A doctor says wellness culture is a con. He's half right. We fact-check The Fat Doctor Podcast on carbs, exercise, sugary drinks and type 2 diabetes.

Health Griftluencer October, week four. After a chef, a doctor and a woman who wasn't sick, Burndog and Julie take on Dr Asher Larmie (he/they) and The Fat Doctor Podcast episode "Wellness Culture and Diabetes Care". There's a lot to agree with: moralising about health is real, stress and sleep really do move blood sugar, and most people with type 2 diabetes don't need to test all day. But "carbohydrates are essential for life", "exercise raises blood sugar" and "there's no decent evidence diet and exercise help" don't hold up against the trials.

In this episode:

• Can you actually live without carbs? What the Institute of Medicine says
• Does exercise raise or lower blood sugar? The ADA guidance, and why hypo warnings matter
• Sugary drinks and type 2 diabetes: what 17 studies found
• "Good diabetic, bad diabetic", and why that moral language does harm
• GLP-1 side effects, and why you shouldn't just push through (or just stop)
• Wellness culture and disordered eating
• A book plug in an episode about people selling you things

We're a podcast, not your doctor. If you have diabetes or take diabetes medication, talk to your GP or diabetes nurse before you change anything.

If anything in this episode about food or body image hit close to home, the Butterfly Foundation is on 1800 33 4673, or at butterfly.org.au.

Support the show and the search for Karl: patreon.com/karlstefanogriftshow
Clips nightly on Instagram (@karlstefanogriftshow) and YouTube Shorts (Karl Stefa-no Grift)

Sources:

• Carbs and the lower limit "compatible with life" (Westman, citing the IOM Dietary Reference Intakes): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11393183_Is_dietary_carbohydrate_essential_for_human_nutrition
• Exercise and blood sugar, ADA/ACSM joint statement: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2992225/
• Aerobic exercise and 24-hour glucose, 2024 meta-analysis: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2024.1496271/full
• Sugary drinks and type 2 diabetes, Imamura et al., BMJ 2015: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4510779/
• UKPDS 10-year follow-up, NEJM 2008: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0806470
• DiRECT, Lancet 2018: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29221645/
• Diabetes Prevention Program, NEJM 2002: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa012512
• Heritability of type 2 diabetes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4282306/
• Global diabetes, 108 million to 422 million: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/861591
• NICE NG28, type 2 diabetes in adults: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng28