Diabetes is a medical condition characterised by excessively high blood glucose, or blood sugar levels. The most prevalent form is type 2 diabetes, and while many people might hastily correlate foods high in sugar with the onset of this disease, it's not always that straightforward.

This was highlighted on Channel 4's programme, Live Well with the Drug-Free Doctor, where host Dr Rangan Chatterjee revealed that for one patient featured on the show, his type 2 diabeteswasn't triggered by sweets, but rather by carbohydrates.

"When Chris got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it wasn't because he was having a huge amount of sweets. It was actually because he was eating loads and loads of starchy carbohydrates", he explained.

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The doctor showed a handful-sized amount of pasta and explained: "This amount of pasta can have the same impact on your blood glucose levels as eating six and a half teaspoons of sugar."

Meanwhile, a "sandwich portion of processed white bread contains eight teaspoons of sugar. And a small portion of white rice can have the same impact on your blood glucose levels as consuming 10 teaspoons of sugar."

He reassured viewers: "Now, if you are a normal and healthy individual, this is not really a huge problem. You’re going to release a hormone called insulin which is going to take out that excess blood glucose and return it back to normal.

"However, if you keep abusing the system day after day, week after week and month after month, you’re going to become resistant to the insulin, which can lead to you developing type two diabetes."

In a bid to delve deeper into the issue, the expert travelled to Southport to speak with Doctor David Unwin, an award-winning GP renowned for championing the low-carb approach in the UK. Reflecting on his lengthy career, Dr Unwin said: "I've been in this practice for 45 years and when I first came, in the whole practice, we had 56 people with type two diabetes.

"40 years on we’ve got 600. So that is a tenfold increase in this problem, and the people are getting younger and younger. My youngest is now 12 years old. I think we’re sleepwalking into a disaster."

Doctor Unwin developed a programme encouraging patients to eliminate starchy carbs as a means of reversing their type 2 diabetes. The doctor also holds the title of Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) national champion for collaborative care and support planning in obesity and diabetes, and was awarded the NHS Innovator of the Year Award 2016 for his research into diet and lifestyle interventions.

And it does not end there. He has worked at Norwood Surgery in Southport since 1986 as a family doctor and to date, he has helped 141 patients achieve drug-free, type 2 diabetes remission.

Dr Unwin revealed on the show: "Our practice has now saved £370,000 on a diabetes drug budget alone since 2018."

Dr Chatterjee then added: "If this practice is applied nationwide, Doctor Unwin’s research suggests that it could save England £277 million a year. There’s two things that I’m really left with. Number one - this is what the NHS could do all around the country if it puts its resources into getting people off pills and keeping them well.

"Secondly, it just shows us how hard it can be to make all of these lifestyle changes if we’re having to do them by ourselves.”

The programme's presenter emphasised that finding a support network of people facing similar health challenges can dramatically improve the chances of success "enormously" when attempting to reverse diabetes.

The show also explored the widespread use of metformin, a common diabetes drug, with Chris revealing he had been prescribed the medication and was not aware of the potential adverse effects.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee explained: "At 26 million prescriptions a year, metformin is one of the most issued drugs in the UK, with around 25% of people getting terrible stomach issues from it. Metformin is prescribed to help people become more sensitive to the hormone insulin and lower their blood sugar. But for some, it comes at a cost."

Chris recalled: "It wasn't good because if I ate certain types of food, I had severe stomach problems. It was almost like IBS."

Noting he had several issues, including "pains and cramps", he also said he generally felt "unwell" and had to "plan my day around a toilet."

These common side effects of metformin happen in more than 1 in 100 people. The NHS notes that these include:

You can read more about the metformin warning here.