The Glucose Never Lies® Podcast

• Ep. 26 – Building a Diabetes Community Through Vulnerability, Movement and Mindset (Diabetes with Mily)

  Suggest guests or get in contactHost: John Pemberton, RD Guest: Diabetes with Milly (Milly)Episode page: Detailed show notesIn this episode, Milly joins John to explore how real community forms when people with type 1 diabetes feel safe enough to be vulnerable. Diagnosed during lockdown and thrown into DKA in the final year of her biology degree, Milly rebuilt her life through movement, self-experimenting with strength training, discovering yoga, and eventually travelling alone to India for formal practice in breathwork, mindset and nervous-system regulation.What began as a personal diary on Instagram became Diabetes with Milly — a space where 10,000+ people find honesty, humour and connection, and where the Glucose Gals WhatsApp community now supports hundreds of women navigating type 1 diabetes, menstrual cycles, trauma echoes, and real-life blood glucose chaos.This conversation sits firmly “Beyond the Numbers”: the human reality of diagnosis, burnout, highs that trigger old trauma, rebuilding confidence, and how movement and mindfulness can reshape the emotional experience of living with the condition.Your community is not optional — it is protective infrastructure.What This Episode CoversDiagnosis in lockdown: DKA, isolation, and learning to manage T1D without real-world supportSport to strength training: using exercise as both therapy and educationYoga, India, breathwork and regulating the panic response during hyposTrauma memory: why highs can trigger the emotional weight of diagnosisBuilding an online presence through vulnerability, not perfectionCreating the Glucose Gals WhatsApp community (250+ women)Women’s health, menstrual cycles and why female physiology in T1D is so understudiedMilly’s plans for a new master’s → PhD in women’s exercise physiologyThe future: UK meet-ups, movement spaces, and combining strength + yoga for holistic T1D supportKey InsightsVulnerability builds community. People don’t gather around perfect numbers — they gather around honesty.Movement changes glucose, but also mindset. Strength training, yoga and breathwork each shape the physiological and emotional response to hypo/hyper stress.Trauma echoes are real. Diagnosis anniversaries, unexplained highs and body sensations can resurface early memories; normalising this reduces shame.Representation matters. Women with T1D need research that reflects menstrual cycles, hormonal phases and real-world fluctuations.People neeFor collaboration, partnerships, or press enquiries: John Pemberton — [email protected] For creative, social, and production enquiries: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected] Buy The Glucose Never Lies® a Coffee — help us stay independent and ad-free: We’re an independent, evidence-based platform — free from sponsorships and commercial bias. Your support helps us keep translating science into understanding. Follow The Glucose Never Lies® 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram 💼 LinkedIn 👤 LinkedIn — John Pemberton 🐦 X / Twitter © The Glucose Never Lies Ltd

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• 25 — Partying with T1D (Alcohol Edition)

  Suggest guests or get in contactIn this episode, John Pemberton and Dr Dessi Zaharieva open a transparent, evidence-based conversation about alcohol, nightlife, festivals, hypos, and harm-reduction for people living with Type 1 Diabetes.Full episode page FAQ: Alcohol & Type 1 DiabetesAlcohol suppresses hepatic glucose output, disrupts REM sleep, increases overnight hypo risk, and affects metabolism differently across single-night and multi-day events. This episode walks through the mechanisms, the patterns, and the practical adjustments that help people stay safer.What we cover: • Alcohol’s effects on the liver and glucose release • Why glucagon often fails • Why memory disappears after drinking • Night-one vs multi-night physiology • Basal adjustments, Activity Mode, manual mode and MDI • Festival strategies and hypo prevention • How parents and clinicians can talk about alcohol without shameFor collaboration, partnerships, or press enquiries: John Pemberton — [email protected] For creative, social, and production enquiries: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected] Buy The Glucose Never Lies® a Coffee — help us stay independent and ad-free: We’re an independent, evidence-based platform — free from sponsorships and commercial bias. Your support helps us keep translating science into understanding. Follow The Glucose Never Lies® 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram 💼 LinkedIn 👤 LinkedIn — John Pemberton 🐦 X / Twitter © The Glucose Never Lies Ltd

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• 24 — Skincare, Sensors & Smarter AID Algorithms for Type 1 Diabetes

  Suggest guests or get in contactHost: John Pemberton, RDGuest: Dr Laurel Messer, PhD, RN Epidose page - Detailed show notesEpisode FAQ - Dr Messer answers the FAQ's (free Downlaod)In this episode, Dr Laurel Messer joins John to break down the real science behind skin integrity, sensor performance, and the hidden link between skincare and safer automation. Drawing on leading research from the Barbara Davis Center, the Panther Program, and international AID consensus work, this conversation reframes device wear as both a biological and behavioural skillset.  Your skin is not decoration — it is life-critical infrastructure.What This Episode Covers Why device-related skin issues are common, predictable, and preventableMechanical vs chemical irritation, and how to distinguish both from allergic dermatitisThe “Soap–Water–Dry → Rotate → Low & Slow” skin-protection frameworkWhy skin damage leads to noisy CGM data and poor insulin absorptionHow to prepare skin for CGM and pump wear in children, teens, and adultsPractical barrier strategies: wipes, films, and hydrocolloidsUnderstanding Control-IQ: why the correction factor is the SUPERPOWERTime-block insulin tuning for evening surges, alcohol, illness, and real-lifeThe future of Tandem: Control-IQ+, Mobi, patch options, & Libre 3+ Key Insights Skincare is diabetes care. Healthy skin leads to better signal quality, fewer dropouts, more predictable insulin delivery, and improved algorithm stability. Rotation must be broader than most people think. Use 6–10 zones and give each at least a week off. Children need even more structure due to limited real estate. Removal is where most damage occurs. Dr Messer emphasises a wound-care approach: oil-based loosening, supporting the skin, and folding adhesives back on themselves — never pulling upward. Allergy and irritation are not the same problem. Irritation improves with barriers and technique; allergy is reproducible, blistering, intensely itchy, and requires dermatology support and sometimes device change. Control-IQ’s performance hinge is the correction factor. Across 20,000+ users, strengthening the correction factor improved responsiveness and time-in-range without increasing hypoglycaemia.  Epidose page - Detailed show notesEpisode FAQ - Downlaod the best bits as Laurel answers the FAQ's For collaboration, partnerships, or press enquiries: John Pemberton — [email protected] For creative, social, and production enquiries: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected] Buy The Glucose Never Lies® a Coffee — help us stay independent and ad-free: We’re an independent, evidence-based platform — free from sponsorships and commercial bias. Your support helps us keep translating science into understanding. Follow The Glucose Never Lies® 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram 💼 LinkedIn 👤 LinkedIn — John Pemberton 🐦 X / Twitter © The Glucose Never Lies Ltd

