Dr Unwin is Britain’s most successful GP having saved diabetic patients a lifetime on pills (Image: Mercury Press)
Britain is eating its way to a full-scale cancer epidemic, a top GP warns.
In a chilling state of the nation assessment of the effect of junk food and poor diet, respected family doctor David Unwin says we have become what we eat.
After 40-years as a medic the crisis of chronic ill health has left him convinced the cause is environmental, not genetic.
He said: “I have come to believe that poor diet is causing people to develop cancer.
“In my practice near Liverpool we have seen an astonishing ten-fold increase in Type 2 diabetes since I started as a GP in 1986. This cannot be genetic but environmental. I am convinced it has been caused by the dramatic increase in poor quality take-away meals and runaway consumption of junk foods.”
Alarming statistics show one in eight toddlers and primary school children are now obese saddling them with lifelong problems and creating a health emergency from which the NHS will not recover.
Being overweight or obese, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, eating too little fibre, too much processed meat, and doing too little physical activity, is said to cause three in 20 cancer cases in the UK.
From next year porridge oats, sugary cereals and fruit juices will be banned from appearing in TV ads before 9pm in a much delayed move to address spiralling rates of childhood obesity, but experts agree the move will do next to nothing to address Britain’s healthy calamity.
Dr Unwin, a family GP for 40-years, says he has come to believe poor diet is causing cancer (Image: Mercury Press)
The move comes after medics begged Health Secretary Wes Streeting to implement measures aimed at preventing a crisis engulfing every town and city in the UK, rather than simply treat it.
Mr Unwin has helped 150 diabetic patients into remission by coaching them to adopt a low-carb lifestyle.
It means his survey in Southport, Merseyside, has saved the NHS more than £100,000 from its drug budget. It also means his previously Type 2 diabetic patients do not need to take medication, like metformin, or fad weight-loss jabs. Replicated across the UK it could save tens of millions.
Type 2 diabetes, almost exclusively due to poor diet, sugar addiction and obesity, is now one of the fastest growing health emergencies in Britain, costing the NHS £15 billion a year or £1 million an hour. It is now being diagnosed routinely in children when 40 years ago it was almost exclusively a condition seen in the elderly.
Dr Unwin said: “Our practice has seen a ten-fold increase in the numbers of people suffering with Type 2 diabetes, a condition closely linked to overconsumption and obesity. A look around any petrol station or supermarket will show the likely culprits: shelf after shelf of sugary treats, crisps, and chocolate bars. All washed down with litres of equally sugary drinks.
“Our NHS is exhausted and demoralised trying to cope with the ever-growing burden of chronic diseases linked to obesity. Yes, at an individual level drugs can help, but at a societal level we need real commitment to preventative medicine and soon.”
Battle of the bulge: by 2030 Britain is set to become Europe’s fattest country (Image: Getty Images)
As many as 10 million Brits are now thought to be hooked on junk food making the UK one of the sickest on earth.
By 2030 Britain is set to become Europe’s fattest country, with 37 per cent of adults obese, according to the WHO. By 2040 estimates suggest more than 21 million UK adults will be obese – almost four in 10 of the population.
TV doctor and academic Chris van Tulleken said “We are living in a chronic emergency and here in Britain have some of the worst dietary health in the world.
“Poor diet has overtaken tobacco as the leading global cause of early death. The violence of the food environment is poorly understood by the public. Diets high in ultra-processed food increase rates of cancer, dementia, anxiety and depression, heart disease, strokes, inflammatory disease and, of course, weight gain and obesity.
“Until we start to understand that the food industry is like the tobacco industry we will never solve this problem.
“We simply cannot afford the cost of diet-related disease. Addiction is widespread but it has nothing to do with willpower. It’s food driving the pandemic of obesity.”
As many as 10 million Brits are now thought to be hooked on junk food (Image: Anita Maric / SWNS)
Dr Rachel Orritt, of Cancer Research UK, said: “While there is not enough good evidence that eating ultra-processed foods is linked directly to an increased risk of cancer, cutting back on high-calorie and sugary food can help keep a healthy weight, which reduces the risk of 13 different types of [the disease].
“When it comes to food and cancer risk, our overall diet is far more important than any single food or ingredient. A healthy, balanced diet includes eating lots of fruit, veg, whole grains and healthy sources of protein like beans and chicken. And cutting down on processed and red meats, and foods high in fat, sugar and salt.
“The long-awaited implementation of junk food advertising legislation will be a huge milestone. It’s vital the Government builds on this to make it easier for all of us to follow and maintain a healthy diet and reduce our risk of developing cancer.”
Mr Streeting said: “Obesity robs our kids of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems, and costs the NHS billions. This government is taking action now to end the targeting of junk food ads at kids, across both TV and online.
“This is the first step to deliver a major shift in the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, and towards meeting our government’s ambition to give every child a healthy, happy start to life.”