- Something that actually kind of frustrates me
to be perfectly honest.
You're gonna have to hit me over the head
with a mountain of evidence
and trust me when I say, if you were to eat this way
you're gonna feel it.
You'll look better, your skin will be clear.
And you'll have better biomarkers
and that's gonna translate to better health today
and better health into the future.
- Hey, how you do, this Cyrus Khambatta
Thank you so much for doing this interview.
Could you give your thoughts
and kind of review the Mediterranean diet
as a nutritional biochemist?
- A lot of people think that the Mediterranean diet
is like the optimal diet for wellness and for longevity.
And if you go back hundreds of years in the past
what you'll find is that the Mediterranean diet
that used to exist back then
is different than the Mediterranean diet that exists today.
And, over the course of time
the Mediterranean diet has been sort of altered
due to the fact that there's a lot of processed foods
that are in the European ecosystem.
And the macro nutrient content of the diet has also shifted.
So the Mediterranean diet is sort of like
a catch all term for a plant focused diet
that also contains a little bit of cheese
and a little bit of fish and small amounts of meat.
And the fact that it's plant focused
is obviously a very good thing.
But one of the things that we find somewhat problematic
is the fact that when you increase your cheese
and or meat and or fish intake, there's a lot of,
the evidence-based research demonstrates.
There's a lot of chronic disease
that can be initiated and can promote
as a result of having those foods in your diet.
Another thing that the Mediterranean diet
also has a lot of is oil and particularly olive oil.
Now there's this huge debate in the world
of especially plant-based diets as to whether or not
olive oil is actually healthy for you or not.
Some people say, yeah,
it's good for the cardiovascular health.
And some people say, no, it's terrible, don't eat it.
We come from a diabetes perspective.
And so we're constantly teaching people
how to transform their diabetes health
and how to really maximize their blood glucose control.
And in most cases be done with diabetes altogether.
And we find that people who consume oils
whether it's coconut oil or olive oil or MCT oil
or any of these like canola oil variations
that the people who put those in their diet
end up with higher blood glucose.
And a small amount of olive oil today for dinner
can result in a higher fasting blood glucose down the road.
A little bit of oil in your lunch today,
can cause blood glucose elevation
six to 12 hours afterwards.
And we see this over and over and over with people.
And over the course of time,
as people are putting more oils in their diet
not only is their blood glucose becoming harder to control
but they can also develop another whole
collection of cardiovascular problems
that can result in higher blood pressure,
high your triglyceride values and higher cholesterol levels.
Unfortunately, the Mediterranean diet
has sort of been adulterated.
And if we can go backwards in time
to make it like heavily plant focused
like really heavily plant focused
and tone down on the total fat content
and tone down on the amount of processed foods,
then people would be eating a lot healthier.
And Europeans who are consuming this diet
would have dramatically improved health.
- That makes sense.
And what's your take on the keto, on the ketogenic,
the low carb keto diet?
- The ketogenic diet is actually,
it can be a mildly frustrating diet for me.
And the reason for that is because
it's very confusing to understand
whether or not eating a ketogenic diet
is actually good for you or actually not good for you.
So let me go into detail here.
If you go to Google or you talk to people on the street
and you ask them about a ketogenic diet,
what you're likely to find is a whole collection of research
and a whole collection of antidotes from people
that demonstrate that when you consume a ketogenic diet,
or when you switch over to a ketogenic diet,
you get a lot of benefits, okay?
Ketogenic diets are known to be rapid weight loss tools.
And this was first discovered
almost 100 years ago in the early 1900s
when they were first experimenting
with the ketogenic diet in kids who had epilepsy.
They gave them these diets, because what they found is that
when you feed a kid who has sort of
excessive neurological activity
that's causing frequent seizures
and you feed them a ketogenic diet,
the seizure incidence goes way down
and their brain activity actually calms down
which is a good thing for them.
Since that time, these ketogenic diets have been used
for any number of other chronic diseases
like cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease,
fatty liver disease and diabetes.
And what researchers have found
is that when you switch over to a ketogenic diet
one of the first things that happens is people lose weight.
And there's a lot of sort of metabolic reasoning
why that is the truth.
But people from their own experience
as soon as they start eating a ketogenic diet
if they're overweight, they start losing weight.
And then as a result of losing weight,
well guess what else happens?
Their cholesterol comes down,
their blood pressure comes down, their A1C comes down,
their blood glucose comes down.
Their fasting blood glucose comes down,
their C-reactive protein comes down.
And on a piece of paper after doing a ketogenic diet
for like three months or six months
they look at it and they go,
"Hey, doc, look at all these numbers,
I'm improving, I'm getting a lot better."
And the doctor goes,
"Hey, thumbs up, whatever you're doing just keep doing it."
And so it's easy to think that a ketogenic diet
is actually something that's beneficial
now and into the longterm.
