RCGP low glycaemic-index course praised
An online course exploring low glycaemic-index (GI) diets in type 2 diabetes released by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has been praised by a leading nutritional expert.
The 30-minute e-learning module ‘Type 2 Diabetes – a Low GI Approach’ is for healthcare professionals and has been written by Southport-based GP Dr David Unwin and Diabetes.co.uk.
It has 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.
Dr Unwin has shown the benefits to be gained from the treatment of type 2 diabetes by dietary modification, Lord Balfe
The module aimed at GPs, practice nurses, diabetes nurses and other professionals working in primary care helping people living with type 2 diabetes was made available to all 52,000 members of The Royal College of General Practitioners in June.
Lord Balfe said: “I am particularly pleased to hear the Royal College of General Practitioners has just published a peer reviewed e-learning course on this subject written by Dr Unwin to help other healthcare professionals interested in avoiding lifelong medication for their patients with type 2 diabetes.
“Dr Unwin has shown the benefits to be gained from the treatment of type 2 diabetes by dietary modification. Not only does his simple and easily understandable set of modifications to diet lead to a potential life free of drugs but it also cuts the cost of treatment within an overstretched NHS.”
In 2016, Dr Unwin was awarded ‘NHS Innovator of the Year’ for published research into a low carb diet as an alternative to therapies for type 2 diabetes, with his GP practice spending £40,000 per year less than expected on drugs for diabetes, while at the same time helping up to 50% of people get their diabetes into medication-free remission.
This is done by dramatically cutting back on both dietary sugar and the starchy carbohydrates that digest down into sugar.
Broken down into three sessions, the 30-minute online course starts with a baseline assessment of the knowledge, skills and attitudes relating to diabetes and a low-carbohydrate diet and finishes with a 10 question quiz to assess understanding of material from the module.
Early feedback has indicated that the average score for users at baseline assessment was 49.18% compared to 83.5% when assessed on completing the module. Additionally, the average course rating voted the module five out of five stars.
Diabetes.co.uk developed, in association with Dr Unwin, the award-winning Low Carb Program. With over 360,000 users, the Program launched on World Diabetes Day 2015 has significantly disrupted the understanding behind type 2 diabetes and has demonstrated type 2 diabetes remission in one in four members who complete the program. This autumn a Diabetes.co.uk online education and resource platform for healthcare professionals will be launched to complement the Low Carb Program.