Rethinking Diabetes: Inspiring UK-based Healthcare Professionals Achieving Remarkable Outcomes

Nourish Balance Thrive

Dr. Ruth Tapsell is an NHS GP and an ambassador for the UK’s Public Health Collaborative, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to improving the quality of public health education. She and her colleagues have been having outstanding success helping patients to reverse their type 2 diabetes with a low carbohydrate diet. During a time when improving metabolic health is more important than ever, Ruth is showing that it is indeed possible to turn the metabolic supertanker around quickly and effectively.

​On this podcast, Ruth shares her perspective as a GP treating type 2 diabetes and prediabetes with a low carb approach. We discuss the effects this approach could have on a societal scale, including improved public health outcomes and huge financial savings, should the NHS adopt lifestyle interventions as the first-line treatment for metabolic disorders. Ruth also offers resources for making the change to low carb, for both health care consumers and practitioners.

As a reminder, the information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Ruth Tapsell:

[00:00:13] Public Health Collaboration; The Real Foods Rocks Festival.

[00:00:19] Podcast with Sam Feltham: Real Food Initiatives for Public Health in the UK.

[00:00:36] Ruth's background and interest in low carb.

[00:00:59] David Unwin, Scientific Advisory Board member for the Public Health Collaboration in the UK.

[00:02:54] Treatment options prior to using a low carb approach.

[00:06:02] In patients with prediabetes, 93% attained a normal HbA1c; Study: Unwin, David, et al. "Insights from a general practice service evaluation supporting a lower carbohydrate diet in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and prediabetes: a secondary analysis of routine clinic data including HbA1c, weight and prescribing over 6 years." BMJ nutrition, prevention & health 3.2 (2020): 285.

[00:07:31] Virta Health.

[00:11:13] Public Health Collaboration on YouTube.

[00:12:42] Low carb and heart disease.

[00:13:46] Effects of ketogenic diet on cardiovascular indices; Virta Health paper: Athinarayanan, Shaminie J., et al. "Impact of a 2-year trial of nutritional ketosis on indices of cardiovascular disease risk in patients with type 2 diabetes." Cardiovascular diabetology 19.1 (2020): 1-13.

[00:14:17] Podcasts with Malcolm Kendrick: Why Cholesterol Levels Have No Effect on Cardiovascular Disease (And Things to Think about Instead) and A Statin Nation: Damaging Millions in a Brave New Post-health World.

[00:14:21] Malcolm Kendrick's blog.

[00:14:49] Women’s Health Initiative and the effects of diet on cardiovascular risk; Howard, Barbara V., et al. "Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of cardiovascular disease: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial." Jama 295.6 (2006): 655-666.

[00:15:17] Lead increases risk of cardiovascular disease; Study: Low-level lead exposure and mortality in US adults: a population-based cohort study.

[00:15:46] Lunchtime and evening webinars.

[00:16:10] Dr. Kesar Sadhra, working with a 90% South Asian patient population.

[00:18:44] Freestyle Libre.

[00:19:09] Video: Type 2 diabetes in South Asian’s: Achieving control in general practice - Dr Kesar Sadhra.

[00:19:59] Video: 55 people improved HbA1C with lifestyle interventions.

[00:21:03] Video: Patient who lost 49kg during lockdown.

[00:23:18] Reducing diabetes medications.

[00:25:10] Professor Marcus Saemann.

[00:27:02] Potential savings on NHS diabetes medication budget: slides from David Unwin and Kesar Sadhra.

[00:27:06] OpenPrescribing: website to compare prescribing trends, funded by NHS England.

[00:27:29] Video: Savings of £117K/year.

[00:29:32] Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. James Bailes, MD.

[00:29:38] Podcasts with Type 1 diabetics: Will Catterson and Tim Harsch.

[00:31:28] Challenges to the program; emotional eating.

[00:31:46] Video: Food Addiction: What's to be Done? by Dr Jen Unwin & Heidi Giaever.

[00:37:30] Social prescribers in the UK.

[00:38:19] Podcast: The Compassion Project: The Power of Hope and Human Kindness, with Julian Abel.

[00:40:55] Podcast: Professor Tim Noakes: True Hydration and the Power of low carb, High-Fat Diets.

[00:41:54] Scaling low carb.

[00:43:10] Dr. Michael Bazlinton, low carb practitioner.

[00:44:19] Advice for people who don't have a low carb doc.

[00:44:31] Dr. Campbell Murdoch; scientific articles by Dr. Murdoch.

[00:45:04] Ruth on Twitter.

[00:45:25] Diet Doctor.

[00:45:29] New Forest PCN.

[00:45:36] Dr. David Oliver at Freshwell Low Carb Project.

[00:46:11] Get onto the webinars: [e-mail].