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LEVELS – A Whole New Level

#229 - Nature Wants Us to Be Fat | Dr. Casey Means & Dr. Richard Johnson - (Replay)

Sep 7, 2023
Dr. Casey Means and Dr. Richard Johnson discuss the survival switch that drives our body to store fat, the impact of sugar on metabolic syndrome, fructose's depletion of energy, the protective role of vitamin C against obesity, and how salt can trigger fructose production.
01:12:10

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • The survival switch, triggered by factors like fruit availability and dehydration, can lead to excessive fat storage and metabolic syndrome in the modern world with abundant access to food.
  • The metabolic pathways of fructose in the liver result in a drop in cellular energy, production of uric acid, insulin resistance, and impaired glucose uptake by muscles.

Deep dives

The Survival Switch and its Role in Obesity and Metabolic Disease

The podcast episode discusses the concept of the survival switch, a biologic mechanism that drives fat storage and plays a role in obesity and metabolic diseases. The survival switch is a natural response in animals, triggered by factors like fruit availability and dehydration, to allow for fat storage as a survival mechanism during times of scarcity. However, in the modern world with abundant access to food, this switch can be overactivated by consuming high amounts of fructose, which leads to excessive fat storage, insulin resistance, and other features of metabolic syndrome. The episode highlights the distinction between fructose from whole fruits, which is generally well-tolerated by the body, and fructose from processed sources like sugary drinks, which can overwhelm the system and lead to negative health outcomes.

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