Thank you for your letter. I appreciate you taking the time to outline your concerns. But frankly, your complaints are based on a deliberate misinterpretation of what we do. The Diabetes Forum has played a key part in the low-carb movement: the community was the driver, and the forum the platform.
You accuse us of deliberately silencing the low-carb voices on the forum as part of a collusion with pharmaceutical companies. As even the most cursory glance at our website shows, this is completely untrue. Here are just a few examples:
- Dr. David Unwin publishes more evidence of low-carb diet benefits in the BMJ
- "Ignore the guidelines, eat low-carb and high-fat": Dr. Sarah Hallberg on how to reverse type 2 diabetes
- Reversing type 2 diabetes low-calorie vs. low-carbohydrate
- Low-carb diets and power of our community
- "Every last shred of evidence": Why low-fat dietary guidelines should never have been introduced
We've published a book in associated with Dr. David Cavan, head of Policy and Programmes at the IDF, on reversing type 2 diabetes. The book fully supports a carb-restricted diet.
We've published low-carb meal plans (and haven't charged a penny for them) and thousands of low-carb recipes. We're working on three projects (the details of which, for now, are top secret) focused on food.
The forum is full of low-carb success stories. You'll notice that none of them has been banned or otherwise silenced.
We have been featured in the Daily Mail, Mirror and a number of magazines where the diabetes community forum is referred to as the place individuals first find out about the benefits of low carb. Real people saying that if it wasn’t for the community and understanding the impact of food, their health wouldn’t have improved. The community is absolutely fantastic – propagating positive health outcomes through engaging.
I have a personal connection to all this: type 2 diabetes runs in my family. My grandmother passed away from heart complications. When my grandfather was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I supported him in reducing his carbohydrate intake. His doctor is amazed by his blood glucose and HbA1c results.
Safe to say, we support low-carb. I support low-carb. But it doesn't work everyone, and our project has never been about aggressively insisting on a particular lifestyle. The Forum, first and foremost, is a place of support, where members can respectfully and kindly debate diabetes management. We encourage these debates, but we demand that they be conducted decently. Health is a deeply sensitive issue, and we won't tolerate bullying.
Which, unfortunately, is what much of your behaviour constituted. We saw the relentless trolling, bullying and victimisation of the diabetes community that you and your friends have spearheaded. I have consoled many members of the Diabetes.co.uk team and fielded calls from at least 15 people in the last 18 months alone, all of whom felt harassed and threatened by your community. Most of them agree with low-carb in principle.
You and your friends publicly "outed" Giverny, our forum moderator, because she didn’t align with your paradigm and attempted to troll her on Twitter simply to ‘get off’. You did the same to Ben when he was Forum Moderator. Your blog is littered with hatred and contempt for those that don’t share your agenda. Moderators have resigned because they couldn’t handle the harassment that ensued with supporting a moderate view to diet. You repeatedly victimise diabetes forum members who don’t share your world view. In 2014, you wrote a series of spoof blog posts about how wearing a turban would help improve blood sugar levels. As a Sikh, it was upsetting and insensitive; the behaviour of a man more interested in doling out personal abuse than having a constructive debate. The IP addresses were from the same pool as other accounts you had created. We took legal advice. We had a strong case to impose a cease and desist, but we didn't pursue it: it’s a distraction and we don't want to engage with it.
Beyond this, what exactly are you accusing us of? Yes, we connect patients to clinical trials – in order to not only provide a very valuable service but also to generate revenue – which is significantly reinvested into worldwide education, apps and management services. Yes, we are (or were) a start-up. Yes we’re interested in hearing from insurance companies – but you don’t understand the motive. We want to help (and we are!). We have evidence to suggest that using services such as the diabetes forum or Diabetes PA helps improve control – and that in turn can reduce insurance premiums. It’s for the benefit of the community.
Most companies generate venture capital – we haven’t. Why? Because our mission is simple - to help the community reduce their HbA1c; outside investors may not share the same motive. I’m not interested in generating revenue. I’m interested in improving healthcare through digital engagement. When I was presenting the benefits of the diabetes community and the Hypo Awareness Program, having been nominated for Social Enterprise of the Year, and I was asked ‘why is your profit so low?’ The answer I have to the interviewer is the same I will give to you: because profit is not our motive. Influencing change is. We’re not interested in politics, geographical boundaries or vendettas - we want to change the future of healthcare. And we’re doing it. 7 out of 10 improve their understanding of diabetes and 1 in 2 improve their diet choices as a result of joining the forum. Hospital admissions reduce when you join and complete the Hypo Program. As I said, our motive is simple – improve health.
I ask you to sincerely engage with what we're achieving, rather than picking fights on spurious grounds. Look at what we Diabetes.co.uk and the diabetes community has done over the past three years. 10 years ago, the prospect of reversing type 2 diabetes was implausible. Now it's very much a reality.
As always, you're welcome to come to our offices for a chat. We have nothing to hide - we're improving the health outcomes of those who engage with us - and we're proud of that.
I wish you all the best.
