#1 Most DANGEROUS Blood Sugar Lie You Must Know!

Summary

This video script dispels the myth that blood sugar is the primary source of energy, highlighting the importance of stability instead of frequent spikes and drops. It explains that the body can efficiently use both fat and glucose for energy, especially when oxygen is present, and emphasizes the role of ketones as an alternative energy source for the brain. The speaker advocates for a diet of whole foods rich in fat and protein to maintain stable blood sugar levels, prevent mood swings, and avoid the pitfalls of insulin resistance and related health issues, suggesting that a varied diet including plant foods is key for optimal long-term health.

Takeaways

• 🚫 The common belief that blood sugar is the primary source of energy is a misconception that can lead to unhealthy eating habits and blood sugar fluctuations.
• 🔄 Blood sugar levels should be stable rather than fluctuating, as stability helps maintain consistent energy and mood levels.
• 🍎 Consuming whole foods with fat and protein can help maintain blood sugar levels within a healthy range without causing spikes or crashes.
• 🧠 The brain can utilize ketones for energy when glucose levels are low, debunking the myth that the brain solely relies on glucose.
• 🍽 Eating for the purpose of regulating blood sugar can create a cycle of highs and lows, often referred to as a 'roller coaster' effect.
• 🏥 Traditional views on 'normal' blood sugar levels after meals may be too high, contributing to the acceptance of unhealthy post-meal blood sugar spikes.
• ⚖️ Optimal blood sugar levels are suggested to be lower than traditionally thought, with a range of 80 to 90 mg/dL for fasting and 90 to 110 mg/dL after eating.
• 🔋 ATP is the primary form of energy used by the body, and it can be produced through two pathways: oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic) and glycolysis (anaerobic).
• 🏋️‍♂️ The body's energy storage is more efficient in the form of fat, which can provide a longer-term energy supply compared to glycogen.
• 🌱 Non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens, and fiber are considered healthier carbohydrate options compared to sugars, processed, and starchy carbs.
• 🧬 Gut health and microbiome diversity are important for overall health, but the necessity of carbohydrates for gut bacteria is still a topic of debate.

Q & A

What is the biggest lie about blood sugar according to the script?

The biggest lie about blood sugar is the belief that it is the only or primary source of energy, leading people to think they need to eat frequently to maintain their blood sugar levels.

Why does the script mention that misunderstanding blood sugar can be harmful?

Misunderstanding blood sugar can lead to unhealthy eating habits, causing blood sugar levels to fluctuate wildly, which can result in mood swings, energy crashes, and long-term health issues such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

What is the body's backup system for energy when glucose levels are low?

The body's backup system is ketones. When glucose is scarce, the body can switch to using ketones for energy, with up to 75% of the brain's energy coming from ketones.

Why does the script emphasize the importance of stability in blood sugar levels?

Stability in blood sugar levels is crucial for maintaining consistent energy and mood. Eating whole foods with fat and protein can help keep blood sugar levels stable, avoiding the negative effects of the blood sugar roller coaster.

What are the optimal blood sugar levels according to the script?

The optimal fasting blood sugar level is 80 to 90, and after eating, it should ideally remain between 90 to 110. This range helps avoid the blood sugar spikes and crashes that can lead to health problems.

How does the script differentiate between the body's use of fat and glucose for energy?

The script explains that the body can use either fat or glucose for energy when oxygen is present. However, in anaerobic conditions or when oxygen is scarce, the body can only use glucose through a process called glycolysis.

What is the main form of energy storage in the human body, and why is it more efficient?

The main form of energy storage is fat, which is more efficient due to its higher energy density. Fat provides about eight calories per gram, compared to one calorie per gram for glycogen when accounting for the water it binds.

Why does the script suggest that carbohydrates are not essential for the human body?

The script suggests that there are no essential carbohydrates because the body can produce glucose from other sources, such as glycerol from triglycerides in fat. Additionally, the brain can use ketones as an alternative energy source.

What are some factors the script suggests measuring to understand one's metabolic health?

The script suggests measuring glucose, triglycerides, A1C, and insulin levels to understand one's metabolic health and position on the insulin resistance spectrum.

How does the script address the role of carbohydrates in a healthy diet?

