Announcing the Low Carb MD Podcast

Really? Do we really need another low-carb podcast?

Yes, we actually do! This one is different, not designed to replace current podcasts but to supplement them. The Low Carb MD podcast is about the frontline practitioners discussing lifestyle medicine from the trenches, not just the laboratories and ivory towers. There’s lots of science now available discussing the benefits of the low-carbohydrate lifestyle and intermittent fasting, so it is critical that we share our clinical experiences with each other. This podcast is primarily aimed at people who have given up all hope of improving their metabolic disease as well as medical practitioners who are either on the fence or think this is a questionable approach to treating illness. We would like to present evidence and allow you to be the jury weighing the evidence before coming to your own personal conclusion.

We will talk with actual patients and practitioners with vast clinical experience. Drs. Jason Fung, Brian Lenzkes, and Tro Kalayjian are all practicing board certified MDs using these nutritional modalities to treat patients on a daily basis. Megan Ramos is the IDM Program Director and has helped thousands of patients along the road to better health using fasting and low carb diets. She has worked personally with thousands of patients and brings valuable knowledge. Together we will tackle the pressing issues in our current health crisis and try to clarify them for you.

Drs. Kalayjian and Lenzkes are using this information to overcome their personal battles with obesity and metabolic syndrome and are now helping patients on the same path. Each week we will interview health practitioners and patients trying to improve their health. We will discuss the struggles that we all face and share this knowledge with each other. We are trying to learn from each other to help patients in need of guidance. We realize that each of us has unique dietary/lifestyle needs and that there is not a “one size fits all” approach to wellness. We will interview people who have changed their lives through lifestyle changes as well as those having trouble getting started.

We hope that you will join us on this journey to better health. We will talk with clinicians across the low-carbohydrate spectrum from vegans to carnivores and everything in between. We hope to help people figure out how to break through plateaus on the road to improved metabolic health. We also aim to address some of the myths and misinformation out there and use solid science to reinforce our clinical experience. We will each have our unique approach but will learn important skills and tools from each other. Some of us will change our approach along the way.

We want to have fun on this journey and keep it as simple as possible. Low Carb MD will not be funded by outside sources and we will not have advertisers sponsoring us. We want to be your source of credible information and do not want to be just another podcast. We are responsible only to you, the listener. If you’d like to support us with this podcast, we would be grateful. Many of the readers will be familiar with myself (Dr. Fung) and Megan Ramos, so let me introduce Drs. Tro and Lenzkes.

Dr. Tro: “My weight-loss story begins at childhood. I grew up obese, in an obese family, the majority had diabetes. I have personally dealt with the deep emotions and feelings involved with being overweight for most of my life. Throughout medical school and residency I was obese, despite receiving countless standard advice from various physicians and nutritionist, from colleagues and my healthcare providers. “Eat less, and move more” didn’t work, low-fat diets didn’t work, which left me disenfranchised and struggling to make sense of my failures. Despite success in residency, ultimately becoming chief resident, I could not diagnose the etiology of my obesity, let alone determine a treatment plan. In order to heal myself, I studied for countless hours through medical literature, researched thousands of papers, read hundreds of books in order to find the answer, for myself, to the ever important question: “Why are we fat? Why am I fat?”

What I found during my journey and research was in such stark contrast to what we have been told. Eating multiple small meals DOES NOT speed up your metabolism. Fruit juices ARE NOT healthy. Red meat, fish, nuts & dairy ARE healthy. If our guidelines, medical organizations, physicians and nutritionists can’t get it right, why do we expect anything different from ourselves or our patients?

The literature supported the use of various modalities for fat loss, so I employed these right away: a very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet, high-intensity-interval training, resistance training, along with intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding. Using this multi-modal approach, I was able to achieve a 155-lb weight loss in two years, and have maintained this weight loss an additional year. My current body fat percentage is 12%. My joints stopped hurting, I sleep better, my blood sugars are no longer pre-diabetic, and I feel better than ever. Knowing what I know now, I cannot continue to practice prescription-pad medicine, and have devoted myself to helping my patients with weight loss and disease reversal. The next part of that journey is working with Dr. Fung, Dr. Lenzkes and Megan Ramos on this podcast”

Dr. Lenzkes: I am a board certified Internal Medicine doctor and have been in practice for 15 years but did not understand the implications of metabolic syndrome until only two years ago. I have had a personal struggle with obesity since childhood and became officially pre-diabetic in February of 2017 despite my medical knowledge. Although I was voted one of the “Top Doctors” in San Diego for 11 of those years, I still felt a void as many of my patients with chronic conditions continued to decline and require more medication.

I was practicing the ‘standard of care’ for medicine but I was not helping patients or myself. At that point, I came across a YouTube video by Dr. Jason Fung and my health and practice of medicine changed that day. I began to see the dangers of metabolic syndrome and the dire consequences it holds. I gained an understanding of the importance of dietary and lifestyle changes in the treatment of metabolic disease rather than just adding another medication. Like so many other physicians who started this journey before me, I am finding that I am once again thoroughly enjoying the practice of medicine. I am now actually helping patients to achieve better health and longevity. My vision for the Low Carb MD Podcast is that we will be able to help patients who have given up all hope of improved health as well as physicians open to the idea of practicing in a new paradigm. Together we can do our part to reverse the healthcare crisis that is facing the world one life at a time. I am excited about the journey ahead.

—
Dr. Jason Fung

Also published on idmprogram.com.

More with Dr. Fung

All posts by Dr. Fung

Dr. Fung has his own blog at idmprogram.com. He is also active on Twitter.

Dr. Fung’s books The Obesity Code, The Complete Guide to Fasting and The Diabetes Code are available on Amazon.