The GNL Podcast

Episode 28 — The Glucose Never Lies: 2025 in Review

An honest audit of the year — what was built, what was learned, where things were uncertain, and what is coming in 2026.

Listen

Episode 28 cover image — Glucose Never Lies 2025 year in review
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify

Also available on Buzzsprout and YouTube. Host: John Pemberton. Co-host: Anjanee Kohli RD MNutr — Diabetes Specialist Dietitian, Creative Lead and Co-Director at Glucose Never Lies.

What this episode is

A candid year-in-review conversation between John and Anjanee — the themes that recurred, the episodes that landed, the gaps they are determined to close, and an honest account of what they changed their mind about. For people living with type 1 diabetes, parents, and clinicians who want signal over noise.

Summary

  • 2025 was about building a podcast that translates general health optimisation into type 1 diabetes reality — without pretending the trade-offs do not exist.
  • The biggest repeat themes: insulin dynamics, liver logic, devices and algorithms, exercise variability, and real-world living (including alcohol).
  • An honest account of what was got wrong, what they changed their mind about, and what remains uncertain.
  • What is coming in 2026 — and the principles that will not be compromised.

What was built in 2025 — and why

  • Translation: taking high-level health discussions and forcing them through T1D physiology, technology constraints, and lived reality.
  • Principles-first education: not protocols, but decision rules that still work when variables change.
  • Real-world playbooks: hard topics people actually face — exercise, alcohol, device wear, skin, and accessibility.

What the patterns pointed to

  • When outcomes look mysterious, it is often because the biggest driver is being overlooked — dose, timing, liver contribution, activity effects, algorithm behaviour.
  • Good decisions come from honest models, not perfect plans.
  • Education is not facts — it is reducing future regret.

Where people tend to get trapped

  • Over-indexing on tactics: tweaking snacks, basal, and boluses without understanding which variable is actually dominant in that moment.
  • Device mythology: assuming AID and CGM remove trade-offs instead of shifting them.
  • Single-cause stories: attributing everything to carbs, stress, or hormones when it is often interactions between variables.

Uncertainty that stays explicit

  • Which subgroups benefit most from specific strategies — heterogeneity matters, and “average” is not a person.
  • Where evidence is thin versus where lived experience is ahead of the literature.
  • How fast algorithms and device standards are evolving — and what that means for day-to-day trust.

How to use this episode

  1. Skim the episodes and pages mentioned below and open the ones that match your current situation.
  2. Use one guide at a time for two to three weeks rather than mixing five ideas and learning nothing.
  3. If you are stuck, choose the episode that matches the context — exercise, alcohol, skin, device safety, or algorithm behaviour.

This content is for educational exploration only. It describes average responses and general principles. It is not medical advice and cannot replace individual clinical guidance from your diabetes care team.

Key episodes from 2025

Guides and FAQs that support the episodes