Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson has revealed he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes but has 'reversed' the condition through diet and exercise. He has come off medication after losing seven stone (44.5kg) since last summer.
Watson, who once weighed 22 stone, said he developed diabetes through being 'overweight, deeply unfit, addicted to sugar and fast foods'. He cut out junk food, starchy carbohydrates and refined sugar, and took up cycling and running.
The West Bromwich MP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I feel great. I feel absolutely fantastic. Chilled out, I feel like my IQ has gone up. I feel younger.' He said he had 'battled weight since my early 20s' and went into denial after his diagnosis.
Watson has vowed to launch a crusade against diabetes if Labour wins power, setting up an independent cross-party commission to investigate prevention. About four million people in the UK have diabetes, accounting for 10% of NHS spending.
According to Public Health England, a million more could be diagnosed over the next 20 years due to poor diet and lack of exercise. Watson said: 'It is a public health scandal that so many millions of people are having to suffer this condition when they don't have to.'
