The Diary Of A CEO · 2026-05-18 · Steven Bartlett (host), David Unwin

Fatty Liver Expert: The Toxic Ingredient Silently Filling Your Liver With Fat - Dr David Unwin

68 claims checked against research: 1 contradicted 4 overstated 5 needing context 36 supported 22 unverified

22

No source found (not proven false)

0:05:24David Unwinunverifiedvery low

UK government figures show that each year of poorly controlled type 2 diabetes reduces life expectancy by approximately 100 days.

"So, we know from get government figures, UK government figures, that for every year that you have poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, you're losing 100 days of life." (said at 0:05:24)

No published record matching the claim that UK government figures show each year of poorly controlled type 2 diabetes reduces life expectancy by approximately 100 days was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:13:10David Unwinunverifiedvery low

In Dr. David Unwin's clinical practice cohort, 93% of patients with prediabetes achieved normal blood glucose levels following a low-carbohydrate diet.

"Well, I can tell you that the people with pre-diabetes in my practice north of Liverpool, 93% of them will get a completely normal blood sugar if they go low carb. 93% resolution and that will last for years because I've checked." (said at 0:13:10)

No published record matching the claim that 93% of patients with prediabetes achieved normal blood glucose levels following a low-carbohydrate diet in Dr. David Unwin's clinical practice cohort was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:26:05David Unwinunverifiedvery low

In Dr. David Unwin's initial low-carbohydrate patient cohort in 2013, patients with chronically abnormal liver function saw their liver enzyme levels improve by 33% to 50% within weeks.

"And they'd had abnormal liver function for 10 years, and suddenly within weeks the liver function was improving, often by a third or 50%." (said at 0:26:05)

No published record matching Dr. David Unwin's specific report of a 33% to 50% improvement in liver enzymes within weeks among patients with chronically abnormal liver function was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published service evaluations from Dr. Unwin's general practice cohort (such as Unwin et al., BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health 2020) report substantial improvements in glycemic control (HbA1c), body weight, blood pressure, and lipid markers following a lower-carbohydrate diet, but specific short-term liver enzyme outcome data matching these exact percentages were not documented in the indexed literature.

0:35:24Steven Bartlett (host)unverifiedvery low

Dried fruit chips made from exotic fruits like mangoes contain approximately 60% to 70% sugar by weight.

"I looked at the back and it said in the range of 60 to 70% sugar because what they've done is they've taken exotic fruits like mangoes, dried them out, and now you have this little chip which is this piece of mango. 60-70% sugar." (said at 0:35:24)

No published record matching the specific claim that dried mango or exotic fruit chips contain approximately 60% to 70% sugar by weight was located in the fetched literature; this does not prove the claim false.

0:42:07David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A standard bowl of plain cornflakes has a glycemic load equivalent to approximately 8 four-gram teaspoons of sugar.

"So, the cornflakes is one, two, four, five, six, seven, and eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." (said at 0:42:07)

No published record matching the claim that a standard bowl of plain cornflakes has a glycemic load equivalent to approximately 8 four-gram teaspoons of sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:42:37David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A large baked potato has a glycemic load equivalent to approximately 9 four-gram teaspoons of sugar.

"The potato, obviously it depends on its size. That's quite a big one. So, that one is one, two, three, four, and there's more. Five, six, is nine. There they go. Nine." (said at 0:42:37)

No published record matching the claim that a large baked potato has a glycemic load equivalent to approximately 9 four-gram teaspoons of sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:43:09David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A standard chocolate bar contains the equivalent of approximately 7 to 7.5 teaspoons of sugar.

"That chocolate bar is actually—you could do it for me. Is seven and a half. So, you can give it seven." (said at 0:43:09)

No published record matching the claim that a standard chocolate bar contains approximately 7 to 7.5 teaspoons of sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:43:39David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A large ripe banana has a glycemic impact equivalent to approximately 6 four-gram teaspoons of sugar.

"A ripe banana has more sugar in it as you probably know when you eat it. But let's say that banana is quite a ripe one. It looks quite ripe. Let's say that's six cuz it's a big banana." (said at 0:43:39)

No published record matching the specific claim that a large ripe banana produces a glycemic impact equivalent to approximately six 4-gram teaspoons of table sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:44:33David Unwinunverifiedvery low

The Public Health Collaboration's sugar infographic charts have been translated into 35 languages.

"These infographics, there are actually far more than this. This is the seven more. They're available in 35 languages. Volunteers have translated this to go all over the world." (said at 0:44:33)

No published record matching the claim that the Public Health Collaboration's sugar infographic charts have been translated into 35 languages was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:47:47David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A bar of 90% dark chocolate contains only approximately two teaspoons of sugar.

"If you eat 90% dark chocolate, there's only about two teaspoons of sugar in a bar." (said at 0:47:47)

No published record matching the claim regarding the exact sugar content of a 90% dark chocolate bar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:56:10Steven Bartlett (host)unverifiedvery low

A standard bottle of barbecue sauce contains approximately 30 sugar cubes worth of sugar.

