Prescribing Bacon and Butter for Weight Loss? – TFP #009 | Eric Westman MD

In this episode, Dave sits down with Dr. Eric Westman, associate professor of medicine at Duke University and founder of the Keto Medicine Clinic, who has built his practice around using dietary interventions to treat patients. Dr. Westman discusses his path from traditional internal medicine to researching low-carb approaches, including his early observations of patients whose cholesterol profiles improved on high-fat diets and his collaboration with Dr. Atkins in the late 1990s to conduct some of the first clinical studies on the Atkins diet. The conversation covers the current medical environment where GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic have become prominent weight loss treatments, the historical use of low-carb medicine dating back over a century, and Dr. Westman's perspective on why nutrition education has become less emphasized in medical training. From his YouTube channel that reaches millions of viewers monthly to his clinical work helping patients reverse diabetes through dietary changes, Dr. Westman shares his experience at the intersection of medical research, clinical practice, and the evolving approaches to treating metabolic conditions.

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⏱ Key Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Opening Thoughts

1:04 – Who is Dr. Eric Westman & the Keto Medicine Clinic

7:06 – Dr. Westman as the Original Keto Pioneer

9:02 – The First Atkins Diet Patients: Unexpected Results

12:17 – The 2004 Studies & Dr. Atkins' Tragic Death

15:16 – Duke's Historical Connection to Dietary Medicine

25:15 – GLP-1 Drugs vs. Dietary Interventions: The Current Divide

32:20 – The Muscle Loss Problem with Weight Loss Drugs

38:15 – The American Diabetes Association's Forgotten Origins

47:10 – Addiction Models: Food vs. Tobacco & Alcohol

1:05:15 – Glucose Metabolism & Keto Adaptation in Long-Term Practitioners

1:15:00 – Animal Models vs. Human Studies: The Research Problem

1:25:00 – Metabolic Status Impact on Lipid Profiles

1:30:00 – Lean Mass Hyper-Responder Study Results & Heterogeneity

1:40:00 – Brown & Goldstein's Work & Homozygous FH Cases

1:55:00 – The Cholesterol Code Documentary Journey

2:00:00 – Citizen Science Foundation & Crowdfunded Research

2:10:00 – Heart Failure, Ketones & SGLT2 Inhibitors

2:20:00 – Serial Killers Films & Athletic Performance on Keto

2:35:00 – Eric's Bookshelf: Essential Low-Carb Literature

2:45:00 – Hospital Food Systems & Institutional Change

2:55:00 – Drug Development vs. Dietary Solutions

3:00:00 – Polypharmacy & Deprescribing in Clinical Practice

3:15:00 – Adapt Your Life Academy & Online Education

3:30:00 – The Feldman Protocol & Cholesterol Manipulation

3:45:00 – Closing Thoughts & Where to Find Dr. Westman

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