But if you look at the data, if you look at what happens
to people who consume diets that have a high degree
of animal products in them
which is what a ketogenic diet generally is,
what you'll find is that people who eat
more animal-based foods suffer from more chronic diseases
into the future.
Okay, maybe not right now, not right here and not today.
For the first six to nine months or so
or sometimes even 12 months,
there's an improvement in these biomarkers.
But then over the course of time, people end up with
higher fasting blood glucose, higher A1C levels
which are both indicative of type two diabetes.
They end up with higher blood pressure.
They end up with higher cholesterol values
and they end up with higher triglyceride values.
And now the difference here is that short-term results,
don't equal long-term results.
And people have a difficult time understanding that
because the future is an abstract concept.
And if something is working for me now today,
I'm likely to continue my behavior.
And even if I have some suspicion that in the future
it may not be the right thing.
So really what I want people to understand
is that a ketogenic diet can be an effective tool
in the short-term to lose weight
and to improve a number of biomarkers.
But in the longterm, what we're really hoping
to try and teach people to do
is move away from a ketogenic diet
and really find ways to put more plant material
into their body.
And when they do, they're gonna get long lasting results
and that's gonna lead to improved health
over the course of time.
- And what do you think of the all meat carnival diet?
- Now, the carnivore diet
is something that actually kind of frustrates me
to be perfectly honest.
And the reason I say that is because
proponents of a carnivore diet tend to cherry pick
a lot of their scientific evidence to tell a story
as to why eating strictly animal based foods
is the most beneficial diet for human health.
And if you look through the research
that carnivore advocates, suggest and they promote
what you'll find is that a lot of these research papers
are done in very small numbers of people
over very short timescales.
Like 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks, 16 weeks,
something like that.
And oftentimes these research papers tell a story
about the fact that somebody or some group of people
living with a condition ate a carnivore diet
and all of a sudden that condition started to improve.
So that's the case with a lot of diets.
Whether you're talking about a paleo diet,
a plant-based diet, a Mediterranean diet.
A number of these diets when you start to clean up
your overall food intake
you start to see a lot of benefit.
One of the main problems with the carnivore diet,
one of many problems in the carnivore diet
is that a carnivore diet has no fiber.
And that is a problem, okay?
Eating a diet that contains not just a small amount of fiber
but no fiber, 'cause carnivorous foods
when you're consuming animal-based foods exclusively.
And even if you're doing it
the way that a lot of these carnivores advocates suggest
which is basically nose to tail nutrition.
Where you eat literally
every single part of the animal that's edible.
When you do that way, you're getting zero fiber
'cause fiber only grows in plants, period, end of story.
And when you consume a diet that is very low in fiber
or devoid of fiber, you are doing your microbiome
a disservice, a very large disservice.
Your microbiome contains trillions of bacteria.
And these bacteria change the bacterial species
and the population inside of your gut
changes in response to the foods that you put in your mouth.
So when you're eating a diet that's devoid of fiber
then the bacteria inside of your colon adapts
so that there are the bacteria
that metabolizes the byproducts
of the food that you're eating.
When you start to eat a plant based diet
then all of a sudden they change once again
to become more fiber metabolizers.
And the research is incredibly clear.
I mean, there are literally volumes of books
written about the fact that fiber is not just beneficial
for your gut microbiome, it is required.
It is required for optimal gut health in the long-term.
And there are a number of anti-inflammatory compounds
which are promoted or which are produced
in response to the consumption of fiber.
And when you're eating a carnivore diet
that has zero fiber in it, you are not benefiting
from those anti-inflammatory compounds.
And you're actually secreting pro-inflammatory compounds
which can increase your risk for many chronic diseases
especially diseases of your digestive tract.
So again, the carnivore diet is something that's brand new
Brand new in the sense that it's been around for what?
Five years, 10 years or so.
Until we see an ample amount of scientific data
in large scale studies, conducted over long periods of time
with people who are eating carnivorous diets
that can maintain that over the course of time,
I refuse to believe that it is an optimal solution
for human health.
You're gonna have to hit me over the head
with a mountain of evidence to demonstrate
just how powerful a carnivorous diet
truly is for human health.
And until I see that research,
I refuse to believe that it is a good solution
let alone the optimal solution
for people living with any form of chronic disease.
- And in less than a couple of minutes,
could you just give your thoughts
on the junk food vegan diet?
- So junk food, vegan diets are all over the place.
Regardless of whether you live in Europe,
or whether you live in the United States
or whether you live in Australia or Canada.
Actually, the term junk food is not my favorite.
I'm gonna change that to processed food.
Processed food, vegan diets are very easy to come across.
In other words, you go to the grocery store
and in your head, you're thinking to yourself,
I'm gonna eat plant-based.
I'm only going to purchase plant based foods.
So you venture through the grocery store
and you go to the produce section.
And you pick up some fruits, you pick up some vegetables,
maybe pick up some greens.
