A medical practice is working with a restaurant group to aid in an effort to combat obesity and diabetes.

Premier Health and Wellness Centre, located on King Street, which is owned and operated by Stanley James, is targeting two of the island’s major health scourges.

“Reversing diseases and obesity is our aim,” Dr James said. “The first thing to do is establish a primary care practice.

“We do prevention and treatment of adult population diseases. With diabetes and obesity being the two major contributors to premature death in Bermuda, I wanted to attack those first.”

Last year, Dr James and his team along with insurer Argus, launched the Diabetes Reversal Programme, which aims to help patients with type 2 diabetes live healthier lives, get off medication, lose weight, reverse sugar numbers, and reduce complications of the disease.

Dr James brought in David Cavan, a diabetologist from London, as a visiting consultant to assist with the programme.

Dr Cavan is an experienced diabetes physician, with particular interests in intensive management of type 1 diabetes, including insulin pump therapy, and in supporting lifestyle change to manage and reverse type two diabetes.

Since launching the diabetes reversal programme, Dr James said he had seen tremendous success, which prompted him to launch the Clean Start programme, which is geared towards people who want to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

“The Clean Start programme was a success,” Dr James said. “With doing more research I noticed that one of the things we did with our diabetes reversal programme was to follow a low-carb diet. So we thought those individuals will be suited to follow a ketogenic diet.”

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat diet which puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis. In a state of ketosis, the liver produces ketones which become the body’s main energy source. It all revolves around the consumption of fat.

When Dr James discovered the benefits of the “keto” diet he introduced the Keto Jump Start programme.

He said: “This diet has hit the US and Europe — it’s a craze right now. We decided to bring it to Bermuda and medically supervise patients while on it.”

When Dr James discovered that the biggest barrier for the Clean Start and Diabetes Reversal programmes was the availability of meals, he knew he needed some extra help to maximise its effectiveness.

“I reached out to the Yvonne Cacace from Nirvana Mas Carnival band, and she told me that The Little Venice Group is doing something similar for her wellness programme,” Dr James said.

“After meeting with The Little Venice Group, we came up with a plan to build a relationship between a restaurant and medical industry leader. If we could address the need for Bermudians to get over the hurdle of preparing their own food, we could have a good impact upon the diseases in this country.”

The restaurant group prepares daily meals and snacks for programme participants, who are medically supervised and guided through its duration. The programme has no age limit.

• For more information visit http://phwcbermuda.com/ or call Premier Health And Wellness Centre on 292-5111