I'm living proof that calories really don't matter. I've lost 200 lbs in a year. While eating a minimum of 3000 calories of fatty meat and doing very little. I work in an offices and sit, most of the day.
Ive always wondered how hormones affect weight. Im the outlier in the family. Once i started getting boobies in 2nd grade, the weight came on. Ate the same foods and amounts as my sister. She was thin. I seriously think the fact that my mother was on the birth control pill while pregnant with me up to 6 months so she wouldn't miscarry has caused many of my fat issues. Ive had early development and early diabetes. And i can look at food and gain weight. Im on strict keto now, but its. Not coming off anymore, BUT, idont have a fatty liver now and have greatly lowered my A1C. But seriously, in utero hormone therapy really messed me up imo. It has made my life extremely difficult..i'd love to hear more about estrogen's effect on hormones and weight, especially since we are exposed to plastics which have an estrogen effect. Thank you, love youe videos.
I’m no expert, but this is what has worked for me… Strength train and/or sprint. Diet is half the battle to correcting metabolic health. Using the full force of our body is the other half. Giving yourself lots of rest as your body recovers will help keep your hormones even keeled.
It was an important topic to cover: the differences between CICO (Calories In Calories Out) or Energy Balance Model (EBM) of obesity vs Carbohydrate-Insulin Model (CIM) of obesity. I think that RObert Ludwig's paper summarizes the CIM very elegantly. "Abstract Conventional obesity treatment, based on the First Law of Thermodynamics, assumes that excess body fat gain is driven by overeating, and that all calories are metabolically alike in this regard. Hence, to lose weight one must ultimately eat less and move more. However, this prescription rarely succeeds over the long term, in part because calorie restriction elicits predictable biological responses that oppose ongoing weight loss. The carbohydrate-insulin model posits the opposite causal direction: overeating doesn't drive body fat increase; instead, the process of storing excess fat drives overeating. A diet high in rapidly digestible carbohydrates raises the insulin-to-glucagon ratio, shifting energy partitioning towards storage in adipose, leaving fewer calories for metabolically active and fuel sensing tissues. Consequently, hunger increases, and metabolic rate slows in the body's attempt to conserve energy. A small shift in substrate partitioning though this mechanism could account for the slow but progressive weight gain characteristic of common forms of obesity. From this perspective, the conventional calorie-restricted, low-fat diet amounts to symptomatic treatment, failing to target the underlying predisposition towards excess fat deposition. A dietary strategy to lower insulin secretion may increase the effectiveness of long-term weight management and chronic disease prevention. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part II)'." Ludwig DS. Carbohydrate-insulin model: does the conventional view of obesity reverse cause and effect? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2023 Oct 23;378(1888):20220211. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0211. Epub 2023 Sep 4. PMID: 37661740; PMCID: PMC10475871. Also, what Ben Bikman alluded in the lecture our body isn't using calories at all, but instead mitochondria produces ATP which is a molecule that stores chemical energy. Prof. Nick Lane wrote a howl book about how mitochondria do it by means of Krebs Cycle. And for people who really want to understand how ATP is produced by mitochondria, then the Noble Prize lecture by Peter Mitchel is a must to read "David Keilin’s Respiratory Chain Concept and Its Chemiosmotic Consequences".
So basically, folks who have emerged from the obesity space would be well served to maintain a low carb lifestyle. That's what I got out of it. Thank you! ❤
There are no end of "influencers" out there telling me I gotta eat low carb and carnivore. I do, and I get it. What I really appreciate about your videos is how the body biochemically does that. It puts it all together for me, and makes perfect sense. I have a minor in biochemistry ( a million years ago), but I still don't understand all of what you say. Please be sure to keep it on a 6th grade level for those of us who are airheads. Thanks, I look forward to everyone of your videos!
Once you do it and you feel the ketones coursing through your veins and the profound affect it has on appetite, you will be converted. For most people they get hungry when their liver starts running low on glycogen, we've all felt that. You will discover what real hunger feels like because your body is literally running on stored fat. It's is amazing but not necessarily easy.
