We are sick. Around the world, we struggle with diseases that were once considered rare. Cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes affect millions each year; many people are also struggling with hypertension, weight gain, fatty liver, dementia, low testosterone, menstrual irregularities and infertility, and more. We treat the symptoms, not realizing that all of these diseases and disorders have something in common. Each of them is caused or made worse by a condition known as insulin resistance. And you might have it. Odds are you do—over half of all adults in the United States are insulin resistant, with most other countries either worse or not far behind. In Why We Get Sick, internationally renowned scientist and pathophysiology professor Benjamin Bikman explores why insulin resistance has become so prevalent and why it matters. Unless we recognize it and take steps to reverse the trend, major chronic diseases will be even more widespread. But reversing insulin resistance is possible, and Bikman offers an evidence-based plan to stop and prevent it, with helpful food lists, meal suggestions, easy exercise principles, and more. Full of surprising research and practical advice, Why We Get Sick will help you to take control of your health.
I’ve posted this book before, it’s super impactful and makes a great demonstration of why hyperinsulinemia is so bad. It’s written in a very easy to understand and compelling way. I can not recommend this book enough. I’ve given out nearly a dozen copies of it to friends suffering from metabolic problems.
I just discovered, today, that a official chinese version is now available! If you have relatives, friends, who arn’t so great at English (especially such they wont try to read a book)… this is a great gift. Especially the auntie who smiles kindly at you, but never stops chain smoking and pops metformin like candy.
The video and comments are very compelling but where did she get this information? Almost all websites like healthline say okinawans, 7th day adventists etc ate mostly plants.
I’ll just add looking at post-wwiI (4 years after the war) diets and saying that is the typical diet isn’t reasonable. Okinawa got pummeled; it’s estimated they had 100,000 pigs pre-war and less then 800 after, not to mention all their fishing boats were destroyed in the war. Hawaii famously resupplied pigs to the island to help them rebuild their nutrition.
Some very bad napkin math: 100,000 pigs in production cycle gives about 20 Mkg of pork per year yield sustainably; pre wwii population 500,000; one pig for every 5 people, or 40kg of pork product per person per year… that suggests these people enjoyed some animal products.
Plus, even if you buy into blue zones - you have to look at the tuple of (eating pattern, lifestyle, physical activity, community). If you want the benefits you have to do all of them, you can’t just cherry pick one thing (one food from the diet) and apply it and expect to get the same results.
A nuance that often get’s overlooked - If your saying the Okinawans got most of their energy from potatoes. HCLF - Fine, that also implies they didn’t get much fat. We know the Randel cycle (not a cycle) triggers when there is an abundance of carbs and fat in the blood stream - directly related to insulin insensitivity and inflammation, which they avoided by their low fat diet. So cherry picking starches are healthy, and applying that to a different eating pattern HCHF - high carb high fat, or fat with every meal… Mixing potatoes and vegetable oil (which the Okinawans did not have a just after wwii) WILL trigger the Randel cycle because the diet is different enough… Thats more insulin insensitivity and inflammation directly caused by mixing and matching different dietary contexts assuming they are strict benefits.
Belinda’s husband, Dr. Gary Fettke, was targeted by the processed food industry for his public opinion on the perils of excessive sugar consumption and for showing the potential to put patients with Type 2 diabetes into remission. This caused him to him to be ‘silenced’ by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
To clear Gary’s name Belinda did a lot of work looking into the organizations linked to the accusations that led to the silencing. Belinda’s information withstood Australian legal process, and the story has a happy ending; 2018 saw a clearance of those charges with a full apology from the Medical Board.
Here is an interview with Dr. Fettke, with him talking about his story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5gTtQVfcos It’s more concise than Dr. Zoe Harcombe’s interview with Dr Fettke.
If you’re curious about this particular rabbit hole, it’s well worth a listen.
wait… so the original Sardinia blue zone… are shepherds who keep pigs and cook in lard from the pigs… so (pigs, sheep, massive physical activity up and down a mountain every day)
Dan Buettner, the person who made up the Blue Zones, is a storyteller by trade. He has no other credentials. He told a compelling story, but unfortunately that story was not grounded in reality.