Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker was a finalist in the Independent Podcast Awards. This fortnightly podcast interviews world leading researchers and doctors, discussing the data and science behind the headlines. Aimed at both doctors and the public, it’s hosted by award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer Liz Tucker, who reports not just on the science but on the finance and money that can impact it. Liz asks what does the medical data actually tell us and why is this often interpreted differently? How do we know what information to rely on and when should we ask our GP, but what’s the evidence?
You can support the podcast at Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/MedicalEvidenceMatterswithLizTucker) and sign up to its mailing list at the podcast website (https://www.medicalevidencematters.co.uk/)
And also sign up to Liz's Substack (https://liztucker.substack.com) that covers content covered on the podcast and follow liz on X (https://x.com/lizctucker)
Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/ (https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/)
This is the second of two repeated podcasts that were aired a while ago, which are being re-released. This one with Dr Robert Lustig was particularly popular with listeners.
Dr Robert Lustig argues sugar is fuelling an epidemic of chronic and metabolic disease, from diabetes and strokes, to cancer and heart disease costing hundreds of thousands of lives. He says in a view that some have seen as controversial that we need to see sugar not just as empty calories, but as a chronic, addictive toxin. In this podcast, Rob reveals just what sugar does to our bodies.
And he claims that while modern medicine has been highly effective in treating acute illness, it has failed in its treatment of chronic conditions, only able to treat the symptoms rather than curing the diseases.
In his words:
“You can’t fix healthcare until you fix health. You can’t fix health until you fix diet. And, you can’t fix diet until you know what the hell is wrong”.
Rob explains what he thinks it is essential to eat to stay healthy and contends that prevention is not just better than cure it is the cure.
Dr Robert Lustig is a Professor emeritus of Pediatrics, at the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. He has written a number of best selling books about the dangers of sugar, refined carbohydrates and metabolic illness. And his research and clinical practice have focussed on childhood obesity and diabetes.
If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.
The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on X and read further information about the podcast on her Substack newsletter.
Medical Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
30 Dec 2025
Why Blood Sugar Levels Matter
Over the holiday season, I'm releasing a couple of previous podcasts that were particularly popular with listeners. This first one is an interview I did with GP Dr David Unwin.
David has been a pioneer in the UK developing and promoting a low-carb approach for treating type 2 diabetes. In 2016, he won the NHS innovator of the year award for his work. His treatment approach has been so successful that he has put around half his type 2 diabetic patients, who follow a low carb diet, into remission. And as a result, his practice, spends far less on diabetic medication than any of the surrounding GP surgeries. The potential cost savings if this approach was adopted nationally and internationally, would be huge for health services across the world.
We tend to think that unless we have a form of diabetes that we don’t really need to be concerned about our blood sugar levels, but nothing could be further from the truth.
As we get older, all of us unless we change our diet and lifestyle, will see our blood sugar levels rise, this causes our bodies to produce more and more insulin, which can lead to insulin resistance. If we eat a diet high in carbohydrates, this is likely to exacerbate the problem.
And that matters because insulin resistance isn't just linked to type 2 diabetes but a wide range of illnesses including high blood pressure, heart disease, Alzheimer's and some cancers too.
In the podcast, David discusses the Public Health Collaboration, a charity that he set up with colleagues, which aims to promote metabolic health and so prevent many chronic diseases. Here's a link to it:
https://phcuk.org/
And here is a link to David’s most recent paper published in BMJ nutrition, also discussed in the podcast:
https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/6/1/46
If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.
The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com
Medical Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
17 Dec 2025
How Can We Make Prescribing Medicines Safer?
Professor Tony Avery, National Clinical Director for Prescribing for NHS England, discusses safer prescribing of medicines.
He highlights the changes he would like to see to enable patients to make genuinely informed decisions, which may also sometimes mean that they decide not to go ahead with a treatment. Tony describes how he believes doctors and patients can work together on initial prescribing decisions, so that patients can be confident that the benefits of the selected approach outweigh the risks.
You can find out more about this podcast on its website and if you would like to support it you can do so via Patreon at or via PayPal.
The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on X and read further information about the podcast on her Substack newsletter.
Medical Evidence Matters with Liz Tucker has been selected by Feedspot as one of the top 15 UK Medical Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_medical_podcasts/
Inside a recent episode
Are we overdiagnosing Mental Health Conditions?
Published 2 Dec 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] I think the splintering of conditions that we already have is I think part of it and then I think we often see the addition of various other diagnoses that didn't use to exist and I think in part it's because of the way diagnoses are conceptualised. You could imagine on the one hand that you have diagnoses that exist independently of you and me. Could imagine let's say a chest infection. Everyone would agree that whether or not you knew about bacteria or anything like that a chest infection is a chest infection you get to treat it. I think on the other end of the spectrum medicine you might have pain symptoms where sometimes the organic nature of them is much less clear where we're not quite sure where they begin and end where you have to start using judgment or hypertension how much is hypertensive and does it matter if it's 10 milimicemurcury more or less. […]
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
