Dr Ian Lake, a member of PHC's Scientific Advisory Committee, has written in The Telegraph about living with type 1 diabetes and the ideas behind his new book Shifting Gears.
Dr Ian Lake, a GP and member of Public Health Collaboration's Scientific Advisory Committee, has shared his personal and clinical perspective on type 1 diabetes in a new Telegraph article for Diabetes Awareness Week.
The article, "I'm a GP with type 1 diabetes. This low-carb diet transformed my life", sets out Ian's experience of living with type 1 diabetes, the constant calculation involved in matching insulin to carbohydrate intake, and why he began exploring a low-carbohydrate, keto-style approach to help achieve steadier glucose control.
Ian's work matters to PHC because it brings together two perspectives that are too often separated: the clinical knowledge of a doctor and the lived experience of someone managing type 1 diabetes every day. His contribution to our Scientific Advisory Committee helps ensure that conversations about metabolic health include people with type 1 diabetes, not only the more familiar public discussion around type 2 diabetes remission.
The Telegraph feature also coincides with Ian's new book, Shifting Gears, which uses a 1,000-mile cycling journey to explore insulin, metabolism, nutrition, physical activity, mindset and the practical realities of living with type 1 diabetes. The book is written from Ian's own experience and from years of medical practice, with the aim of helping readers think more clearly about insulin and everyday health.
Through his Type1Keto work, Ian has long argued for a more nuanced discussion of type 1 diabetes management - one that recognises the central importance of insulin, but also looks at food, movement, sleep, stress and environment as part of the wider metabolic picture.
PHC is pleased to see Ian's work reaching a wider audience. His message is not that people with type 1 diabetes should make abrupt changes on their own. Type 1 diabetes always requires insulin, and any significant dietary change should be made with appropriate clinical support, careful glucose monitoring and an understanding of ketone safety. But Ian's story does show why people living with type 1 diabetes deserve practical, informed conversations about food, insulin requirements and metabolic health.
Read Ian's article in The Telegraph, and find out more about his book Shifting Gears through Type1Keto.
