What’s to blame for Insulin Resistance, Carbs or PUFAs? A very friendly debate with Ben Bikman, PhD

Benjamin Bikman earned his PhD in Bioenergetics and was a postdoctoral fellow with the Duke-National University of Singapore studying metabolic disorders. Currently, his professional focus as a scientist and professor (Brigham Young University) is to better understand the origins and consequences of metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes, with a particular emphasis on the role of insulin. He frequently publishes his research in peer-reviewed journals and presents at international science and public meetings.



Time Stamps


0:11:14 Podcast Begins

0:11:54 Ben's Background

0:17:53 The root of chronic disease

0:25:38 All about insulin

0:31:14 Regulation of free fatty acid metabolism by insulin in humans: role of lipolysis and reesterification https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Regulation-of-free-fatty-acid-metabolism-by-insulin-Campbell-Carlson/9be324b8af9ced5a8b7e1902257e3fb9308b4db1

0:31:51 Insulin stops lipolisis

0:34:35 Insulin's affect on the liver

0:40:10 Insulin and muscle cells

0:43:20 Why you want to increase protein as you age

0:48:47 Low Protein Intake is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3988204/#:~:text=Low%20Protein%20Intake%20is%20Associated,Younger%20but%20Not%20Older%20Population&text=Cell%20Metab.,Author%20manuscript.

0:51:00 Animal-based diets optimize muscle protein sythesis

0:55:12 Industrial Seed oils have a fantastic publicist

0:58:05 Do carbs drive metabolic dysfunction?

1:07:07 Effect of sustained physiologic hyperinsulinaemia and hyperglycaemia on insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity in man https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00400466

1:07:42 How linoleic acid drives metabolic dysfunction

1:09:32 How linoleic acid drives metabolic dysfunction. 

1:11:47 Low serum insulin in traditional Pacific Islanders--the Kitava Study https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(99)90258-5/pdf

1:14:29 Carbs are not to blame

1:19:05 Thriving is dependent on micronutrients

1:22:19 The secret to overcoming plateaus on low carb diets

1:25:28 Epidemiological studies in a total highland population, Tukisenta, New Guinea: Cardiovascular disease and relevant clinical, electrocardiographic, radiological and biochemical findings https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0021968173900313

1:25:58 Classification of Obesity with Respect to Morbidity https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3181/00379727-200-43417?journalCode=ebma

1:27:46 Does fructose make us fat?

1:28:32 What makes honey different?

1:30:45 Effect of honey in preventing gingivitis and dental caries in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4095052/#:~:text=Within%20the%20limitations%20of%20the,in%20patients%20undergoing%20orthodontic%20treatment.

1:31:11 Substituting Honey for Refined Carbohydrates Protects Rats from Hypertriglyceridemic and Prooxidative Effects of Fructose https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/132/11/3379/4687329

1:32:15 Effect of fructose on body weight in controlled feeding trials https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK84702/

1:33:21 Oral health in transition: the Hadza foragers of Tanzania https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0172197

1:34:53 Hyperplastic vs hypertrophic fat cell growth

1:40:01 FADH2, NADH, and mitochondrial magic

1:43:27 Diet fat composition alters membrane phospholipid composition, insulin binding, and glucose metabolism in adipocytes from control and diabetic animals https://www.jbc.org/content/265/19/11143

1:43:27 Unwanted insulin sensitivity

1:50:01 Dietary Stearic Acid Leads to a Reduction of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Athymic Nude Mice https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265650090_Dietary_Stearic_Acid_Leads_to_a_Reduction_of_Visceral_Adipose_Tissue_in_Athymic_Nude_Mice

1:52:16 dietary stearic acid regulates mitochondria in vivo in humans https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05614-6

1:54:17 Effects of Macronutrient Distribution on Weight and Related Cardiometabolic Profile in Healthy Non-Obese Chinese: A 6-month, Randomized Controlled-Feeding Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28655596/

2:01:29 CarnivoreMD's CGM readings

2:05:16 CarnivoreMD's Fatty Acid Markers

2:06:28 Where to find Ben Bikman

2:09:19 What Ben Bikman finds radical