Warrnambool man David Hounslow beats diabetes with diet

It meant giving up the food he absolutely loves, including bread he baked at home, but it was a sacrifice he was more than happy to make.

After three years on his new diet he was able to stop taking insulin two weeks ago.

"I took heaps of insulin back to the chemist ... no use to me anymore."

Mr Hounslow, 80, was first diagnosed with type two diabetes about 12 years ago and had been on insulin for about 10 years.

"What complicated matters was I had an undiagnosed heart problem," he said.

Mr Hounslow said for the first two years he was able to control his diabetes with diet and exercise until his heart issues started to have an impact.

"Having a heart problem means I get tired earlier and that hit me when I was first diagnosed with diabetes and it limited the exercise you can do," he said.

"You can walk for kilometres and your blood sugar readings are better but when your heart doesn't pump properly you can no longer go that far without feeling like you've got to sit down or fall over."

Mr Hounslow had to undergo major heart surgery and now has a pacemaker but he still has to live with his genetic condition where the chambers of his heart "don't beat in the right sequence".

When his doctor moved to Melbourne and he started seeing a new GP, he was advised to revisit his diet.

So after reading a few books Mr Hounslow decided to change what he was eating which meant adjusting the amount of protein he consumed and reducing carbohydrates.

"It's very similar to a keto diet but not really," he said.

"The interesting side effect is you lose weight ... and sometimes, like me, you don't have to take insulin anymore and theoretically not a diabetic anymore."

But it didn't happen overnight.

"It took close to three years."

Mr Hounslow said it was a strange feeling not having to take insulin anymore.

"It's actually odd getting up in the morning without injecting yourself and without pricking your finger to check your blood sugar," he said.

Now Mr Hounslow won't have to pack insulin in the fridge when he and his wife Beth go away in the caravan.

"For the rest of my life I will have to be careful with food," he said.

"I used to make my own bread and it was lovely. Banana in bread I used to love, I don't have that anymore.

"I should point out that I absolutely love the food that I gave up. In the long run it's worthwhile. There's plenty to eat, just different things.

"Hopefully my blood sugar remains below the point where I'm officially a diabetic."

The retired electrical fitter spent his career fixing household appliances such as fridges, stoves, washing machines and air-conditioners after moving to Warrnambool in 1967.

Eating his way to a healthier lifestyle is paying off for Mr Hounslow.

"I've lived older than my father and all his brothers. At this age I'm far fitter than my father was in his old age," he said.

"I plan to lie down one night and say 'hello to God' and not wake up the next morning but we don't always have that choice of doing it that peacefully."

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