The script differentiates between types of carbohydrates, stating that while sugar, processed carbs, and starchy carbs can be problematic, non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens, and fiber are beneficial and should be part of a varied diet.

What is the script's stance on the necessity of a varied diet for optimal long-term health?

The script suggests that a varied diet, including a wide range of plant foods, is likely necessary for optimal long-term health, based on the historical human diet and the potential benefits of a diverse microbiome.

Outlines

00:00

🍬 The Myth of Blood Sugar as the Sole Energy Source

This paragraph challenges the common misconception that blood sugar is the primary source of energy. It explains that while blood sugar does provide energy, it's not the only source, and relying on it for quick energy can lead to a roller coaster effect of highs and lows. The speaker emphasizes the importance of stability in blood sugar levels and suggests that consuming whole foods with fat and protein can help maintain this stability, preventing mood swings and energy fluctuations. The paragraph also debunks the idea that the brain can only run on glucose, highlighting that ketones can serve as an alternative energy source for the brain when glucose is low.

05:05

🌡 Understanding Blood Sugar Regulation and Energy Production

The speaker discusses the optimal range for blood sugar levels and how they should ideally behave post-meal, emphasizing the importance of returning to fasting levels within two to three hours. The paragraph delves into the biochemical process of energy production in the body, explaining the conversion of food into ATP, the body's primary energy currency. It distinguishes between oxidative phosphorylation, which is more efficient in the presence of oxygen, and glycolysis, which occurs anaerobically. The speaker also touches on the body's ability to use both fat and glucose as fuel, depending on the availability of oxygen.

10:10

🏃‍♂️ The Role of Glucose in Emergency Energy Situations

This paragraph explores the body's emergency energy response, such as during a sprint or when fleeing from danger. It explains that in these situations, the body relies on glucose to produce energy quickly through a process that is inefficient and short-lived, leading to the production of lactic acid, which causes muscle burn. The speaker contrasts this with the body's vast storage of fat, which is a more efficient long-term energy source, and discusses the body's preference for storing energy as fat due to its higher energy density compared to glycogen.

15:13

🚫 The Consequences of Unstable Blood Sugar and the Need for Carbs

The speaker warns against the health risks associated with unstable blood sugar levels, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia. They argue against the notion that frequent meals and high-carb, starchy, and sugary foods are necessary for maintaining energy. Instead, they advocate for a balanced diet with a focus on whole foods and a variety of plant-based options. The paragraph also addresses the types of carbohydrates, distinguishing between those that are detrimental to health, like sugar and processed carbs, and those that are beneficial, such as fiber and non-starchy vegetables.

20:22

🌱 The Importance of Gut Bacteria and a Varied Diet

The speaker discusses the role of carbohydrates in feeding gut bacteria and the potential health benefits of maintaining a diverse microbiome. They suggest that while humans do not need carbohydrates from a metabolic perspective, gut bacteria do, and a varied diet that includes a wide range of plant foods may be beneficial for long-term health. The paragraph also touches on the individual variability in dietary tolerance and the importance of considering other health factors such as stress, deficiencies, toxicities, and autoimmune issues.

25:27

📊 Measuring Metabolic Health and Beyond

In this paragraph, the speaker emphasizes the importance of measuring various health indicators to understand one's metabolic health and overall well-being. They suggest testing for glucose, triglycerides, A1C, insulin, cholesterol levels, and other markers that can provide insights into inflammation, cardiovascular health, and cognitive function. The speaker also highlights the value of microbiome sequencing for assessing gut health and encourages viewers to explore these tests if they have tried various approaches without success.

Keywords

💡Blood Sugar

Blood sugar refers to the glucose present in the bloodstream, which is the body's primary source of energy. In the video, it is emphasized that blood sugar is not the only or even the main source of energy, challenging the common misconception that we need to constantly eat to maintain our blood sugar levels. The script explains that a stable blood sugar level is preferable for maintaining consistent energy and mood, rather than the highs and lows caused by frequent eating.

💡Insulin

Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels by allowing glucose to enter cells to be used for energy. The video discusses how the body releases insulin to bring down high blood sugar after eating, which can lead to a subsequent drop in energy and the feeling of needing to eat again to raise blood sugar. This cycle is part of the 'roller coaster' effect described in the script.

