Metabolic Mayhem! How Dysfunctional Food Norms are Destroying Metabolic Health

$18 billion of taxpayer money to purchasing soda, sugary drinks, and sweets, serving children in public schools nutrient-depleted junk, demonizing foods like eggs, butter, and steak. That's dysfunctional. You've become metabolically woke. There are two types of people: those who see a child eating sugary cereal or a healthcare provider eating a donut in front of a patient and don't give it a second thought, and those who see such things and think to themselves, "Wow, this is so screwed up. How did we get here? And what can we do about it?" Now, if you're watching this video, there's a high probability you're already the second type of person, or at least leaning in that direction. Now, what this video is going to aim to do is first emphasize, highlight how dysfunctional our food norms are, and then tell you what needs to change and what you can do today to stimulate that change. And I'll also announce two really exciting initiatives if you stick around till the end. And if you stick around until after the end, you'll get to hear thoughts from two Harvard medical doctors, one psychiatrist and one endocrine surgeon, who agree with me that food norms need to change. But first, let me tell you a bit about me. I think this is important context. I grew up really wanting to be a doctor and a scientist, and having complete faith in the prestige and rigor of conventional healthcare. Now, I did say faith intentionally, because it was at least partially a blind belief. Of course, one person cannot truly process and comprehend the full scope of evidence and rationales for why we do what we do in healthcare and more broadly as a society at a whole. So to some degree, a level of faith is necessary in determining how we view the world and healthcare. But I woke up, so to speak, when I myself got critically ill with inflammatory bowel disease. In that time I spent suffering, I was barely a shell of a person. But things changed when I started to care about my metabolic health, truly care. And now I'm an active scientist with a PhD from Oxford, completing my medical degree at Harvard, in happy and healthy social and romantic relationships, looking forward to all life has to offer. It's really a beautiful turnaround. And when I speak about my story, I like to say the most remarkable thing about my story is that it's not at all unique. There's a common pattern whereby people struggling with some metabolic disease struggle and suffer, and they then try something that's out there, seemingly extreme, from desperation, not expectation, —in my case, that was a ketogenic diet—and then it works, and you're left doing a double take, aghast at the vast discrepancy between your lived experience and personal health journey and what society deems as normal or socially appropriate. In effect, you've become metabolically woke. Now, let's define that term quickly because I realize woke has taken on a particular connotation in today's society. However, that word means being aware of and attentive to important social issues, and I think metabolic health classifies. There are many times I certainly feel metabolically woke, as in I feel I see things that are so obvious and dysfunctional and yet just accepted as part of normal society. So let's provide some concrete examples. First, bribing a metabolically unhealthy population with free donuts to get immunized when metabolic dysfunction increases the morbidity and mortality of respiratory viral illnesses— that's dysfunctional. Or two, normalizing sugary cereal intake for breakfast for kids while still demonizing foods like eggs, butter, and steak, that's dysfunctional. Serving hospitalized patients with metabolic disease mountains of processed food, that's dysfunctional. Serving children in public schools nutrient-depleted junk that very well may impair their cognitive development and contribute to or exacerbate emotional dysregulation, that's dysfunctional. Providing Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programs, SNAP, food stamps, that in effect direct $18 billion of taxpayer money to purchasing soda, sugary drinks, and sweets, but where these food stamps aren't permitted to be used on rotisserie chicken, which are a great source of protein, that's dysfunctional. The official FDA Twitter account tweeting to celebrate dipping pizza in Nutella? That's dysfunctional. I could go on, but you get the point. This all makes no sense. And if you see that, then congratulations, you're metabolically woke. And generally, when you lay it out to people logically, they inevitably agree. They're like, oh yeah, actually, this is pretty screwed up. So if there's a general consensus that these practices are dysfunctional and we actually want people to be healthier, and I hope we agree on that as well, then what gives? Again, I come back to societal norms. We've gotten so used to sugar, junk food, and the metabolic health pandemic that even in the face of clear facts of biology, the majority of society shrugs, shrugs its shoulders, and reaches for the candy jar. That's dysfunctional. So the question, how do we spark change? Really, how do we do it? Well, it should be obvious that we need a multifaceted approach. And this includes metabolic health education and policy change. But more pertinent to you, what can the average person do today? And I'm sorry if this isn't original, but my answer for this truly is lead by example. Buck social norms and don't do so quietly, but loudly. I get it. It's uncomfortable. I know. When offered the proverbial cake at the office party, you come up with an excuse rather than providing your real opinion and rationale. Because, right, who wants to be a social pariah? But what if you were bold and proud and called it out? Now, I'm not saying be rude, but I am saying be direct. If you're offered cake and say, "No thank you," and this is followed with a question or judgment, then use it as a teaching opportunity for others. And this doesn't need to be a metabolic lecture, although it could be if you're so equipped., but it could also just be a genuine expression of your why, why you don't want the cake. Mine, for example, is, "No, actually, I'm fine not having the cake because I suffer from terrible inflammatory bowel disease, and cutting out sugar and processed food and going on a ketogenic diet really saved my life. So you can feel free to enjoy the cake if you want, but my life is infinitely better without cake and sugar. That's my honest answer. You don't need to judge or lecture, but come out of the closet as someone who is metabolically woke, because only in doing so will norms really start to shift, be challenged, as people get curious and start to think to themselves, wow, they're right, What if I lived like them? Now imagine scaling that up at a societal level. But there's also more you can do. You can help me out by spreading the word about some really exciting initiatives. As I hope you can tell if you follow me, I am deeply passionate about making metabolic health mainstream. And that means empowering the public and shifting modern medicine to place a greater emphasis on metabolic health, which is why I'm partnering with a couple groups to help educate the next generation of doctors and current doctors about metabolic health. Specifically, I've teamed up with Exam Crackers, a company that specializes in helping pre-medical students prepare for the medical entrance exam in the United States, the MCAT. And we are now providing free MCAT-style practice passages based on my videos and the paper we cover, or the papers we cover, on my channel so that students can learn about metabolism while boosting their MCAT scores. We want to get the next generation of doctors pumped about metabolic health as early as possible. So if you know a pre-med student, let them know to check out these free resources. And check out the links below. In addition, I'm working with the fantastic Metabolic Health Initiative to get some of my materials CME, continuing medical education, accredited, meaning current doctors and healthcare practitioners can get continuing medical education credits by learning about metabolic health through select Nick Norwitz, that's me, videos. The first of these, The flagship will be the food addiction video covering data in Nature Metabolism and with input from the primary research team. They were so generous as to speak with me. So if you are a doctor or know a doctor who wants CME credits for learning about metabolic health, check out the links below. And together, let's make metabolic health mainstream. Now for some thoughts from two Harvard doctors, Dr. Chris Palmer, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Matthew Nies, an endocrine surgeon, about food norms and what needs to change.

