Carnivore vs Fruitarians. A friendly debate with Robby and Cyrus from Mastering Diabetes.

This was a fun, but technical episode. 

Cyrus Khambatta has a PhD in nutritional biochemistry from UC Berkeley. Robby Barbaro has a master’s degree in public health. Both have type 1 diabetes and have been featured in plant-based documentaries like Forks Over Knives. 

Though Robby and Cyrus have been able to improve their blood sugar control with a fruit heavy plant-based diet, I had some concerns about their approach (inadequate protein, nutrient deficiencies, etc..) so I invited them on the show. Even with almost two hours we didn’t have time to get into everything but we did talk about the biochemical basis of insulin resistance vs glucose sparing in detail and addressed the false notion that low carbohydrate diets cause pathological insulin resistance head on. 

I hope you all enjoy this episode and I look forward to doing more animal vs plant “debates” with plant based advocates in the future. I don’t want my podcast to be an echo-chamber! 

 

Time Stamps:

8:54 Start of the Podcast 

10:01 Cyrus and Robby’s story.

16:11 Have either done a low carb ketogenic style diet ?

28:16 Glucose and mean amplitude glucose excursions. 

33:26 Paleolithic ketogenic diet and type 1 diabetes(a case study).

39:50 Is there long term studies on the carnivore diet?

44:10 Insulin resistance 

54:00 Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia 

59:31 Are low carbohydrate diets effective in combatting insulin resistance?

1:06:47 LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.

1:18:20 Can blood glucose sensitivity improve on a high carb plant based diet?

1:19:46 Blue Zones 

1:27:54 Does saturated fat cause insulin resistance?

1:36:30 Do Cyrus and Robby take any supplements?

1:40:54 Leucine and MTOR.

1:44:30 Why Paul went on the carnivore diet/dissenting opinions on nutrition.

1:54:54 The most radical thing Cyrus and Robby have done recently. Where to find them online.