💡Ketones

Ketones are an alternative energy source for the body, produced when glucose levels are low. The video script clarifies the misconception that the brain can only run on glucose, explaining that ketones can supply up to 75% of the brain's energy needs when glucose is scarce, such as during fasting or a low-carb diet.

💡ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

ATP is the primary energy currency of the cells, storing and releasing energy for various cellular functions. The script describes ATP as the form of energy that the body uses, created through different metabolic pathways and highlighting the efficiency of these pathways in the presence or absence of oxygen.

💡Oxidative Phosphorylation

Oxidative phosphorylation is a metabolic process that occurs in the presence of oxygen and is responsible for the majority of ATP production in the body. The video explains that this process is much more efficient than glycolysis, producing over 30 ATPs per cycle of the citric acid cycle.

💡Glycolysis

Glycolysis is an anaerobic metabolic pathway that breaks down glucose to produce ATP without the need for oxygen. The script mentions that glycolysis is less efficient than oxidative phosphorylation, yielding only two ATPs from the breakdown of one glucose molecule.

💡Glycogen

Glycogen is a form of energy storage in the body, primarily in the liver and muscles, consisting of glucose molecules. The video script explains that glycogen is limited in storage capacity and is not as energy-dense as fat, making it less practical for long-term energy storage.

💡Fat Storage

Fat storage is the body's primary method of storing energy, with the potential to hold a much larger amount of energy compared to glycogen. The script points out that fat is a more effective form of energy storage due to its higher energy yield per gram and the fact that it does not bind as much water as glycogen.

💡Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are a class of nutrients that include sugars, starches, and fibers and are often considered essential for energy. However, the video challenges this notion, stating that there are no essential carbohydrates and that the body can produce glucose from other sources when needed.

💡Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is a condition where the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, leading to higher blood sugar levels. The script discusses how unstable blood sugar levels and frequent eating of high-carb, starchy, and sugary foods can contribute to insulin resistance and related health issues such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

💡Microbiome

The microbiome refers to the collection of microorganisms living in the human body, particularly in the gut, which can influence health in various ways. The video suggests that a healthy and varied microbiome may be beneficial for overall health, although the exact role and requirements of gut bacteria are still being researched.

Highlights

The common misconception that energy solely comes from blood sugar can lead to harmful blood sugar fluctuations and misunderstandings about energy sources.

The body's actual energy sources include not only glucose but also ketones, which can supply up to 75% of the brain's energy during glucose scarcity.

Stability in blood sugar levels is crucial for maintaining consistent energy and mood, contrasting the roller coaster effect caused by frequent sugar intake.

Consuming whole foods with fat and protein can help maintain blood sugar stability, avoiding the peaks and crashes associated with sugary and processed foods.

The traditional view of 'normal' blood sugar levels may be misleading, with optimal levels suggested to be lower and more stable than commonly believed.

High blood sugar levels post-meal are considered normal by some standards, but this can contribute to long-term health issues such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The body efficiently produces energy through oxidative phosphorylation when oxygen is present, but relies on less efficient glycolysis in anaerobic conditions.

The body can utilize fat as an energy source, which is a more practical and efficient form of energy storage compared to carbohydrates.

Fat storage is more energy-dense and efficient than glycogen, making it the body's preferred long-term energy reserve.

The modern diet may contribute to blood sugar instability and health issues due to high consumption of carbohydrates, starches, and sugars.

Different types of carbohydrates have varying effects on health, with non-starchy vegetables and leafy greens being more beneficial than processed and starchy carbs.

There is no essential carbohydrate requirement for humans, but gut bacteria may benefit from certain types of carbs found in plant foods.

A varied diet including a wide range of plant foods may be beneficial for long-term health, aligning with human dietary history.

Measuring metabolic health markers such as glucose, triglycerides, A1C, and insulin is crucial for understanding an individual's health status.

Cholesterol measurements, including LDL particle count and size, are important for assessing cardiovascular health risks.

Assessing gut health through microbiome sequencing can provide insights into an individual's digestive and overall health.

The video encourages viewers to subscribe for more life-saving health insights and to understand the body's true workings.

