing community.

Release 0ne sees Ayuda come to life on an iPhone. So far so good — the feedback has been great — comments like:

“Wow — in all the years I’ve been injecting insulin I’ve never been able to visualise how much is in my body at any given time! This is SO useful”

As you can imagine, music to our ears and a great validation that the last two years of hard work, research, development and feedback has led to the first beta version being so well-received.

Not one for resting on their laurels though, Isabella and the development team were really keen to meet the users and get firsthand their comments, suggestions and ideas. More on that in another article!

Know someone who injects insulin? Think they might be interested in learning more about Ayuda? Do let them know what we are up to.

Building the community

Onwards and upwards, the interest in Ayuda is growing in leaps and bounds, we have now launched our Facebook Page so do come on over and say “Hi”, and let your friends know about us. If you are of a social media mind, follow us on twitter @AyudaHeuristics. And keep an eye out for updates on our website about all things AI and Diabetes and why we believe in the power of technology to help make life better.

Over the next few weeks and months we’ll be building up the beta user programme, so if you know anyone who injects insulin and uses an iPhone please do let them know about us.

To stay updated please join our list.

The devil is in the detail, so the saying goes, and the detail has been supplied by decades of peer-reviewed and published research which told us all that fat is the enemy. Generations of people have been born into a world where all sections of society — the media, film, fashion, food, and healthcare have directed us to avoid fat like the plague. Theory based and evidence driven, the studies published and promoted have ubiquitously instructed the public — and our healthcare professionals — to do all we can to minimise fat consumption.

Sugar on the other hand has been hailed as totally necessary. After all, without glucose the brain cannot function — or so we are told. So sugar has had a free ride. It is in almost everything in one form or another, and, doesn’t it make things easy to eat.

This message has been promulgated by the most amazing array of vested interests, from politicians to policy makers, researchers, and institutions, all in need of funding, all in need of resources, and all following, or being led, down the same path. It is difficult enough if you are a healthcare professional to know where the message originates, let alone for a patient. After all, healthcare professionals rely on the evidence and patients rely on healthcare professionals. The message is reinforced by public health messaging, by the food industry, by sports coaches, and even by teachers in schools, so who’s left to take a different view? Who’s left to make a counter argument, propose a different hypothesis, and have research published and acknowledged as equally valid that contradicts the zeitgeist and over turns the previous theory.

Roll the clock forward, and here we are in 2016 with whole countries refuting the fat is bad, sugar is good mentality. Sweden has adopted a low-carbohydrate approach to public health messaging, lifestyle choice, and health interventions. The switch in dietary advice followed the publication of a two-year study by the independent Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. The committee reviewed 16,000 studies published up until 31 May 2013 and upended existing advice in favour of a low-carbohydrate model. Here in the UK we see, almost weekly, documentaries and publications advocating that we reduce our carbohydrate intake, especially for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, and yet the accepted advice is still low fat.

As our healthcare professionals you are in a unique position of trust. We want you to ask the questions for us and help translate the plethora of information out there into knowledge, lead us and guide us with your wisdom, and help us better understand how we can lead healthier lives. Food is so important. Food is deeply personal. Food defines us and our relationships. Food, its preparation and place in the home and the heart is fundamental to so many aspects of our lives.

So what ARE we meant to eat?

first published in the BMJ : http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2016/10/10/paul-buchanan-what-are-we-meant-to-eat/