Tag Archives: Australian of the Year 2020

[Korean Version] AFT Interviews: Dr. James Muecke AM Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission

This Korean summary has been adapted from the original article, AFT Interviews: Dr. James Muecke AM Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission by Chosun University Department of Nursing student, Oh SoHyun.

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안과의사인 제임스 뮤케 박사는 제2형 당뇨병이 완화될 수 있다고 말합니다. 2020년
올해의 호주인으로 선정되고, 뮤케 박사는 사람들의 눈을 보호하기 위해 설탕이 든
음료에 대한 세금 시행을 지지하기 시작했습니다. 뮤케는 아시아피트니스투데이에게
호주인들의 식이 가이드라인에 필요하다고 생각하는 변화에 대해 얘기했습니다. 그는
정부가 설탕세 제도를 도입하는 것이 왜 필요한지에 대해 설명하고, 실명을 유발할 수
있는 생활습관병인 당뇨에 대한 경각심을 불러일으키는 일에 대해 이야기했습니다.

뮤케는 케냐에서 일을 시작한 후 남호주로 돌아와 안과 의사이자 실명 예방의
개척자가 되었습니다. 그는 모두가 볼 수 있는 세상을 만드는 것을 목표로, 2000년에
남 호주 안과 연구소에서 비전 미얀마와 호주와 뉴질랜드 안과 전문의를 통해 해외
의사를 훈련시키는 단체인 Sight for All을 시작했습니다.

설탕이 우리의 추론을 방해하나요?
몇 달 전, 우리는 하루아침에 설탕으로 인해 눈이 먼 뮤케 박사의 환자에 대한
이야기를 특집으로 다루었습니다. 네일 한셀은 슬프게도 당뇨로 인해 시력을
빼앗겼을 뿐만 아니라 사지까지 쇠약해졌습니다.

제임스 뮤케 의사는 지난해 캔버라에서 열린 national press club의 한 연설에서
환자의 눈을 제거해야 했던 것에 대해 굉장히 감동적인 설명을 했습니다. 그는
생활습관이 좋다면 발생하지 않을 제2 당뇨병에 의해 시력을 잃은 경우처럼,
누군가의 시력을 앗아가는 것이 아니라 시력을 선물해주는 안과 의사가 되기를
원했습니다.

설탕의 유해성은 해결될 수 있다.
인류가 역사상 처음으로 설탕과 정제된 탄수화물로 “과식하고 영양실조”를 겪었다고
그는 단언했습니다. 우리는 호주가 국경을 폐쇄한지 3개월이 지난 2021년 3월,
시드니에 있는 스튜디오에서 개인적으로 뮤케를 만났고, 그는 우리와의 대화를
이렇게 요약했습니다. “엄마가 아기를 임신했을 때 당분이 많은 식단을 섭취한다면,
그 설탕은 태반 장벽을 넘어서 아이에게 갈 수 있지만 인슐린은 전달되지 않습니다.
그리고 이는 미래에 아이의 건강에 이상발생 확률을 높입니다 . 따라서 임신성
당뇨병은 큰 문제이므로 사람들은 임신성 당뇨병이 임신 초기에 발병하고 설탕과

정제된 탄수화물을 섭취하면 바로 되돌아온다는 점을 인지해야 합니다.”
뮤케는 그가 생각해낸 전략에 대해 길게 이야기했습니다. 그는 Addiction 중독,
Alleviation 완화, Accessibility 접근성, Addition 추가, Advertising 광고, 이렇게
다섯가지를 설탕 독성의 5As라고 부릅니다.

“이 습관을 버리는 것은 매우 힘듭니다. 만약 여러분이 설탕 중독에서 벗어나려고
해봤다면, 그것은 꽤 불쾌한 과정이었을 것입니다. 그리고 여러분이 설탕을 안 먹는
것에 성공한다고 해도, 여러분이 어디를 가든, 먹는 모든 음식들은 설탕으로
가득하고, 이는 설탕 중독에서 벗어나는 것을 매우 어렵게 만듭니다. 그렇기 때문에,
가당 음료에 세금을 부과했을 때 멕시코를 포함한 17개국에서 구매와 소비가
줄어들었다는 것을 우리는 알고 있습니다.

호주를 한 번 살펴봅시다. 호주에서 설탕이 든 음료에 20%의 세금을 부과하면 약 6억
달러를 얻을 수 있어 health awareness initiatices에 자금을 제공할 수 있으며,
호주인의 약 77%가 그의 설탕세에 대한 요구와 더불어 이 정책에 동의한다고 뮤케가
덧붙였습니다.

