#200: Ben Bikman, PhD: Brown Fat Tissue Activation, Insulin & the Ketogenic Diet

Ketogenic diet advocate and scientist discusses why and how brown adipose tissue is healthy.

Join our Insider Program: http://highintensityhealth.com/insider

Until very recently, brown fat was dismissed as, ““….that stuff on the upper backs of babies that humans lose with age.”

Now we know the methods through which adults can increase the quantity and activity of these protective fat cells.

Dr. Ben Bikman shares his latest scientific findings in this field and the synergism between the ketogenic diet and brown adipose tissue activation.

We also discuss the inverse relationship between insulin and ketone formation, which should add some clarity to the narrative around the use of exogenous ketone supplementation for fat loss.

Here are a few key takeaways:

02:02 During PhD studies, he learned that insulin is the metabolic key. Now that he has his own lab, the relevance of insulin upon normal metabolic health is his area of study.

03:11 Insulin is needed to Grow Fat Cells.

03:35 Distortion of the Fat Cell

05:59 As we grow larger fat cells and we reach 150% of what is ideal for our bodies, we start making new fat cells. As someone loses weight, they will not reduce the number of fat cells. They shrink the size of their existing cells.

07:14 Triglycerides are Not Relevant to Insulin Resistance

09:34 Muscle is Our Biggest Glucose Sink

10:35 Insulin is a Factor in Inflammation

12:08 Exercise is Important, but Diet is Critical

13:45 Toxic Lipids Cause Mitochondrial Alterations

15:39 Brown Adipose Tissue and an Uncoupling Protein

18:39 When Brown Fat Cells are Exposed to Insulin, Their Metabolic Rate Will go Down by about Half.

19:38 When our White Fat is Exposed to Ketones, Our Fat Goes from Storing to Wasting.

20:34 The Evolutionary Benefit of Ketones Inducing Wasting: Perhaps the conversion of white fat into heat burning instigated by ketones was meant for heat production. Our bodies act protectively. Evolutionarily, ketogenic diets would be seasonal.

24:55 Cold Thermogenesis to Activate Brown Fat: Constant cold exposure, to the point where you are shivering, works to activate brown fat. Ice baths and genuine cold exposure does this as well.

27:31 You Can Alter Your Metabolic Rate

30:24 Benefits of Low Insulin

32:46 We Need Insulin: It is necessary for normal mitochondrial function.  Eating a healthy low carb diet will give you enough insulin variability. We want to keep insulin normal.

25:16 Time Restricted Feeding and Fasting to Trigger Beiging

28:05 We are All Insulin Resistant First Thing in the Morning

39:01 The Effect of Protein and Carbs on Insulin: If you are insulin resistant, you will get a huge long lasting fat storage spike from eating something like a bagel, as opposed to the quick bump for someone who is insulin sensitive.

41:45 Speculation that Exogenous Ketones Turn to Fat when Insulin is high

46:34 Dr. Bikman’s Morning Routine

48:08 Dr. Bikman’s Favorite Exercise is the Deadlift

49:09 Dr. Bikman’s Desert Island Herb, Nutrient or Botanical: He would bring cow liver, which is packed with mitochondria. We do not adopt the mitochondria of the meat we eat, but we can get the building block components of the mitochondria.

51:06 Dr. Bikman’s Elevator Pitch: Stop emphasizing a high carbohydrate/low fat diet.

51:36 Don’t Worry about Gluconeogenesis

Join our Insider Program: http://highintensityhealth.com/insider