Transcripts

"Hello, Health Champions! Today, I want to help  you understand the biggest lie about blood sugar,  

and there are several components to this. When we  believe this and don't understand how blood sugar  

works, we can get hurt. So, when we're told  that energy comes from blood sugar, what does  

that mean? Is it all energy? Is it some of the  energy? This misunderstanding is so common that  

in our culture, we talk about it all the time:  'Your blood sugar must be low. You're not feeling  

good? Your blood sugar must be low. Go ahead and  eat something to get your blood sugar back up.'

Now, here's the problem: when we buy into this  belief system that energy comes from blood sugar  

and you have to eat to regulate your blood  sugar, then blood sugar, which is supposed to  

be maintained in a very narrow band for optimal  function, gets disrupted. So, we eat something  

and blood sugar goes up, but high blood sugar is  not a good thing, so the body needs to regulate  

that and bring it back down. And now we release  insulin and our blood sugar comes back down,  

but now we feel bad, we have a lack of energy, we  have brain fog, we don't feel good. So now we're  

told, 'Eat something, you must have low blood  sugar.' So, we eat something, blood sugar goes up,  

now we feel good, insulin brings it down, now we  feel bad. So we end up on this roller coaster.

If we think that we need to eat to quickly  top off that blood sugar to function,  

then we end up with this roller coaster. Instead,  what the body is looking for is stability. So when  

we eat something, if we eat whole food with some  fat and some protein, not a bunch of sugar, not a  

bunch of processed foods, our blood sugar is not  supposed to go up very much at all just because  

we eat something. It might rise a few points, but  it doesn't really leave this narrow, healthy band,  

and afterward, it doesn't crash. So we don't  get these mood swings and these ups and downs,  

but the body instead can maintain these blood  sugar levels for level energy and level mood.

Now, blood sugar is important, but blood sugar is  not the only source of energy, not even for the  

brain. We're often told that the brain can only  run on glucose. That's not true. When we're really  

low on glucose, when there's not a lot available,  the body switches. It has a backup system called  

ketones, and as much as 75% of the energy for  the brain can come from ketones. But the key to  

understanding is that it's about stability. When  we eat real food and we don't eat all the time,  

the body knows how to regulate this. When we eat  to top off blood sugar, when we think that a lack  

of food is the reason we feel the way we do,  we create these blood sugar roller coasters.

So if you do a little reading on what we think is  normal as a society, the traditional view is that  

a normal fasting blood sugar should be between 70  and 100. But then if you're impaired, meaning that  

you're pre-diabetic, now that would be between 101  to 125, and if it goes above 125, it's called type  

2 diabetes. So far, that's not all that crazy. I  sort of buy into this for the most part. However,  

then they say that 30 minutes after a meal, it's  normal to have a blood sugar of 170 to 200. No,  

that's not normal. This is what they consider  normal. That's what we've been trained to think  

by topping off our blood sugar. Thirty minutes  after a meal, if you're impaired, if you're  

pre-diabetic, then they say it's okay for it to  be 190 to 230, and if you're diabetic, then 220  

to 300 would be expected. But then it gets even  crazier because they say that two to three hours  

after a meal, it's okay, it's normal for  it to still be 120 to 140, to still have  

elevated blood sugar several hours after a meal.  And if you're impaired, it could be 140 to 160,  

and if you're diabetic, it could be over 200  several hours after a meal. And it's good that  

they understand that for a pre-diabetic or  diabetic, these numbers are too high several  

hours after, but what's crazy is that they think  it's normal for it to be elevated that far after.

So here's how it's supposed to work. An optimal  level, first of all, is lower. It's 80 to 90, or  

if you're fasting a little bit longer or if you're  on a low-carb diet, then it can even be totally  

okay to be less than 80. But fasting should really  not be over 90. And then when you eat real food,  

when you eat something solid, like putting a log  on the fire that burns slowly for a long time,  

then you can still be in this range even after  eating. So 90 to 110 is optimal. And if you don't  

eat a bunch of processed food and sugar, then  it's not going to go into these crazy numbers.  

And then two to three hours after, you should  be back at your fasting level. It should not be  

a major drama for the body, a major challenge to  get it back in balance. You should eat something,  

it rises a few points, and then  it goes right back to balance.

Another way of looking at this is here is  the normal with the numbers, and then if  

you're impaired, it's a little bit higher and it  takes a little bit longer. If you're diabetic,  

then it's a little bit higher to start  with and it's much worse in bringing it  

down afterwards. But again, the optimal  is relatively flat compared to the other  

lines. It's almost a flat line. So if we  look at the first 30 minutes after we eat,  

then they're suggesting that this would be normal,  whereas this is really how the body should behave.