애들레이드에 있는 집으로 돌아온 뮤케 박사는 인식 형성에 대한 그의 지지 활동을
계속하고, 음료 및 가공 식품의 설탕에 대한 단속과 호주의 식이 지침 변경을
촉구하고 있습니다.
그는 호주 성인의 실명 주요 원인 중 하나인 당뇨병이 어떻게 호전될 수 있는지에
대해 말했습니다. 당뇨병은 값싸고 접근하기 쉬운 설탕, 정제된 탄수화물, 극도로
가공된 음식의 과다 섭취로 인해 발생하는 대사 질환입니다. 그는 씨앗 기름의
위험성과 우리가 매일 섭취하는 기름의 종류에 대해 알아야 한다고 언급했습니다.
호주의 식이 지침은 2013년에 마지막으로 업데이트되었으며, 페이스북 게시물에서
뮤케는 권장 식품의 80%가 식물 기반이라는 확실한 편견을 시사했습니다. 그는
다이아몬드 모양을 생각해 냈고, 설탕과 많이 가공된 곡물 고기들을 건강하게 먹는
다이아몬드의 반대쪽 끝으로 옮겼습니다.

7뉴스 보도는 제2형 당뇨병을 완화하는 데에 저칼로리 식이요법, 저탄수화물
식이요법, 비만 수술 등 세 가지 방법이 성공적이었으며, 이 중 저탄수화물
다이어트가 가장 쉬운 해결책이라고 한 뮤케 박사의 말을 인용했습니다.
아시아피트니스투데이는 2020년 11월 호주 안과 학회가 주관하는 웹 세미나에도
참석했습니다. 뮤케 박사는 웨비나에서 포도당 대사에 대한 이미지를 공유하며
피크타임의 만원 기차에 비유했습니다. 포도당을 너무 많이 섭취하면 인슐린 수치가
올라 혈류로 포도당을 밀어 넣으려 하지만 거부반응이 나타납니다. 몸에서 거부당한
포도당은 간에 글리코겐으로 저장되고 지방간을 생성합니다. 간에 흡수되었을 때,
과당은 거의 1/3이 지방으로 전환되기 때문에 과당은 포도당보다 훨씬 더 독성이

강합니다.

AFT Interviews: Dr. James Muecke AM Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission

Listen to the full interview on The Kurang Manis Podcast, Season 1, Episode 7

Type 2 Diabetes could be put into remission, says opthalmologist Dr. James Muecke AM. Almost as soon as he was named Australian of the Year 2020, Dr. Muecke started advocating for the implementation of a tax on sugary drinks in an effort to save more eyes. Dr. Muecke speaks to AsiaFitnessToday.com about his proposed change to Australia’s dietary guidelines, he expresses why there’s a need for government to impose a sugar tax and talks about his work in raising awareness about diabetes – a lifestyle disease that could lead to the loss of sight.

Dr. James Muecke with his team in Vietnam. Photo credit: Sight For All foundation

He began his career in Kenya, then returned to South Australia to become an eye surgeon and blindness prevention pioneer, starting both Vision Myanmar at the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology in 2000, and Sight For All, an organisation which uses Australian and New Zealand eye specialists to train overseas doctors, a social impact organisation “aiming to create a world where everyone can see”.

Has sugar blinded our reasoning?

A few months ago, we featured a story about a patient of Dr. Muecke’s who woke up one morning Blinded by Sugar. Neil Hansel is sadly a victim of the debilitating disease which has not only taken his eyesight, but also his limbs.

In his address at the National Press Club in Canberra last year, Dr. James Muecke gave an immensely moving account about having had to remove a patient’s eye. He wanted to be an eye surgeon to give the gift of sight and not to take it away from someone, especially when someone has been needlessly blinded by an avoidable, man-made Type 2 Diabetes he said.

Sugar toxicity can be solved

Humans were for the first time in history “overfed and undernourished” with sugar and refined carbohydrates, he affirmed. We met with Dr. Muecke in person at a studio in Sydney this March 2021, one square year after the Australian border closures and he summed up our conversation to this, “When the mother is pregnant with the baby and if she’s consuming a diet high in sugar, that sugar crosses the placental barrier to the foetus but insulin doesn’t cross, so you’re already metabolically priming the child for health problems in the future. So gestational diabetes is a big big problem so people should be aware of that, that it be picked up early in pregnancy and wind right back on your consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates,”.

Dr. Muecke spoke to us at length about a strategy he came up with, which he calls the 5As of sugar toxicity.

  • Addiction
  • Alleviation
  • Accessibility
  • Addition
  • Advertising

It’s so hard to kick the habit. If you’ve ever tried to detox from sugar, it’s quite an unpleasant process. And even if you’re able to succesfully do it, everywhere you go, all the foods you eat, you’re just bombarded with sugar, so it makes it very difficult. So having a tax on sugary drinks, we know that it’s been shown to reduce purchase and consumption in 17 countries with Mexico being one of them.

