Fatty Liver Expert: Your Liver Is Filling With Fat Right Now - Dr David Unwin

May 18, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dr. David Unwin describes how excess carbohydrate intake quietly drives fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes through a chain of insulin responses, and how patients in his practice have reversed early stages of these conditions with targeted dietary shifts. The discussion centers on observable mechanisms, measurable progress, and the practical barriers people face when trying to change long-standing eating patterns.

How excess glucose leads to fatty liver and insulin resistance

The liver stores surplus glucose as fat when carbohydrate intake exceeds immediate energy needs. Over years this produces a pale, enlarged liver that interferes with insulin action, creating resistance. The pancreas compensates by secreting more insulin until its own fat accumulation reduces output and blood glucose regulation fails. Unwin notes that fatty liver can remain silent for roughly ten years. Once type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, each year of poor control is linked to the loss of about one hundred days of life expectancy. The same process also raises risk for several cancers because chronically elevated insulin and glucose damage arteries and promote inflammation.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:02) **Waist measurement test** - Simple at-home check for central fat using string
2 (01:39) **Hidden sugar in everyday foods** - Demonstration comparing cereal, potato, rice, banana and chocolate
3 (03:28) **Metabolic health crisis** - Rapid rise in young people with type 2 diabetes and obesity
4 (07:47) **Insulin’s role** - How the hormone moves glucose and converts excess to fat
5 (10:49) **Fatty liver development** - Progressive fat storage in liver and its consequences
6 (12:04) **Insulin resistance and pancreas damage** - “Long silent scream” phase lasting ~10 years
7 (14:02) **Low-carb intervention results** - Resolution rates at pre-diabetes, early diabetes and later stages

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Insulin Expert Dr David Unwin has put 157 patients into drug-free Type 2 diabetes remission using diet alone. He reveals the hidden teaspoon of sugar in your everyday food, the link between sugar and cancer, and why the average person will spend 23 years of their life in poor health.

Dr David Unwin is an NHS GP with over 40 years in general practice, known for his expertise in reversing Type 2 diabetes through dietary changes. He was named NHS Innovator of the Year in 2016 and is the co-author of the most-read paper in BMJ Open, on reversing Type 2 diabetes through a low-carbohydrate diet.

He explains:

◼ The "teaspoon of sugar" test that exposes the hidden glucose in your food

◼ Why your liver silently fills with fat for years before anything shows up

◼ Why you can't stop eating certain foods and what food addiction really is

◼ How sugar feeds cancer cells 200 times faster and the diet that slows them

◼How Ozempic quiets food cravings and why it's only part of the answer

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Independent Research: https://stevenbartlett.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DOAC-Dr-David-Unwin-Independent-Research-Further-Reading.pdf

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