In this presentation, Dr. Benjamin Bikman explored the central role of insulin resistance in a wide range of chronic conditions, from cardiovascular disease and diabetes to Alzheimer’s and hormonal disorders. Dr. Bikman emphasized that nearly 90% of American adults are metabolically unhealthy, often without realizing it, because conventional medicine focuses narrowly on blood glucose rather than the earlier and more insidious rise in insulin. He explained how chronic hyperinsulinemia—driven largely by high carbohydrate intake, frequent eating, and refined foods—creates a vicious cycle of cellular and systemic insulin resistance, which impairs the body’s ability to regulate energy, damages multiple organ systems, and even disrupts brain function.
He highlighted how this dysfunction is not confined to obesity or the United States, but is a global problem affecting populations with very different body types and lifestyles. Dr. Bikman challenged popular theories, such as the plaque model of Alzheimer’s and the romanticized view of Blue Zones, and presented evidence that metabolic factors—particularly impaired glucose use in the brain—play a decisive role in cognitive decline and other diseases. He outlined dietary strategies for reversing insulin resistance, focusing on reducing refined carbohydrates, pairing protein with healthy fats, and avoiding seed oils, alongside lifestyle measures like resistance training and intermittent fasting. Pharmacological tools such as GLP-1 agonists can help manage appetite and lower insulin, but should be used sparingly and in conjunction with sustainable behavior change.
Dr. Bikman stressed that insulin resistance is both the root cause of many modern diseases and highly reversible when addressed early. The path to prevention and recovery lies in understanding insulin’s pivotal role, making targeted dietary and lifestyle shifts, and rejecting one-size-fits-all health myths. With this approach, individuals and clinicians alike can dramatically improve metabolic health, extend quality of life, and reduce the burden of chronic disease.
This BSI Medical Society Webinar was streamed on June 25th, 2025.
A 10-minute summary of the webinar is available here free, for anyone, while the full video is available for Medical Society Members and MetFix affiliates in their dashboard.
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Metabolic health, medical education, and the case for bringing clinicians and coaches together
At the 2026 Unbreakable Health Retreat in Miami, Emily Kaplan hosted a panel with Bob Kaplan, Professor Thomas Seyfried, and Dr. Derek Lee on what it means to treat cancer as a metabolic disease. They discussed the glucose-ketone index (GKI), nutritional ketosis, and strategies aimed at restricting the fuels cancer cells depend on while considering how metabolic therapy can fit alongside standard cancer treatment.
The conversation also addressed the practical realities patients face when trying to pursue a metabolic approach within the conventional oncology system, including questions about nutrition, repurposed drugs, inherited cancer risk, and how to evaluate different treatment options. Seyfried and Lee connected these clinical questions back to mitochondrial dysfunction, fermentation, and the metabolic vulnerabilities that may offer additional targets for cancer treatment.
An abbreviated version of this discussion is available here, for free.
At the 2026 Unbreakable Health Retreat in Miami, Professor Thomas Seyfried presented the case that cancer is fundamentally a mitochondrial metabolic disease rather than primarily a genetic one. He contrasts the dominant somatic mutation theory with a metabolic model in which impaired mitochondrial respiration drives a shift toward fermentation, dysregulated cell growth, and the mutations commonly associated with cancer.
Citing the work of Otto Warburg and research from his lab at Boston College, Seyfried explains how cancer cells rely heavily on fermentable fuels—particularly glucose and glutamine—and why mitochondrial dysfunction sits upstream of many of the genetic abnormalities seen in tumors. He also discusses reactive oxygen species, altered cellular signaling, and the role of mitochondria in regulating cell growth and behavior.
The presentation then turns to the therapeutic implications of this model. Seyfried explains strategies aimed at placing tumor cells under metabolic stress by restricting the fuels they depend on, including ketogenic metabolic therapy and approaches targeting glucose and glutamine. For Seyfried, the therapeutic target follows directly from the biology: restrict the fuels cancer cells depend on, exploit their metabolic weaknesses, and treat mitochondrial dysfunction as the central feature of the disease.
An abbreviated version of this discussion is available here, for free.
MetFix and BSI Members can view the full 54-minute video.