Let’s say in Australia, we put a 20% levy on sugary drinks, that would raise about A$600million which could then be used to fund health awareness initiatives and about 77% of Australians agree with this in principle,” added Muecke, giving light into his call for a sugar tax.

Back home in Adelaide, Dr. Muecke continues his advocacy work in awareness building and has called for a crackdown on sugar in drinks and processed foods, also a change in Australia’s dietary guidelines.

He spoke about how diabetes, one of leading causes of blindness among Australian adults could be sent into remission. Diabetes is a metabolic disease, caused by the over-consumption of sugar, refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods which are cheap and accessible. He mentioned the dangers of seed oils, and that we should be aware of the types of oils we’re consuming daily.

Australia’s dietary guidelines was last updated in 2013 and in a Facebook post, Muecke suggests a certain biasness that 80% of the recommended foods were plant-based. He came up with this proposed diamond (see diagram below), shifting sugar and heavily processed & grain fed meats to the opposite tips of the healthy eating diamond.

A 7News report quoted Dr. Muecke saying, there were three successful ways to place type-two diabetes in remission – low calorie diets, low carbohydrate diets or bariatric surgery. Of these, he said the low-carbohydrate diet was the easiest solution.

AsiaFitnessToday.com also attended a webinar in November 2020, organised by the Australian Society of Opthalmologists. In that webinar, Dr. Muecke shared an imagery about glucose metabolism likening it to a packed train at peak hour. When too much glucose is ingested, insulin level rises and tries to push glucose into the blood stream, but it’s rejected. It’s then stored as glycogen instead in the liver, giving rise to fatty liver. Fructose – when taken up by the liver, almost a third of it is converted to fat so fructose is far more toxic than glucose! 

Dynamic duo

Dr. James Muecke was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012, then in 2015 he was EY’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year for Australia, and in 2019 received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Adelaide. It was the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, that Dr. Muecke was named Australian of the Year for 2020 and appropriately so, considering he is not going to be silent anymore and will be carrying the torch to highlight the fact that non-communicable lifestyle diseases like diabetes can be put into remission, and one of the ways to achieve that is to intervene with awareness first, followed by a change in lifestyle and importantly, diet. Partnering Dr. Muecke in advocacy and stewardship of the non-profit work is spouse Mena Muecke OAM, who also plays a vital role in the marketing and publicity of Sight For All and is a co-founder of the Vision 1000 social investment initiative. She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2018. The Mueckes run private consultancy, www.Medthink.com.au.

Follow Dr. Muecke on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn


The podcast also features:

Dr. YokeLi Ling

In this 7th episode of Season 1 of The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast, we also speak with Dr YokeLi Ling, based in Kuala Lumpur who is passionately advocating Sleep and Airway Centric Dentistry and Oral Myofunctional Therapy. Dr. Ling shares more details in the 8th episode of the podcast (click here) with co-hosts Nikki Yeo and Jasmine Low. 

Mia Palencia

Our tradition continues where we introduce music from this region and we’ve chosen a song titled SUPERMAN by Tassie-based Mia Palencia who launched her career in Malaysia at the age of 14 as the other half of Sabahan jazz duo Double Take. The song reflects the advocacy work that’s being undertaken by Dr. James Muecke AM – Australia’s SUPERMAN. Mia composed, produced and performed the opening night theme song for the Southeast Asian Games 2017, and continues her PhD research in Songwriting at the Conservatorium of Music, University of Tasmania and released her 7th album with her Australian jazz quartet, In Good Company. Visit www.miapalencia.com.

Available wherever you get your podcasts:

Public advocacy

We welcome messages from our listeners, and invite you to send us a voice message if you have comments or feedback for our guests.

Feel free to share and repost these visuals via your social media pages or messages. Thank you.

Now streaming – Dr. James Muecke AM, Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission. Listen to the podcast on AsiaFitnessToday.com or wherever you get your podcast: “The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast”
Now streaming – Dr. James Muecke AM, Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission. Listen to the podcast on AsiaFitnessToday.com or wherever you get your podcast: “The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast”
Now streaming – Dr. James Muecke AM, Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission. Listen to the podcast on AsiaFitnessToday.com or wherever you get your podcast: “The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast”

More opinion pieces by Dr. James Muecke AM:


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AsiaFitnessToday.com Interviews: Dr. James Muecke AM Australian of the Year 2020 wants to put diabetes in remission is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Source: https://www.asiafitnesstoday.com/dr-james-muecke/