I'm glad that Dr Bikman did mention genetics as being part of becoming overweight.... I'm upset of hearing some influencers saying that genetics has nothing to do with it. That doesn't mean nothing can be done about it, as Dr Bikman points out, a low insulin/ketogenic diet is the answer.
My father was very chubby. I was the only fat kid in my grade in elementary school (50 years ago). I ate the same very rich, dense Southern comfort food as all of my friends and cousins who were not fat. Genetics are certainly real.
@@pamisntcraiganymore My story is similar to yours. My mother was very slim, even after 6 pregnancies, however my father's side has a tendancy to be overweight... I got the "fat gene" unfortunatly as well as one of my brother, my other siblings were slim on the same homemade foods, no junk food growing up in the 1950's France !
@@pamisntcraiganymore I would say that it's not that simple as just genes. Your parents microbiome and your microbiome might have been different, events from your mothers pregnancy might have influence your weight.
I'm also thankful to hear it. Both of my parents were obese type 2 diabetics, multiple grandparents were obese and diabetic. I have battled weight and PCOS since puberty. I did weight watches, counted calories, you name it. Low carb and fasting, addressing insulin, is the only way I've ever been able to lose weight and it's still very slow compared to most success stories online.
I admire you a lot. Your knowledge is huge and you share it generously in a friendly but precise way. Your comprehension of complex aspects of science is impressive and I’m learning a ton from you. I love when you cite pioneer scientists and tell stories about the history of science. Thank you.
Dr.Bickman could you elucidate the mechanism of using the “energy”. Storing is more or less understood. Can an ineffective or broken mechanism of using the “energy”, such as mitochondrial disfunction, contribute to obesity or in fact underly it when the genetics are invoked?
I can actually say I love the gem of a human. I love everything methodically speaking. He is probably the only expert that is diving into and dismantling and rebuilding our knowledge. I can’t stop watching his lectures. Thank you.
I have learned so much about metabolism, T2D, and the role of hormones. It has helped me to understand my own issues but also my parents. Both are obese with T2D who have been treated traditionally with Insulin. I have adopted a keto or low carb diet more than 5 years ago. Now that I am no longer carb driven, I am working on more fat loss by monitoring my insulin levels through intermittent fasting and weight training. My goal is to break the T2D cycle in my family,
Your communication skills rival your mastery of the subject matter. That's a powerful combination, and I'm grateful for your generosity in sharing your knowledge. I hope that we're at the dawn of a better understanding of nutrition and health and that you continue to find success in this space. Thank you, Dr.
Brilliant lecture again, thank you so much. I have a question which I hope someone in the community would be able to answer. Regarding the VMH regulating the Vagus nerve, and in turn the vagal activity of the pancreas and therefore insulin secretion. Can someone with a more than normal forward head posture (my case), therefore creating pressure on the vagus nerve, disturb the vagal activity of the pancreas? Therefore increasing insulin secretion, becoming insulin resistant, and in the long term become obese? Thank you.
The next question is to actually have the patient adopt the low carb model. They know that low carb will help them become more metabolically healthy, but they CHOOSE NOT to. All the education and knowledge about the problem and the recommended solutions still does not convince some patients to chsnge. There are mental health issues that go along with obesity, which I think need equal attention. I have pts. that have had amputation of their foot, have been given advice on how to modify their nutrition for better health. It is also my opinion that the current govt/healthcare/pharma complex want to keep people obese and unhealthy.... There, rant over
I knew that diabetics could lose toes, feet, limbs, but it wasn't until I was diagnosed with diabetes myself and starting looking online to find out more about it that I learned that you can end up with kidney damage and blindness. These two things were my motivator. Thankfully I also learned about low carb when trying to find what to eat as a diabetics. It took less than 3 months to remit it and I've now been low carb (heavy meat) for nearly 3 years. I'm now metabolically health and at my ideal weight. Now that I am eating proper food I notice quite quickly if I eat something that my body doesn't like.
