A GP credited with helping 157 patients reach drug-free remission from Type 2 diabetes says a 10-second “string test” can offer a surprisingly useful snapshot of your health.
Dr. David Unwin, known for his work with insulin and his low-carb approach, shared the idea while appearing on Stephen Bartlett’s The Diary Of A CEO podcast, describing it as an easy way to sense-check metabolic risk.
There’s no need for a blood draw or an intense workout session. The only thing you need is a piece of string.
The quick check is aimed at spotting excess visceral fat — and Dr. Unwin stresses that where you store fat matters.
Fat carried on the hips, arms, or legs tends to be less strongly linked to metabolic complications than fat stored around the abdomen. Visceral fat, which sits deeper and surrounds internal organs, is associated with higher long-term risk — and the waist-to-height ratio is a simple, at-home way to estimate that risk.
To do it, measure out a piece of string equal to your height, then cut that length in half. Wrap the half-length around the widest part of your stomach. If it comfortably goes around, you’re generally within a healthier range.
If it won’t meet? It may be a sign to take a closer look at diet, activity, and other metabolic markers.
While demonstrating the method during the interview, Dr. Unwin said: “One recognized way of looking at metabolic health is your waist should be less than half your height.
“So if we have a piece of string… half of that string should go around the fattest bit of your belly.”
He argues this sort of visual, repeatable check can be easier for most people to track than lab numbers — and can reveal more than many expect.
The bigger concern is timing: by the time your waistline clearly signals trouble, the underlying changes may have been developing for years.
Dr. Unwin points to research by Professor Roy Taylor suggesting someone can have fat building up in the liver for roughly a decade without obvious symptoms, meaning the issue can progress quietly for a long time.
As that liver fat burden grows, fat can also begin accumulating in the pancreas, the organ responsible for making insulin. When the pancreas is affected, blood sugar control can start to deteriorate.
Often, this happens after a prolonged period of insulin resistance, where cells respond less effectively to insulin.
To keep blood glucose stable, the pancreas attempts to compensate — as Dr. Unwin describes it, ‘cranking up the supply of insulin’ — but that coping mechanism may only postpone worsening control if lifestyle factors remain unchanged.
Based on what he says he’s observed across many patients, Dr. Unwin promotes early, low-cost checks like the string test as a prompt to act sooner rather than later.
He also notes that at the pre-diabetes stage, lowering carbohydrate intake can significantly improve outcomes, with remission far more achievable before Type 2 diabetes becomes established. The longer the pattern continues, the more difficult it can be to reverse.
That’s the serious message behind what looks, on the surface, like a simple trick using a piece of string.