I know we're told all the time about energy  being calories. To get a certain energy,  

you need so many calories. But the food  doesn't really have calories; it's only to  

the extent that we can convert it into ATP that  is the only form of energy that the body uses.  

So it's really pretty simple if you think about  this as the adenosine, and then we have different  

phosphates. We have one, two, or three phosphates,  and then we have like a little spring. We load  

that spring up with the first phosphate, and now  it's called adenosine monophosphate, so there's a  

tiny little bit of energy in that spring. Then we  load up a second spring with the second phosphate,  

and now it's called ADP, adenosine diphosphate.  Then we load up a third one, and of course,  

now this third one is called ATP, adenosine  triphosphate. That's a high energy state. So  

the vast majority of energy production  comes from us loading up this spring,  

and then we pop off that third phosphate. After  you use the energy, the body goes right back  

into putting another phosphate on there to make  that high energy state. So we go back and forth  

between ADP and ATP, and that's how the body  makes energy and how the body uses energy.

The body can use two different pathways to make  this ATP. One is called oxidative phosphorylation  

and the other one is called glycolysis. Now,  oxidative simply means that it's aerobic;  

it's with oxygen. There is enough oxygen  present to fully complete this process. The  

other one is called glycolysis, and that's the  one that doesn't have oxygen. It's anaerobic,  

and we don't have enough oxygen present  to drive it. Now, the key to understand is  

that when we have oxygen present, then it's  much more efficient. In one round of what's  

called the citric acid cycle, we can make over 30  ATPs, whereas when we don't have oxygen present,  

when we just have to cleave a glucose molecule,  break a glucose ring, then we get two ATPs.

The other thing to understand is that the body  can use either fat or glucose to oxidize the fuel,  

so it doesn't matter. It's equally efficient when  there is oxygen present. However, when there is  

not, then we can only use glucose. We can only  cleave that glucose ring and get these two ATPs,  

and fat doesn't work in that scenario. But this  is what's supposed to happen normally. That's  

what's supposed to happen 99% of the time when  we're at rest or at moderate levels of activity.  

Then this cycle runs completely. When we have  an emergency, when we're running up a hill, when  

we're running from a tiger, now this emergency  fuel kicks in, but it's very inefficient. We  

have to use a lot of glucose for a very short  period of time to generate enough energy.

For example, a 100-meter runner, just getting out  of the blocks when they're using maximum energy,  

the highest power output a human can generate,  has about three seconds worth of ATP. Then the  

body kicks in and starts making energy with oxygen  through this oxidative phosphorylation. But in the  

100-meter sprint, we can't keep up, so we're  breaking down a lot of glucose into lactic  

acid. That's where we get the muscle burn  and start huffing and puffing and breathing  

really hard. But this is supposed to be the  exception and only run for a very short time.  

The most a human can store of glycogen is  about 1,400 calories, whereas with fat,  

it's almost unlimited. Virtually everyone  has at least 100,000 calories stored as fat,  

but a really obese person could have  up to a million calories stored.

Another way of looking at that is glycogen can  last you about one day, and fat can last you  

for months. Why does the body store it mostly as  fat? Because it's much more effective to store it  

as fat. Carbohydrates have four calories per gram,  and fat has nine calories per gram, but that's not  

even a fair comparison because glycogen also acts  like a sponge; it binds a lot of water, it pulls  

water to it. In reality, glycogen, because every  gram of glycogen holds about three to four grams  

of water, means 75% of glycogen is really water.  So we're only getting about one calorie per gram  

when we store glycogen. With fat, there is  a tiny little bit of water in fat tissue,  

but we're really getting about eight  calories per gram out of that body tissue.

The reason the body stores energy mostly  as fat is that it's the only practical,  

reasonable way to do it. If you take the average  person of about 150 pounds and 25% body fat,  

they're going to have about 135,000 calories  stored as fat. That's 17 kilograms or 37.5  

pounds of fat. If you were to store that same  amount of energy in the body as glycogen,  

then you would have to store 136 kilograms  or about 300 pounds worth of glycogen by the  

time it pulls that water to it. Obviously,  you can't have 150 pounds of other tissue,  

of muscles and bone, and then store another  300 pounds of energy. It just doesn't work.

