In 'The Case for Keto', Gary Taubes critiques traditional dietary advice and presents the ketogenic diet as a viable alternative for weight loss and metabolic health. He argues that hormonal factors, particularly insulin, play a crucial role in obesity, and that a low-carb, high-fat diet can be more effective than calorie restriction for many people. The book draws on scientific research and interviews with physicians to support its claims.
In this book, Dr. Mark Hyman debunks the conventional wisdom about fat, revealing the health and weight-loss benefits of a high-fat diet rich in foods like eggs, nuts, oils, and avocados. The book introduces a 21-day Eat Fat, Get Thin Plan, which includes practical tools, meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to help readers achieve optimum wellness. It also addresses common misconceptions about different types of fats and their impact on health, and includes testimonials from participants who have seen significant health improvements and weight loss.
Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution, first published in 1972, introduced the Atkins diet, a nutritional approach that challenges conventional weight loss methods by emphasizing the reduction of carbohydrate intake. The diet promotes the consumption of meat, cheese, eggs, and other high-fat foods while limiting carbohydrates such as bread, cereal, and pasta. The book has been a bestseller and has sparked extensive research and debate within the medical community regarding the benefits and drawbacks of low-carbohydrate diets.
In 'Good Calories, Bad Calories', Gary Taubes challenges the conventional wisdom on diet, weight control, and disease. He argues that the last few decades of dietary advice promoting low-fat diets have been consistently incorrect. Taubes posits that carbohydrates, particularly refined ones like white flour, sugar, and starches, are the primary cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other ailments. He supports his assertions with biological, epidemiological, and anthropological evidence, highlighting the role of insulin in fat storage and the flaws in the scientific literature that have led to the current dietary guidelines. The book aims to change how scientists and researchers approach the questions of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, rather than providing a specific diet plan[2][3][5].
There has been a fundamental shift in understanding metabolic health and chronic disease, particularly Type 2 diabetes, challenging long-standing dietary dogma by emphasizing that insulin resistance is largely driven by overconsumption of refined carbohydrates, not dietary fat or red meat. While highlighting the success of carbohydrate restriction and ketogenic approaches, nutrition is being seen as a powerful tool for reversing diabetes—often more effective and sustainable than conventional medication. The implications are far-reaching, not only for individual health outcomes, but also for reshaping public health strategies in addressing today’s chronic disease epidemic.
In this episode, I speak with Gary Taubes, Sami Inkinen, and Dr. Greeshma Shetty about an approach to treating Type 2 Diabetes that works. I also discuss how red meat is not to blame, but we should be looking at high sugar and starch diets.
Gary Taubes is an award-winning science and health journalist, and co-founder and director of the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI). He is the author of The Case Against Sugar, Why We Get Fat, Good Calories, Bad Calories, and, most recently, The Case for Keto. Gary is a former staff writer for Discover and correspondent for Science. He has written three cover articles on nutrition and health for The New York Times Magazine, and his writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, Esquire, and numerous "best of" anthologies, including The Best of the Best American Science Writing (2010). He has received three Science in Society Journalism Awards from the National Association of Science Writers, and is also the recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research. He lives in Oakland, CA.
Sami Inkinen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Virta Health, a pioneer in reversing diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes through a nutrition-first approach. Sami's personal connection to diabetes and passion to advance global health was the motivation behind Virta and its innovative care model. Previously, Inkinen was the co-founder of the leading online real estate marketplace Trulia, serving as its COO and president and board member until its IPO and eventual sale to Zillow Group.
Dr. Greeshma Shetty, board certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, currently serves as a Lead Clinician in the Virta Medical Group and the Director of Quality and Safety at Virta Health. Prior to joining Virta, she was clinical physician educator at Harvard Medical School, where she directed the combined Joslin - Beth Israel Deaconess Endocrine Fellowship program and Co-Directed the Asian American Diabetes Initiative. She is dedicated to clinical excellence, leveraging health technology, transforming healthcare delivery, driving health equity and building high performing teams.
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Full-length episodes can be found here:
The Evolution of Diabetes Treatment
How to Reverse Diabetes Naturally
Does Red Meat Cause Type II Diabetes?
The Dr. Hyman Show 
