Guide 1
The Root of It All
Metabolic health and obesity
Coming soon
Preventive Health Collaboration
It is never too late to start, and you don’t have to do it alone.
We build the evidence, teach it widely and campaign for policies that put prevention first.
Formerly Public Health Collaboration. Registered charity 1171887 / SC052248.
As seen on The Diary of a CEODr David Unwin FRCGP
Founding member, NHS GP and Chair of our Scientific Advisory Committee
46%
of patients with type 2 diabetes at Dr David Unwin's Norwood practice who chose a lower carbohydrate diet reached drug-free remission
Source: Unwin D and others. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 2020 (opens in a new tab)1,800+
people enrolled on The Lifestyle Club health coaching courses
Source: The Lifestyle Club, phcuk.org89%
of people who start a Lifestyle Club course complete it
Source: The Lifestyle Club, phcuk.org500+
delegates in person at our 2024 London conference, with 200 more watching online
Source: PHC annual report, year to 31 March 2025Every figure links to its source.
Our story
People keep falling into a river. Our health service works heroically downstream, pulling them out and handing them a life jacket. We walk upstream to find out why they are falling in, and to stop it happening.
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
Most health charities do vital work on research, treatment and new drugs for people who already have a condition. Your gift funds the other half of the story: preventive research and education that stop these diseases before they start.


Why prevention matters
Prevention is not instead of medicine. It is what keeps people from needing so much of it.
Many conditions, from type 2 diabetes to high blood pressure, can often be improved and sometimes reversed with the right changes. We want every family to know how.
Four areas of prevention
Many chronic diseases share common risks we can change. Some are well known, such as smoking and drinking too much alcohol. Others get far less attention but matter just as much: what we eat, how we move and sleep, chronic stress, and our wider circumstances. Many of these push blood sugar and insulin too high for too long, which is why metabolic health sits at the heart of our work. Improving them can help prevent several diseases at once.
How your body manages energy. It affects conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, fatty liver and high blood pressure.
Metabolic health is about how well your body processes and uses energy, including how it regulates blood sugar, insulin, fats, and blood pressure. Poor metabolic health can increase the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver and cardiovascular disease and may also contribute to the risk of some cancers and brain diseases. It is an important part of the wider picture of prevention.
Lowering the odds through lifestyle, from food to alcohol.
Dementia, depression and the food and mood connection.
Protecting the heart and blood vessels for life.
Our prevention agenda
Everything we do supports at least one of these asks. Together they are our campaign.
Practical cooking and nutrition for every child, so they leave school able to feed themselves well.
Anyone prescribed a weight loss drug, NHS or private, also gets a plan for food, movement and coming off it.
Every new doctor can talk to patients confidently about food and how it affects their health.
Policy judges food by what it is and what has been done to it, not only by its calories.
A single named post with the authority to join up food, health, farming and schools.
An independent, transparent review, free of industry influence, using today's evidence.
Farm support that puts fresh, minimally processed food within everyone's reach.
Free guides
Plain, practical, evidence-based guides, currently undergoing scientific review. Pick the one that matches what is on your mind, and we will email them to you as soon as they are published.
Guide 1
Metabolic health and obesity
Coming soon
Guide 2
Cancer
Coming soon
Guide 3
Dementia and brain health
Coming soon
Guide 4
Heart disease and stroke
Coming soon
Guide 5
Why diets fail, and what really works
Coming soon
Taking medication? Keep taking your medication, and talk to your doctor before changing it.
Leave your email and we will send you the free guides as soon as they are ready.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.
The science and the people
Our Scientific Advisory Committee of healthcare professionals and scientists guides our work and advises the trustees. We are governed by an independent board of trustees.
Dr David Unwin FRCGPChair. NHS GP, Norwood Surgery, Southport
Professor Ben Bikman PhDProfessor of Cell Biology and Physiology, Brigham Young University
Dr Isabella D. Cooper PhD, AFHEA, MRSBBiochemistry and medical pathophysiology scientist, University of Westminster
Dr Trudi Deakin PhDChief Executive, X-PERT Health
Ally HoustonCo-founder and CEO, MetPsy
Dr Ali Ibrahim MRCPsychChild and adolescent psychiatrist, specialising in eating disorders
Professor Richard J. Johnson MDProfessor of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Dr Ian LakeGP, Cheltenham
Dr Joanne McCormackGP and former GP Trainer
Moira NewissBANT-Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner
Dr Kesar SadhraGP partner, Slough
Dr Adrian Soto-Mota MD, PhD, FACPPhysician scientist, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City
Dr Amber SteeleBiomedical and healthcare researcher; co-founder, Cambridge Biomedical CampusNews

Steve Bennett will become Chief Executive of Public Health Collaboration on 6 November 2026, taking over from Sam Feltham.

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Programmes
Practical help, from online coaching to local groups.
Award winning online coaching for type 2 diabetes and wellbeing.
Find out about The Lifestyle ClubPeer supported help for ultra processed food addiction.
Find out about LiberateFood literacy for children, including how to see through food marketing.
Find out about Real Food RebellionOur volunteer Ambassadors run local groups, often with GP practices.
Find an AmbassadorGet involved
Come to our conference, volunteer or join as a member, or fund the work upstream.
Conference
Two days in Warwick with the doctors, scientists and campaigners leading prevention in the UK.
Visit the conference siteAmbassador
Share what works in your own community, often alongside GP practices.
Become an AmbassadorAssociate
Give a few hours a month to content, research, community or events.
Become an AssociateMember
A monthly members’ webinar, Real Food booklet packs and a discounted conference ticket.
Become a member