The Glucose Never Lies® Podcast

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Five principles that make change more likely to stick
John Pemberton is joined by Vanessa Haydock (The Diabetic Health Coach). Background in psychology and applied behaviour analysis, certified behaviour analyst, personal trainer, and coach supporting people with type 1 diabetes through sustainable behaviour change.
Full notes: https://theglucoseneverlies.com/beahviour-change-t1d/
This conversation lays out a practical behaviour change playbook grounded in psychology, lived experience, and the realities of diabetes physiology.
00:00 — Why this conversation matters — why willpower alone fails.
02:45 — Vanessa’s story: diagnosis, denial, and turning point
Growing up with type 1 diabetes, rebellion, burnout, retinopathy as an emotional trigger, and how behaviour change (not perfection) transformed Vanessa’s relationship with diabetes.
16:45 — Principle 1: Design beats discipline
Why willpower is finite in type 1 diabetes, and how reducing decision load through systems, defaults, and realistic goals makes change more sustainable.
30:35 — Principle 2: Cues beat grit
How environment and prompts outperform memory — from insulin timing to daily routines — and why piggybacking on existing habits works.
39:20 — Principle 3: Reduce threat before effort
How fear, pressure, and perceived failure drive avoidance behaviours — and why lowering the threat level is essential before increasing effort.
45:10 — Principle 4: Hawk or Owl, Carrot or Stick
Choosing the right style of accountability and feedback — frequent vs spaced, direct vs gentle — and why mismatch derails progress.
51:15 — Principle 5: Community support, not shame
Why small, safe communities outperform noisy online spaces, and how shared reality reduces isolation and burnout.
59:40 — Pulling it together: a practical playbook for 2026
How to apply the five principles deliberately, without perfectionism or guilt.
Find Vanessa at:
Website: https://diabetichealthcoach.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.
Disclaimer
This podcast is for education and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for individualised care.
The Glucose Never Lies® is independent by design
We do not accept sponsorships and advertising. We operate via education grants and donations from listeners who value independence. So, consider:
Buying the GNL a Coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jspfree2
Enquiries
Collaboration: John Pemberton — [email protected]
Creatives: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected]
Follow The Glucose Never Lies®
Website: https://theglucoseneverlies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: John Pemberton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pemberton-587104361/
X: https://twitter.com/GlucoseNLies
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
© The Glucose Never Lies Ltd. All rights reserved....

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Host: John Pemberton, RD
Guest: Anjanee Kohli, RD MNutr
2025 was a formative year for The Glucose Never Lies Podcast. Not because everything went smoothly — but because repeated exposure to real-world problems forced clearer models, sharper questions, and fewer illusions.
In this year-in-review episode, John Pemberton is joined by Anjanee Kohli — diabetes specialist dietitian, creative lead, and co-director at Glucose Never Lies — for an honest audit of what the podcast set out to do, what it actually delivered, where their thinking evolved, and where uncertainty remains.
Together, they revisit the core themes that kept resurfacing across episodes in 2025: insulin timing and dose over tactics, the liver’s central role, exercise variability, device and algorithm trade-offs, accessibility, and the gap between theoretical optimisation and lived experience with type 1 diabetes.
This conversation is not a highlights reel. It’s a reflective pause — stripping ideas back to what survived contact with reality, and clarifying what Glucose Never Lies is deliberately carrying forward into 2026.
Read the full episode page, explore linked episodes, resources, and references:
 https://theglucoseneverlies.com/episode-28-2025-in-review/

What this episode covers
Why 2025 required a shift from tactics to principles
What repeated real-world patterns taught us about insulin, exercise, and devices
Where technology helps — and where trade-offs remain unavoidable
Episodes and resources worth revisiting depending on your current challenge
What changed our minds, and what we’re still uncertain about
What Glucose Never Lies is committing to — and leaving behind — in 2026
Disclaimer
This podcast is for education and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for individualised care.
The Glucose Never Lies® is independent by design
We do not accept sponsorships and advertising. We operate via education grants and donations from listeners who value independence. So, consider:
Buying the GNL a Coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jspfree2
Enquiries
Collaboration: John Pemberton — [email protected]
Creatives: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected]
Follow The Glucose Never Lies®
Website: https://theglucoseneverlies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: John Pemberton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pemberton-587104361/
X: https://twitter.com/GlucoseNLies
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
© The Glucose Never Lies Ltd. All rights reserved....

