Low-carb advocate features on GP power list
A well respected low-carb advocate doctor has once again been included on a list of the UK’s most influential general practitioners.
Dr David Unwin, otherwise known as the ‘Low-Carb GP’, was placed at number 26 out of a possible 50 on Pulse’s annual Power 50 list. Last year, the Southport-based general practitioner, was ninth on the list.
He is best known for his research into the low-carb diet and proving how beneficial it can be for people with type 2 diabetes.
Over the years he has developed a strong relationship with Diabetes Digital Media, and together they created the award-winning Low Carb Program. The Program has gone from strength to strength and has since received a CE Mark and QISMET approval meaning it can be prescribed on the NHS.
Pulse described Dr Unwin as the “figurehead of a movement that is exerting a considerable influence in healthcare”.
This year Dr Zoe Williams, a GP working in South London, has made it onto the list in 49th place. The doctor, who can regularly be seen on ITV’s This Morning programme has a special interest in physical activity for health and diabetes.
She is a Clinical Champion of physical activity with both Public Health England and the Royal College of General Practitioners. In addition, she is a director of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine and founder of the community interest company, Fit4Life.
Dr Unwin also worked with Diabetes.co.uk to write a 30-minute e-learning module ‘Type 2 Diabetes – a Low GI Approach’ for healthcare professionals, which was published by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). The content, which explored how low glycaemic-index (GI) diets could benefit people with type 2 diabetes, was been applauded by Lord Balfe, a key figure in European and international parliamentary affairs and Honorary President and Global Patron of NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health.
The doctor also received the Diabetes UK Primary Care Poster prize in March of this year for his work on helping people with pre-diabetes start a low-carb diet, and as an RCGP clinical expert on diabetes he helped develop the 2018 dietary guidelines for Diabetes UK.
He has appeared across most well-known national news channels and stations, speaking about his work. He even took part in a BBC documentary, in which he rolled out his approach in the poorest practice in Merseyside.
The GP has previously said that he has “probably done more good online than in 32 years of face-to-face medicine”.