I would also like to hear about that! Even if really rudimentary info, it would be helpful! My doctor looks at me cross-eyes when I mention tracking insulin…. I haven’t the heart to ask them about leptin 😂. I’m doing the best I can to take care of these things myself… but it’s labor intensive to dig up info that I can trust.
As close to zero carbs/sugars ( including alcohol) as possible, plus intermittent fasting ( at least 16 hour fast overnight/ around sleep time). Something like a carnivore or strict keto diet. That will keep insulin low. If that doesn't get results you may want to see a professional to find out what is wrong.
Thank you for another brilliant discussion. For a future episode could you please address the claim that a very low fat, very high carbohydrate diet increases insulin sensitivity to the point where total insulin will be reduced overall and better blood sugar control will be achieved? There seems to be some evidence for this and I'd like to hear if you would endorse this approach and if not, why?
I have heard him say in other videos that lowfat high carb requires calorie restriction to work and thus leads to being hungry all the time which isn't sustainable. Hunger always wins.
My body works differently, I was keto for 6 months, instead losing fat I gained fat, couldn't exercise and lost muscle mass, when I reduce fat and increase carbs, I loose fat and do not loose muscle, exercise is no problem.
Wonderful lecture- glad I found your channel. Look forward to watching these videos with my daughter who is a senior in college and is planning to become a Physician's Assistant. Curious if you have ever looked at \ consulted with the pro bodybuilding community as an "in vivo" source of information to study human bio-energetics? Cheers
Thermodynamics applies but non-engineers and physicists misinterpret it and misapply it. Thermodynamics do explain how a stream engine work but no, stream engine engineering did not lead to the laws of thermodynamics.
I like the view that the human body is an insanely complex machine that transmutes various energy sources into the epiphany of a human life (essentially influenced by Nick Lane's books). The key question is (adapted from the 2008 movie Wanted): What the f*** have you done (with your energy) lately?
When I was following a mainly vegetarian diet that had a lot of wholegrains in it I had a real problem with satiety . Now I was invited to someone's house for a meal . Now they didn't know I was a vegetarian and they served up chilli con carne. Now I'm not so rude or fanatical to have refused that meal . Now later on when I went to bed I thought ' that's strange I didn't think at all about food after that meal ' . That was very odd to me but it was a clue to what saved me in the end . Low Carb and IF .
I NOW eat KETOVORE-style. Real and Red meat: the COWS of Midsummer Common, Cambridge. They roam freely in the parks of Cambridge, pretty much in the centre. And I have a degree in biology. SO I FINALLY PUT THE TWO TOGETHER: BIOLOGY and COWS. Pre-diabetes and obesity vanished. Ben Bikman helps me fill in the biochem gaps to explain why I eat as much as I want, but have burned through my FAT BUTT (or my BUTT FAT, if you prefer).
SOS my Hba1c is 129 (14 %) CGM regularly 22 mmol Sorry in advance but I have a lot to unpack. (1st time poster) Been carnivore for 18 months with occasional avocado Been told recently I’m going to die unless I take insulin (toujeo) I had emergency triple bypass 3years ago after 6months on insulin and a 2stone weight increase. I ended up getting septic shock and multi organ failure. I actually died a couple times then put into an induced coma. I was Glasgow coma scale 3. They wanted to switch life support off as I was a brain dead corpse. I live uk I go gym I’m stronger and my signs of insulin resistance have disappeared externally since carnivore but I haven’t lost weight. Just started seeing some fat loss but not anything obvious. Both fat and protein make my sugars rise so high. I don’t snack just 2 meals a day. I’ve been put on even more meds but I’m so scared to take the toujeo. I’m 58y female 5ft and 62kg 137lb Type2 26years I don’t want to die
Dr Bickman I dont know if you read the comments but i was wondering what happens to the hunger/ satiety hormones in Type 1 diabetes - prior to treatment with insulin . Has anyone ever researched that ?
