Season 6, Episode 04: Not Your Typical Gap Year – The Teen That Fixed Carb Counting – Diego Szekely
In this episode, we sit down with a remarkable young founder who turned a life-changing diagnosis into a global solution. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just 15, he quickly developed an intense discipline around managing his condition, carefully weighing every meal and tracking every detail.
But when he began volunteering at a hospital, he noticed a major gap: most patients were simply guessing their carb intake, and often getting it wrong. Instead of accepting the status quo, he decided to fix it.
At just 18 years old, during a gap year before university, he built Carbetic, a groundbreaking app that uses 3D scanning technology to accurately estimate the carb content of meals. Today, it’s used by thousands of people worldwide and recommended by doctors across Austria, with clinical research on the horizon.
This conversation explores discipline, empathy, and what happens when personal challenges spark powerful innovation, all before turning 19.
Diego Szekely is a 19-year-old innovator and member of the diabetes community who has been living with Type 1 diabetes for the past three years. Following his diagnosis, he became actively involved in supporting others, regularly volunteering at the pediatric diabetes department at LKH Mödling hospital in Austria.
Driven by his own experience with the challenges of carb counting, Diego developed Carbetic, an app that uses 3D scanning technology to estimate the carbohydrate content of meals more accurately. By capturing the dimensions of food to calculate volume, weight, and carbs, Carbetic offers a more precise alternative to traditional methods that rely on guesswork.
His work has already gained attention from healthcare professionals, with presentations to doctors internationally and an upcoming clinical study in collaboration with Dr. Martin Tauschmann at MedUni Vienna.
Diego is set to study Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London, with a clear focus on building solutions that improve the daily lives of people living with diabetes.
Disclaimer: It should go without saying that the Diapoint podcast is not intended as or should not be used as personal medical advice. You will hear us interview medical experts and others, but please always always ask your qualified doctor, diabetes team or other expert about your health. What works for one person does not always work for another person. What you should always do when you discover any new health information is ask YOUR doctor about it. This information should empower you to have a discussion with your healthcare providers about it. Diapoint, our guests, sponsors and business partners are not here to replace that advice. Living a full, healthy life means taking the proper medical advice from your qualified physicians, diabetes team or other healthcare providers.
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About Dia-Logue: The Diapoint Podcast and Pamela Durant
Pam Durant is a diabetes thought leader, entrepreneur, healthcare expert and wellness coach. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Diapoint – The Place for People Touched By Diabetes.
Her successful healthcare management career was turned upside down when her 20-month-old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes over a decade ago. Not only did this challenge Pam as a parent, it also challenged everything that she believed and understood about healthcare and the provider-patient relationship. As she went on to tackle the steep learning curve of diabetes to support her son to grow and thrive with this condition, she soon realized the great need for change in healthcare and in diabetes management.
She was inspired to create Diapoint, a company that focuses on people with diabetes through events, education, advocacy and products to support them.
She also supports clients with her Wellness and Lifestyle Medicine Coaching at pameladurant.com.
If you are interested in appearing as a guest, please email us at info@diapointme.com. We would love to hear your story and your connection to diabetes.
For more information about our work visit us at diapointme.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @DiapointME.
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