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Host: John Pemberton, RD
Guests: Roger Moore & Robin Lucciantonio
Roger has lived with type 1 diabetes since age two and has been totally blind for more than 35 years. While automated insulin delivery (AID) has transformed safety and glucose stability for many people with type 1 diabetes, most systems remain inaccessible without sight.
In this Inspiring Stories episode of The Glucose Never Lies Podcast, John Pemberton speaks with Roger Moore and diabetes educator Robin Lucciantonio about how they refused to accept that limitation. Using the open-source Loop system with iPhone VoiceOver, a careful stepwise rollout (simulator → saline → insulin), and a handcrafted tactile pod-filling station, Roger achieved full autonomy with AID.
This conversation isn’t about technology alone. It’s about accessibility as a safety requirement, not a convenience feature — and what becomes possible when clinicians stay open-minded and systems are built around real people rather than default users.
Read the full episode page and see the setup:
https://theglucoseneverlies.com/looping-blind/

What this episode covers
Living with type 1 diabetes without visual feedback
Why most commercial AID systems are inaccessible without sight
Using Loop and VoiceOver for non-visual insulin delivery
Simulator and saline trials to reduce risk before going live
Designing a tactile pod-filling station for safe, repeatable insulin delivery
Outcomes that matter: reduced hypoglycaemia, autonomy, and dignity
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. It does not create a therapeutic relationship. DIY automated insulin delivery systems carry real risks and require appropriate training, oversight, and contingency planning.
Disclaimer
This podcast is for education and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for individualised care.
The Glucose Never Lies® is independent by design
We do not accept sponsorships and advertising. We operate via education grants and donations from listeners who value independence. So, consider:
Buying the GNL a Coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jspfree2
Enquiries
Collaboration: John Pemberton — [email protected]
Creatives: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected]
Follow The Glucose Never Lies®
Website: https://theglucoseneverlies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: John Pemberton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pemberton-587104361/
X: https://twitter.com/GlucoseNLies
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
© The Glucose Never Lies Ltd. All rights reserved....

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Host: John Pemberton, RD
Guest: Diabetes with Milly (Milly)
Episode page: Detailed show notes

In 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 Covers
Diagnosis in lockdown: DKA, isolation, and learning to manage T1D without real-world support
Sport to strength training: using exercise as both therapy and education
Yoga, India, breathwork and regulating the panic response during hypos
Trauma memory: why highs can trigger the emotional weight of diagnosis
Building an online presence through vulnerability, not perfection
Creating the Glucose Gals WhatsApp community (250+ women)
Women’s health, menstrual cycles and why female physiology in T1D is so understudied
Milly’s plans for a new master’s → PhD in women’s exercise physiology
The future: UK meet-ups, movement spaces, and combining strength + yoga for holistic T1D support
Key Insights
Vulnerability builds community.
People don’t gather around perfect numbers — they gather around honesty.
Movement changes glucose, but a
Disclaimer
This podcast is for education and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for individualised care.
The Glucose Never Lies® is independent by design
We do not accept sponsorships and advertising. We operate via education grants and donations from listeners who value independence. So, consider:
Buying the GNL a Coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jspfree2
Enquiries
Collaboration: John Pemberton — [email protected]
Creatives: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected]
Follow The Glucose Never Lies®
Website: https://theglucoseneverlies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: John Pemberton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pemberton-587104361/
X: https://twitter.com/GlucoseNLies
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
© The Glucose Never Lies Ltd. All rights reserved....

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In 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 Diabetes
Alcohol 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 shame
Disclaimer
This podcast is for education and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for individualised care.
The Glucose Never Lies® is independent by design
We do not accept sponsorships and advertising. We operate via education grants and donations from listeners who value independence. So, consider:
Buying the GNL a Coffee:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jspfree2
Enquiries
Collaboration: John Pemberton — [email protected]
Creatives: Anjanee Kohli — [email protected]
Follow The Glucose Never Lies®
Website: https://theglucoseneverlies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theglucoseneverlies
LinkedIn: John Pemberton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pemberton-587104361/
X: https://twitter.com/GlucoseNLies
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
© The Glucose Never Lies Ltd. All rights reserved....