Over the holiday season, I'm releasing a couple of previous podcasts that were particularly popular with listeners. This first one is an interview I did with GP Dr David Unwin.

David has been a pioneer in the UK developing and promoting a low-carb approach for treating type 2 diabetes. In 2016, he won the NHS innovator of the year award for his work. His treatment approach has been so successful that he has put around half his type 2 diabetic patients, who follow a low carb diet, into remission. And as a result, his practice, spends far less on diabetic medication than any of the surrounding GP surgeries. The potential cost savings if this approach was adopted nationally and internationally, would be huge for health services across the world.

We tend to think that unless we have a form of diabetes that we don’t really need to be concerned about our blood sugar levels, but nothing could be further from the truth.

As we get older, all of us unless we change our diet and lifestyle, will see our blood sugar levels rise, this causes our bodies to produce more and more insulin, which can lead to insulin resistance. If we eat a diet high in carbohydrates, this is likely to exacerbate the problem.

And that matters because insulin resistance isn't just linked to type 2 diabetes but a wide range of illnesses including high blood pressure, heart disease, Alzheimer's and some cancers too.

In the podcast, David discusses the Public Health Collaboration, a charity that he set up with colleagues, which aims to promote metabolic health and so prevent many chronic diseases. Here's a link to it:

https://phcuk.org/

And here is a link to David’s most recent paper published in BMJ nutrition, also discussed in the podcast:

https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/6/1/46

If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

Medical Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/

Professor Tony Avery, National Clinical Director for Prescribing for NHS England, discusses safer prescribing of medicines.

He highlights the changes he would like to see to enable patients to make genuinely informed decisions, which may also sometimes mean that they decide not to go ahead with a treatment. Tony describes how he believes doctors and patients can work together on initial prescribing decisions, so that patients can be confident that the benefits of the selected approach outweigh the risks.

You can find out more about this podcast on its website and if you would like to support it you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on X and read further information about the podcast on her Substack newsletter.

Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/

Neuropsychiatrist Dr Alastair Santhouse discusses his concerns that the huge increase we are seeing in mental health diagnoses across the western world, is now medicalizing emotions and feelings that have previously been seen as part of the normal human experience.

He argues in a new book No More Normal – Mental Health in an Age of Over-diagnosis, published by Granta - this is leading to an increasing number of people taking psychiatric medication. Today in England alone over eight million adults take an antidepressant every year. This is creating an unprecedented demand on health services, increasing waiting lists, which most worryingly of all, risks leaving those with severe mental illnesses, who really need the support unable to get it.

You can find out more about this podcast on its website and if you would like to support it you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on X and read further information about the podcast on her Substack newsletter.

Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/