And then you continue meandering through the grocery store
and you go to the ice cream section.
You're like, you know what,
I'm gonna buy this soy ice cream.
And then you go to the cracker section
and you say you know what,
I'm going to buy these soy crackers.
And then you go to the enchilada section
and you know what,
I think I'm gonna buy this vegan enchilada.
I'm gonna get this vegan pizza.
And before you know it
you have a combination of whole foods.
And then what we refer to as vegan junk foods
or sort of vegan processed foods.
And if you actually look at the ingredients that are present
inside of these packaged and processed foods,
you'll find that in most cases,
they're not that much better.
In fact, I would argue that they're pretty much equivalent
to their non-vegan counterparts 'cause they contain
a lot of texturizer, added flavors
that don't have names or labels.
And then they have a whole collection
of artificial sweeteners, which are metabolic disaster.
And they often contain
sometimes even hydrogenated vegetable oils
which we know increases your LDL cholesterol
and impairs your blood flow
and increases your risk for a atherosclerosis.
So what we recommend is if you're gonna choose
to eat a plant based diet,
eat a whole food plant based diet.
There's a reason it's called a whole food plant-based diet
because it's not about eating more packaged
and processed foods just because they have the word
vegan on them, or they have the word plant-based on them.
That is not enough.
What we're looking for is a way for you to increase
the total amount of fruits, vegetables, legumes
and whole grains that go into your mouth.
If you can spend a majority of your time
in the produce section buying things
that don't have a sticker, they don't have a label.
They don't come in a package, they don't come in a can.
They don't come in a box.
They literally are just things that you would find
in the ground or things that you would find
hanging on a tree if you were to walk out into the woods.
Buy as many of those as possible.
And if you're gonna have a little bit of
vegan process food by one or two things
and have a couple of servings per week
and call it a day at that.
And trust me, when I say if you were to eat this way,
you're gonna feel it.
You're gonna feel way more energy.
You're gonna see improvements in many biomarkers.
In your cholesterol, in your triglycerides,
in your blood pressure, in your A1C values,
in your blood glucose values,
in your C reactive protein values.
And as a result of that, you'll feel better,
you'll look better.
Your skin will be clear and you'll have better biomarkers
and that's gonna translate to better health today
and better health into the future.
- Wow, that's super powerful.
What do you think could be the paleo diet?
- Okay, so the paleo diet is actually...
I really like the paleo diet
but I also don't like the paleo diet.
And the reason I say that is because
I think the paleo diet is actually has the right intention.
And the intention is to try and limit
and, or completely eliminate processed foods
and alcohol from your diet.
So who's gonna argue with that, right?
That's a good thing
and pretty much everybody can agree upon that.
Especially if you're starting
from the standard American diet
or a diet that contains a lot of processed food,
if you move from that towards a paleo diet
that's really clean,
you're gonna get some health improvements.
You're gonna lower your cholesterol.
You're gonna lose weight.
You're gonna lower your triglycerides.
You're gonna lower your A1C.
You're gonna lower your blood glucose.
And you're probably just gonna feel better.
Now, the paleo diet tends to have a pretty strong,
what's the word I'm looking for,
sort of a a strong dependence
and a strong inclusion of meat based products.
But they tell you to consume clean meat, right?
So not processed and industrialized meat
that's either fed with antibiotics and hormones
that you would get at your regular grocer.
But instead eating something that's either grass fed
or grass finished that comes from a farm
where the animal was able to roam around
in non caged environment.
So of course, that's probably gonna be
a more health conscious decision
than if you were consuming industrialized meat products.
But again, if you look at the research
sometimes that's not enough.
Now, if you're living with some form of chronic disease
whether it's any form of cardiovascular disease
high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high cholesterol,
coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis.
Or you have some version of diabetes like prediabetes,
type two diabetes, or type one diabetes like myself.
Oftentimes in that state,
yes, cleaning up your diet is important
but it's required to be just a little bit cleaner
even a little bit cleaner than the paleo diet can afford.
And that's why we're huger
fans of a fully plant-based diet.
Or as plant strong as possible from 100% whole food sources.
And we find that people who are successful
at limiting their intake of meat in particular
and especially dairy products get way better results
not only in the short term
but also better results into the longterm.
So that's why we like to tell people, hey, listen
if you're eating a paleo diet, like that's a great thing
but why don't we take paleo and why don't we shift it
just a little bit further towards the plant side
and make it just a little plant heavier.
And when we do that
then people end up getting better results
and those results stick for a longer period of time.
- Thank you so much, Dr. Cyrus Khambatta,
I really, really appreciate it.
Just to the audience, Cyrus and his business partner
Robby have got a free 90 minute webinar
coming up which I'll link down below.
You can access on the exclusive link down below
to get some tips about how to lower your blood pressure,
triglycerides, cholesterol and much, much more.