Ben Bikman on fat and fat cells

(Bob M) #1

https://youtu.be/gfikT_O4v9A

This is a very interesting discussion about fat cells. I listened to it through a podcast called the Metabolic Link, but it was originally a presentation. Since he refers to what’s on the screen, it’d be better to watch it.

I was under the impression that eating protein caused insulin to rise, but he says that is not true:

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He is adamant that the ONLY thing that causes fat cells to get bigger is insulin. That’s it.

Oh, and he thinks counting calories is useless. Sorry people.

Edit: I’ll have to get this tested:

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Although the lowest (morning, fasting for maybe 10 hours) insulin I get is around 10, but lately it’s been higher. So, I don’t have high hopes of getting a 5 or less (though I’ve been losing weight).

(Alec) #2

Bob
How are you measuring insulin? Do you have some kind of home monitor device?
Cheers
Alec

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

Insulin is so powerful that the quantity in the blood is very small, making it extremely hard to measure. That’s why Yalow and Berson won the Nobel prize for their radioimmunoassay. (Well, Yalow did; Berson had already died, and they don’t award Nobel prizes posthumously.) So far as I know, no one has figured out a home test yet, though people are apparently working on one. If we could look at serum insulin as easily as serum glucose and ketones, that would transform nutrition.

So actually, that last thought makes me wonder just how hard they are working on a home insulin test. It might be a problem if people learned what spiked their insulin, started eating better, and never became Type II diabetics. That would probably lower drug sales, no?

(KM) #4

yes. :rage:

I’m coming to the conclusion that optimal human health will never be an actual societal goal. We’ve reached a dead end where every truth is measured against its profit margin, and nearly every scrap of information is vetted on the basis of its financial desirability.

  • having a very grouchy morning and covered in poison ivy. I’ll stop complaining now. :grimacing: -
#5

I’ve seen this and other videos where he says we can’t gain fat if our insulin is low, but I have been slowly gaining body fat. I’ve been strictly eating Ketogenically (word?) since 2018. Initially I lost fat rapidly and lost 170 lbs. However, I am slowly gaining body fat. I haven’t been walking as much and I have been eating the fattier cuts of beef. So, eating fat and walking less must be causing fat gain. It can’t be a rise in insulin. Guess I should go to the doctor and ask for an insulin test, but I doubt they will want to give me one. :slightly_smiling_face:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

You might want to examine your diet for carb creep, just in case. We can help spot potential problems, if you like.

#7

No problem, I am fully aware I need to eat little calories to lose fat so I keep trying to do that :smiley: I love Bikman but obviously even he can’t be right at everything for every person.
Counting calories never directly helped me either, I can count until a very high number… 4200 was my record and it was on carnivore… But now I know I should be very, very careful with pork shoulder :smiley: Or it’s in the past, who knows how I function now… It’s amazing how one can (even suddenly) change sometimes…

I just know people can gain fat on carnivore too if they massively overeat fat. Makes perfect sense. The body should be able to store away precious energy even without much insulin… Or IDK but it can clearly do it. It’s not so simple and some of us don’t gain much fat from massive overeating, IDK why, maybe the body likes to avoid being too fatty in some cases but fattening up without carby items makes sense to me as some animals need that.