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• 23 — From Diabetes Brunches to Bali by Creating a Type 1 Diabetes Community with Dr Temi Olonisakin

  Suggest guests or get in contactJoin John Pemberton as he sits down with Dr Temi Olonisakin — the doctor who turned a lonely Type 1 diabetes diagnosis at 17 into a movement of connection, confidence, and pancakes.From small brunch tables in London to dreams of Bali gatherings, Temi’s story shows how joy, representation, and community can change what it means to live with diabetes.How one young doctor turned isolation into connection — building a joyful, inclusive community for people living with Type 1 diabetes.Diagnosed at 17, Temi knows the isolation that hits just as independence begins. Years later she began bringing people together — from one-to-one coffees to full-scale Diabetes Brunch Live events — mixing friendship, advocacy, and education with a healthy side of pancakes.It’s not about brunch. It’s about belonging, visibility, and joy.Say hello to Temi on Instagram @temidiabeticdoctor and join her for Brunch!Full show notes and links  Chapters00:00 Diagnosed at 17 — the lonely years 05:30 First coffees → first brunch 12:20 From 9 to 26 — growth & facilitation 16:40 “Bottomless brunches” & normalising spikes 21:30 Brunch Abroad dreams 24:30 Beyond London — plans for the North 25:50 Doctoring & sustainable work 31:20 Advocacy wins — getting the right tech 38:30 Representation & equity 45:40 What services for teens miss 47:50 Wrap-up & reflectionsFor collaboration, partnerships, or press enquiries: John Pemberton — [email protected] For creative, social, and production enquiries: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected] Buy The Glucose Never Lies® a Coffee — help us stay independent and ad-free: We’re an independent, evidence-based platform — free from sponsorships and commercial bias. Your support helps us keep translating science into understanding. Follow The Glucose Never Lies® 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram 💼 LinkedIn 👤 LinkedIn — John Pemberton 🐦 X / Twitter © The Glucose Never Lies Ltd

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• 22 — From Diabetes Burnout to the CGM Access Blueprint — Kirsten de Klerk (South Africa)

  Suggest guests or get in contactWhen sixteen-year-old Kirsten de Klerk was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, she asked how long she’d have to live like this. Her doctor replied, “Every day for the rest of your life.”Years later, that sentence became the fuel for change.Sign the CGM Access Petition: In less than one-minute, you can change global access to CGM forever.In this episode, John Pemberton talks with Kirsten about her journey from diabetes burnout to national advocacy, and how her work is now shaping a CGM Access Blueprint for South Africa — a model that could influence global policy.Episode 22: show notes and links and consider buying the GNL a Coffee to the podcast independent.They discuss:The emotional toll of diabetes burnout and the power of community.How the #LetterToMyDiabetes movement sparked a nationwide campaign.The reality of access inequality — 85 % of South Africans rely on public healthcare with only a few test strips a day.The creation of SA Diabetes Advocacy, gathering 14 000+ petition signatures for CGM funding.Why access without accuracy is false progress — and how unregulated devices put people at risk.Kirsten and John explore what happens when lived experience meets evidence, and how persistence — not privilege — drives real change.Together they outline three truths that every policymaker, clinician, and person with diabetes should understand:Not all CGMs are created equally.Some systems are clinically validated for insulin dosing; others are not. Price competition must not compromise safety.Inaccuracy harms you now.When CGMs fail to detect highs or lows, real people are put at immediate risk.Inaccuracy harms you later.CGMs that systematically under- or over-report glucose create false reassurance — “70% time-in-range on one device might be 60% on another.”Sign the CGM Access Petition: In less than one-minute, you can change global access to CGM forever.Links & Resources: 🌍 Sign the CGM Access Petition (South Africa) 📊 DSN Forum UK – CGM Comparison Chart 🔬 For collaboration, partnerships, or press enquiries: John Pemberton — [email protected] For creative, social, and production enquiries: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected] Buy The Glucose Never Lies® a Coffee — help us stay independent and ad-free: We’re an independent, evidence-based platform — free from sponsorships and commercial bias. Your support helps us keep translating science into understanding. Follow The Glucose Never Lies® 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram 💼 LinkedIn 👤 LinkedIn — John Pemberton 🐦 X / Twitter © The Glucose Never Lies Ltd

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