"30 sugar cubes in a standard bottle of barbecue sauce. It's just pouring sugar on top." (said at 0:56:10)

No published record matching the specific claim that a standard bottle of barbecue sauce contains approximately 30 sugar cubes worth of sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:59:39Steven Bartlett (host)unverifiedvery low

A single slice of white bread contains about 0.5 sugar cubes of added sugar, while a full loaf can contain up to 12 cubes of sugar.

"So, I did some research and it said a single slice of white bread contains about 0.5 sugar cubes, but a full loaf can pack up to 12 cubes of sugar in it." (said at 0:59:39)

No published record matching the specific claim that a single slice of white bread contains about 0.5 sugar cubes and a full loaf can contain up to 12 sugar cubes was located; this does not prove the claim false. Standard dietary databases and commercial nutritional labeling typically estimate that a standard slice of commercially manufactured white bread contains approximately 1.5 to 2 grams of total or added sugars (where a standard sugar cube is roughly 4 grams, equating to roughly 0.5 cubes per slice, or 10 to 12 cubes across a 20- to 24-slice loaf), but specific scientific evaluations directly reporting this sugar-cube metric were not identified in the published biomedical literature.

1:00:01David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A small slice of brown bread has a glycemic impact equivalent to approximately three teaspoons of sugar.

"So, on my teaspoon of sugar equivalent, even a small slice of brown bread is about three teaspoons of sugar." (said at 1:00:01)

No published record matching the claim that a small slice of brown bread has a glycemic impact equivalent to approximately three teaspoons of sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:47:47David Unwinunverifiedlow

White chocolate is typically composed of approximately 70% to 80% sugar.

"So, white chocolate is like 80% white sugar? [0:47:47] GUEST1: Yeah. [...] HOST: Okay, so white chocolate is basically like 70-odd percent just pure white sugar. [0:48:19] GUEST1: Yeah. And nobody knows." (said at 0:47:47)

No published record matching the claim that white chocolate is composed of 70% to 80% sugar was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:44:10David Unwinunverifiedvery low

The Public Health Collaboration charity was co-founded by Dr. David Unwin and Dr. Rangan Chatterjee.

"The Public Health Collaboration is a charity I helped set up with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee 10 years ago." (said at 0:44:10)

No published record matching the claim that the Public Health Collaboration charity was co-founded by Dr. David Unwin and Dr. Rangan Chatterjee was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:04:20David Unwinunverifiedvery low

Food nutritional labeling in the UK separates carbohydrate from fiber, whereas in the United States total carbohydrate labeling includes fiber.

"Confusingly, here we talk about carbohydrate separately from fiber. So that in the UK when it says sugar—in the States you've got the carbohydrate including fiber." (said at 1:04:20)

No published PubMed record directly comparing the regulatory food labeling definitions of total carbohydrate and fiber between the United Kingdom and the United States was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:06:20David Unwinunverifiedvery low

The more carbohydrates a person consumes, the hungrier they become.

"And I didn't realize that the more carbs you eat, the hungrier you become." (said at 1:06:20)

No published record matching the claim that consuming more carbohydrates makes a person progressively hungrier was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:07:07David Unwinunverifiedvery low

During fasting, hunger does not increase continuously or exponentially.

"And what's surprising that you must have found is as you fast, you don't become more hungry, do you?" (said at 1:07:07)

No published record matching the claim that hunger does not increase continuously or exponentially during fasting was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:18:45David Unwinunverifiedvery low

Dr. Jen Unwin published the GRIN model (Goals, Resources, Increments, Noticing) as a brief behavior change framework.

"And that spells GRIN. And that's Jen's published GRIN model. I just did it for you right there." (said at 1:18:45)

No published record matching Dr. Jen Unwin's publication of the GRIN model (Goals, Resources, Increments, Noticing) as a brief behavior change framework was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:29:05David Unwinunverifiedvery low

A 55-year-old patient with severe type 2 diabetes and obesity-related joint damage achieved glycemic control sufficient for surgery by combining a low-carbohydrate diet, continuous glucose monitoring, and a GLP-1 receptor agonist.

"What I did for him in the end, he needed everything. So low carb. Then I got him using a continuous glucose monitor... And on top of that, I did something unusual. I gave him a low dose of the new GLP-1 drugs... And the three together, he managed to not He couldn't moderate but he could abstain. And then he could do it... and he's had his operation now." (said at 1:29:05)

No published record matching the specific case of a 55-year-old patient with severe type 2 diabetes achieving glycemic control sufficient for surgery through a combination of a low-carbohydrate diet, continuous glucose monitoring, and a GLP-1 receptor agonist was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:50:05Steven Bartlett (host)unverifiedvery low

Over the past decade, healthy life expectancy in the UK has declined by approximately two years.

"Over the last decade, healthy life expectancy in the UK has fallen by roughly 2 years." (said at 1:50:05)

No published record matching the specific claim that healthy life expectancy in the UK fell by approximately two years over the past decade was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:50:45David Unwinunverifiedlow

Government figures show that every taxpayer in England pays approximately £7,000 per year for the economic and healthcare consequences of ultra-processed food.

"This is government figures. Every taxpayer in England pays an extra £7,000 tax per year for the consequences of ultra-processed food." (said at 1:50:45)

No published record matching the claim that government figures show every taxpayer in England pays approximately £7,000 per year for the economic and healthcare consequences of ultra-processed food was located; this does not prove the claim false.

Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.