Hey Nick, thanks for asking me this question. Are food norms in modern medicine dysfunctional and do they need to change? After listening to you speak, I think everybody already knows the answer is unequivocally yes. And we have to ask ourselves, why are they so dysfunctional? And at the end of the day, I actually truly believe the primary reason is industry corruption, that the companies that are making this food are strongly lobbying and influencing government organizations and officials that set the dietary guidelines for Americans. That end up having a direct impact on what foods we serve people in hospitals, what foods our children are served in schools, the food that our parents and grandparents in nursing homes are receiving. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans impact all of those things. And today in 2024, they don't even mention the word ultra-processed foods. There is so much work to do. The reality is we have a chronic disease epidemic, epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and very near and dear to my heart, brain disorders that we call mental illness or mental health conditions. And the food that we are eating plays a role in all of it. And it is high time somebody does something to change the system. I'm hopeful that with the new administration coming in, that we are going to prioritize health over profits.

Thanks. Hi everyone. I'm Matthew Nays, and I'm an endocrine surgeon. I generally operate on hormone-producing tumors. And yesterday and today I've been in the operating room removing adrenal tumors that can contribute to metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance and things like that. One of the tumors I removed makes excess cortisol and another makes excess adrenaline. And unfortunately, because of this, some of these patients are very sensitive to dietary carbohydrates, as you might imagine. And when you emerge from anesthesia postoperatively and you're in the recovery room, Sometimes you'll get sips of liquid or some light food, but unfortunately, uh, options in the hospital are things like cranberry juice and orange juice and some of those things that are quick and readily available. For solid foods, sometimes patients are given graham crackers and blueberry muffins. Um, and although these foods taste great, they're quickly absorbed by the GI tract and can spike your glucose, and they really don't reduce satiety much. Sometimes I see patients the next day after surgery with juice and pancakes and syrup and a fruit cup. And again, this produces predictable results with spiking blood glucose levels and disordered insulin signaling. You know, our kitchen here is great. In fact, they will make an omelet with vegetables and meats and things like that if you ask for it. But a lot of the other elements here can be processed foods, and things that aren't so good for those with metabolic dysfunction. As a physician, I'm working hard to educate my patients and our team about the effects of metabolic health. And with the message really that food is not simply sustenance. It is not simply calories to be added up. Instead, food is information to your gut, to your liver, and all of your body to create the correct endocrine signal about the external environment and then how to respond metabolically. From this model, uh, disordered endocrine signaling can be thought of as the root cause of disease, and there are some people that go so far even to claim that it is the root cause of all disease. But we in fact can argue about that another time. But for now, we want— have to wonder what is to be done about all this in the hospital. How do we improve things? And Well, I think a good place to start is working with the hospitals, the dietitians, the nursing staff, and others to educate them on the metabolic effects of the food environment here, and then also to provide healthier, unprocessed options in the hospital. I realize that hospitals are busy, fast-paced environments, and graham crackers and other packaged items are quick and efficient, but I also think it would be low-hanging fruit for hospitals to take this kind of initiative in the service of metabolic health of our patients. And we should start today because every day is a good day to engage with metabolic health.