TFP #004 - Nick Norwitz Pt 1: Surviving the ICU, Rethinking Cholesterol, and Challenging Critics

In this episode of The Feldman Protocol, Dave Feldman sits down with Nick Norwitz, a PhD researcher focusing on metabolism who earned his doctorate from Oxford and graduated recently from Harvard Medical School. Nick shares his remarkable journey from elite distance runner at age 17 - capable of 2:45 marathons and 3,000-mile training years - to facing a cascade of health crises that would reshape his understanding of medicine. Nick recounts how his health deteriorated further with severe GI symptoms beginning at Dartmouth in 2017, eventually landing him in intensive care and palliative care with dangerously low weight levels. The discussion explores Nick's medical detective work, including his discovery of a cholesterol paradox: following a "heart-healthy" LDL-lowering diet that actually caused his LDL to jump from 95 to 321, while paradoxically improving his small dense LDL profile. Nick demonstrates scientific humility by acknowledging how his early lipid research perspectives have evolved, while discussing the institutional challenges he faces in publishing controversial research that might upset even his allies in the metabolic health field.🔗 CONNECT WITH DAVE FELDMAN PROTOCOL:Main Channel: @realDaveFeldmanX/Twitter: @realDaveFeldman Instagram: @realDaveFeldmanWebsite: thefeldmanprotocol.com⏰ CHAPTERS:1:16 - Introduction: Nick Norwitz, PhD Researcher & Harvard Medical Student1:43 - Life Mission: Making Metabolic Health Mainstream4:37 - Health Crisis Begins: GI Symptoms at Dartmouth (2017)5:11 - Athletic Background: Distance Running Success6:39 - Pattern of Fractures: From 90-Mile Weeks to Breaking Down7:24 - The Foot Fracture: X-Ray Misses, MRI Reveals Break8:26 - Osteoporosis Diagnosis: Bone Density of 70-80 Year Old14:51 - Fear and Urgency: The Deep Drive to Solve Health Problems26:37 - Life-Threatening Turn: Intensive Care & Palliative Care32:15 - The Cholesterol Paradox: Heart-Healthy Diet, LDL Jumps to 32132:50 - Early Lipid Analysis: Scientific Evolution and Humility34:00 - Medical Mystery: Low-Fat Diet Raises LDL36:06 - Research Partnership: Finding Collaborators55:53 - Controversial Research: Risk of Upsetting Allies1:06:53 - Publication Challenges: IRB Obstacles for Case Series1:07:28 - Meta-Analysis Struggles: Editor Ghosting on Positive Reviews#NickNorwitz #MetabolicHealth #HealthCrisis #Cholesterol #LDL #BoneDensity #GIHealth #HealthResearch #ScientificMethod #PersonalHealth #HealthPodcast