Now, here's what we need to understand about this.  Fat is eight times more effective as a storage  

form for energy, and therefore, the innate balance  in the body is that more than 99% of our energy  

stores are in the form of fat. But it doesn't  mean that you have to eat only fat, because  

excess carbs are also stored as fat, and excess  fat is also stored as fat. What's important is to  

understand that this graph I drew with the blood  sugar swings shows that blood sugar swings make us  

store excess carbs, but then we get hungry again.  Whereas when we eat fat, protein, and fiber,  

we get full for a longer time and are much less  likely to overeat. Excess carbs are no problem;  

it's very easy to eat excess carbs. Excess fat  is not very easy to do. If fat is the form that  

we store energy, then that is also our preferred  fuel. It would be insane for the body to store 99%  

of its energy as fat and then prefer carbohydrate.  It just doesn't work that way; that's totally  

backwards. Yes, blood sugar is very important, but  it's not going to be our main source of energy.

Stable blood sugar is what we're looking for.  Stable blood glucose means stable energy.  

Unstable blood sugar that we get from topping  off through food leads to very unstable energy,  

and not only energy but also unstable mood.  When we do this frequently and over and over,  

like we've done as a lifestyle in the modern  world, we also get on the track for insulin  

resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular  disease, stroke, and low-grade chronic  

inflammation that contributes to all this as  well as dementia. So don't buy into the lie  

that blood sugar is so important that it's  our only source, our primary source of fuel,  

and therefore we need to eat frequent meals to  maintain it. That leads us to eating high carbs,  

starches, and sugar because if we get these blood  sugar swings and we get on the low end of that  

roller coaster, then we're going to be craving  these high-carb, starchy, sugary foods to bring  

that blood sugar up as fast as possible. Now, of  course, we get blood sugar swings, energy swings,  

and carb dependence. With this pattern, you train  your body to have highs and lows, and every time  

that it's low, you depend on these carbs to  bring it back up. Once you're in that situation,  

you perpetuate the need for more frequent  meals and more high-starchy, sugary foods.

Does that mean that carbs are evil? Well, there  are many different types of carbs. Excess sugar,  

processed carbs, and starchy carbs are not so  great. But then there are others in the form of  

non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower,  asparagus, etc. Then there are leafy greens,  

which are exactly what they sound like.  Then there are carbs called fiber that  

we can't digest but that can be important for  other reasons. So, metabolically speaking, if  

we're talking about a person's metabolic  health and their carbohydrate tolerance,  

the body's ability to process carbohydrates,  then the top three (sugar, processed carbs,  

and starchy carbs) are indeed evil, with sugar  being by far the worst and starchy carbs not being  

so bad for some people but also not necessary and  not something you should eat massive amounts of.  

The bottom three are pretty much okay for anybody  from a metabolic standpoint. You could have almost  

as many non-starchy veggies as you like, as  many leafy greens as you like, and you should  

eat a variety of food that gives you a large  variety of fiber. That's metabolically speaking.

If we talk about tolerance, how well people do  with these foods, that's a completely different  

story, and we have to put a big question mark  there because there are thousands of different  

scenarios on why people would do well with  these. For example, some people might actually  

tolerate the top ones pretty well, meaning  they don't feel horrible because these are  

broken down very quickly and absorbed early in the  digestive tract. Whereas the ones on the bottom  

have a much slower processing, they have  a lot of fiber that we can't digest,  

so very few of these in the bottom three  are going to be absorbed quickly and get  

into your bloodstream. Most of these will stay  in your gut and start feeding the gut bacteria.  

Depending on the type of bacteria you have,  you could do horribly, get gassy, get toxic,  

and not feel very well at all. We have to  understand that there's not a one-size-fits-all.

So, carbs are not evil per se, but the question  then is, do we actually need carbs? First of all,  

there is no such thing as an essential  carbohydrate. There are essential fatty acids,  

essential amino acids, but carbs? No. Next,  the brain does need a little bit of glucose.  