All this is very interesting. I am obese and my husband is not, and I have one child that is and one is not, so we can definitely split down the middle. Lol
So Dr. Bickman, can this be part of why I have an extreme glucose (and assumed insulin) response to eating protein? I like many others find I have to eat very high fat with moderate or low protein if I significantly want to keep glucose down. Of course fasting still works to reduce glucose too.
I'm confused. We're consistently led to believe that it takes us some days to get into Ketosis - then I hear we can IF daily and dip in and out of Ketone production on a daily basis 🤔
The explanation is very long but let me give it a shot. People who eat a high carbohydrate diet over a long period of time are generally hyperinsulinemic- that is, they have large amounts of insulin circulating in their blood all the time. Since insulin inhibits fat burning (which is what produces ketones), as long as you have large amounts of insulin circulating in your blood you will not produce ketones. This is why Dr. Bikman (and most of the other authorities in this space) agree that you need to control your insulin before you even think of doing anything like intermittent fasting. Fasting while your insulin is high deprives your body of glucose, but it cannot make ketones so all that happens is you wind up terribly fatigued because you have no fuel - either keytones or glucose. You need to become "fat adapted" first before fasting - that is, you need to reduce your insulin so that your cells can begin to burn fat and produce ketones as an alternate source of energy to glucose. Once your insulin is under control, you can easily switch between burning glucose and ketones because your cells know what to do when you run out of glucose and your insulin is down to a lower, normal level. It's a little bit more complicated than that but that's a basic explanation.
@@amethystfeathers7324 This is not an issue of belief. The paper from 2006 by Gorge Cahill has a good explanation and a detailed graph that shows how much time does it take for body to switch from using glucose to using ketones. It takes about 24-28 hours for this to happen and it depends on the amount of glycogen stored in the liver. Which varies between people but averages to about 150 grams. So, when glycogen is depleted in the liver after about 24 hours of fasting, liver starts to produce ketones from free fatty acids that are released from fat cells, due to low level of insulin hormone.
Prof. Bikman, while the points you make that the “traditional model” of thermodynamics is an oversimplification of the cause of obesity, and the other factors you so eloquently elucidate are pertinent, two things can be true at the same time. Point of discussion for another time. What I would critique explicitly though, taking your credentials into consideration, is that you are incorrect about thermodynamics not applying to biological systems because they are “open systems “. As you note, the laws of thermodynamics are “universal” and apply to all systems, open or closed. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed from one form to another. When applied to an open system, one must include terms for the energy carried in by mass entering the system and the energy carried out by mass leaving the system. This means that at a fundamental physics level these laws still apply while still taking into the considerations you bring up: storage, partitioning, hormones etc. But ultimately you can account for all of the energy/mass put in/out. Nuance counts. Great lecture. Thank you. Dr Lyall Ashberg
Low carbs is usually less than 50 grams of carbs daily, ketogenic is under 20 grams daily. My guess would be that high carbs would be 300 grams and over matching the standard american diet
Here's a question I have based on past lectures. An insulin resistant person gets hungry because the brain thinks it needs more glucose. So how satiating would a severely insulin resistant person find a meal that was only fat and protein? Would a meal like that be able to check their hypoglycemia?
In the absence of carbs the liver starts producing ketones (from fat) and the brain uses ketones for energy instead of glucose.....this controls hunger, keeps blood sugar stable and prevents hypoglycemia
@@prunelle19 that's the way it's supposed to work, but in a severely insulin resistant person, who isn't far adapted, I think the satiety might be short lived at first.
@@docb77 When I first went low carb I didn't worry about how much or often I was eating, I just ate acceptable food when I was hungry. It didn't take very long before I didn't need to eat as often or as much.
@@docb77 The issue isn't that there is not enough glucose in the blood, it's always sbout 5 grams of it. When insulin is high glucose from food and fat are stored in fat cells instead of being used for energy for all cells in the body, not just brain. When a person eats a meal with protein and fat insulin level remains relatively low, so this food can be used for energy right away. Check papers by Robert Ludwig on this subject.
