In January 2015 the Barbados Diabetes Reversal Study, a pilot study aimed at reversing type two diabetes, will begin. It will explore whether type two diabetes can be reversed by patients adopting a low calorie diet and maintaining a healthy weight.

Participants will be given a low calorie liquid diet for eight weeks with non-starchy vegetables making sure that they receive all the necessary vitamins and minerals. This will then be followed by a 6 month period where participants will resume a normal healthy diet.

The study will be funded by Virgin Unite and builds on research conducted in the UK by Prof Roy Taylor.

If you’re from Barbados and would like to take part in this study you’ll need to have been diagnosed with the condition within the past 6 years.  For more information and to register please contact reversediabetes246@gmail.com or 1 246 266 5673

On Saturday we attended Genesis, an inspirational networking event organised by Bespoke Hairstyles and Almocado which brought together black business owners and professionals for a night of sharing, positivity and empowerment, with the theme being Our Voice Matters.

This was a networking event like no other with everyone genuinely wanting to connect with like-minded people, no hidden agendas, just a willingness to ensure that we begin to create a forum for black businesses, professionals, students and charities to come together.

The evening began with mingling, snacks and the opportunity to view the products on sale by the vendors Almocado and House of Afrika.

Once we’d settled in, the main event began with a lovely introduction from Bespoke Hairstyles and Almocado who spoke about the rationale behind the event, how their businesses started and their passion for bringing all their clients together, clients who are multitalented and would benefit from being connected to each other.

Then it was over to us. Everyone in the room had the opportunity to be heard from invited guests and vendors to the caterers and cameraman. This was a night of inclusion.

We were all given a few minutes to introduce ourselves, put forward one word that encapsulates what success means to us (the most popular word that people  put forward was ‘happiness’ followed by ‘freedom’) and then show the group our happy pose – that thing that we do when we are happy with ourselves (it was great fun seeing all the poses).

We heard from lawyers, IT consultants, social workers, artists, bloggers, vloggers, financial analysts, raw food chefs, architects and many, many more. It was very motivating to hear everyone’s story and surprising to learn that so many people are juggling 9-5 jobs and their own businesses; it was a truly multitalented room of people.

This was a very enjoyable event and we’d like to say a big thank you to Bespoke Hairstyles and Almocado for organising this event and  inviting us to attend, we were truly honoured to be there and look forward to their next event.