It can rely on ketones, as we said, but it  does need glucose. So if you're fasting,  

if there is no food available, which has been  the case for a lot of human history, then we  

can live off body fat. In that body fat, there  is still about 5% glucose indirectly. Body fat,  

like we said, is in the form of triglycerides,  meaning three fatty acids backed up to a  

glycerol backbone, and that glycerol can be  turned into glucose. So the short answer is no,  

we don't need carbohydrates.  However, your gut bacteria do.

Then the question is, do you actually need  all that gut bacteria, or could you just  

stay carnivore for the rest of your life?  Do you have these gut bacteria so you can  

eat and process the plant foods, and the  plant foods then feed this gut bacteria,  

and the bacteria have additional properties,  additional benefits? This is what we don't  

know yet. I'm leaning toward the camp that says  we do need a wide variety and we do need to eat  

a wide variety of plant foods. The reason I  would say that is that humans, probably in  

our history over hundreds of thousands of years,  have eaten a wide variety of foods, including both  

meat and a wide variety of fiber. I would say  this is probably for optimal long-term health.

We also need to understand the difference  between most and all. Once we do research  

and something comes back and they say that  this protocol was overwhelmingly significant,  

that this protocol helped eight out of ten people  get better, well, that still means that two out  

of ten people did not get better. They have  some other type of problem. On this channel,  

I talk a lot about metabolic health, insulin  resistance, processed foods, and sugar because  

that is the problem for about eight out of  ten people. But it also means that it's not  

the problem for two out of ten people. So I also  try to put in other things to help you see the  

bigger picture, factors like stress and various  deficiencies or toxicities. If you're deficient  

in nutrients or if you're toxic with heavy metals  or chemicals or pesticides, if you have allergies,  

chronic infections, or immune issues, if you have  autoimmune diseases, and also something called  

endotoxicity, you could basically be poisoning  yourself from the inside by having dysbiosis,  

an imbalance in your bacteria. Certain bacteria,  when they overgrow, produce something called  

lipopolysaccharides or LPS, which is extremely  toxic to you. But if you have an overgrowth and  

you keep feeding them, then you're going to be  poisoning yourself from the inside all the time.

On the previous slide, I said I believe that a  healthy, varied, strong microbiome is probably  

better for optimal health because we start seeing  so many of these different problems, and most  

of those are probably gut-related. Because there  are so many variables, because we live in a very  

complex, very polluted world with lots of junk  food and additives and antibiotics and imbalances,  

we need to measure if we truly want to know. There  are several different things we want to measure.  

We want to measure our metabolic spectrum. Where  are we on the spectrum of insulin resistance  

and metabolic health? People on the green side,  meaning very insulin sensitive, can eat completely  

different foods than the people who are on the  insulin-resistant side of the spectrum. The main  

things we want to measure here, directly involved,  are glucose, triglycerides, A1C, and insulin. The  

first two are going to be on virtually every blood  test they ever run. A1C is kind of hit or miss,  

and insulin you will never find on a standard  blood test performed by a medical doctor. That  

might be, or that is, the most important marker  to help us understand our metabolic health.

We need to understand cholesterol for  many reasons. It is an important factor;  

it is an indirect marker for inflammation and  cardiovascular disease. But we need to measure  

the things that matter. We need to measure your  LDL particle count, your LDL particle size,  

and the number of small LDL particles.  Another good idea is to measure something  

about your autoimmunity because that's becoming  so prevalent these days. You could measure your  

thyroid peroxidase, your TPO antibodies, and your  thyroglobulin antibodies because they're going  

to be by far the most common. There are also  tests for brain health and cognitive function.  

You can measure your omega-6 to omega-3  ratios as well as your EPA and DHA status,  

and that's going to tell you a lot about your  brain health and cognitive function. Last but  

not least, more and more people probably  want to look into their gut health as  

well. Here we measure microbiome sequencing, a  complete sequencing of all the bacteria there.

Not every person on the planet is going to need  all of these different tests. If you just start  

eating real food and you get fantastically  better, then great. But if you tried a lot  

of things and you're not getting better, then  chances are that your answer is going to be in  

one of these categories or maybe several of  them. I'll put some resources down below if  

you want to check it out further. If you enjoyed  this video, you're going to love that one. If you  

truly want to master health by understanding how  the body really works, make sure you subscribe,  

hit that bell, and turn on all the notifications  so you never miss a life-saving video."