Today, I am blessed to have here with me for a THIRD time Dr. Benjamin Bikman. He is a biomedical scientist, professor, and expert on insulin resistance.
Dr. Benjamin Bikman studies diabetes and obesity, and much of what he focuses on is a seemingly obscure condition called insulin resistance. But it's, in fact, not very obscure at all.
What is insulin resistance? Why did Dr. Benjamin Bikman devote his career to studying something like this? Well, insulin resistance is essentially two things. First of all, some cells in your body aren't responding very well to the hormone insulin. Second, you have more insulin than you did before, a condition called hyperinsulinemia.
Dr. Bikman's research focus is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that mediate the disruption that causes and accompanies metabolic disorders, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. Driven by his academic training (Ph.D. in Bioenergetics and postdoctoral fellowship with the Duke-National University of Singapore in metabolic disorders), he is currently exploring the different roles of insulin and ketones as critical drivers of metabolic function. He frequently publishes his research in peer-reviewed journals and presents at international science meetings.
In this episode, Dr. Bikman starts by telling us about his journey with social media. In this, he explains his thoughts on why people are so addicted to hatred. He then describes his new manuscript about the differences in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's brains vs. control brains. Next, he discusses sphingolipids, different types of fat growth, and the importance of our humble kidneys! Dr. Bikman finishes up by discussing if people perish purely from diabetes and the link between salt and insulin sensitivity.
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[09:03] Are You Addicted To Hate? Most Humans Struggle With This
- There are chemical mediators to the emotions that we associate with hate.
- As much as we want to say we hated something in the heat of the moment, the feeling is somewhat satisfying.
- It is like we've just sunk our teeth in, and we've made the kill.
- There's almost an animalistic instinct, a satisfaction that comes from letting someone know what you think of them and expressing your anger, hatred, or frustration at them. That is an addictive state.
[16:00] Differences In the Hippocampus of Alzheimer's Brains vs. Control Brains
- Bikman explains that in a new study, they were able to obtain samples of the hippocampus from donors who had passed away both with and without Alzheimer's disease.
- The hippocampus is the learning memory center of the human brain.
- When comparing the control brains and the Alzheimer's brains, they found a profound reduction in almost every gene involved in glucose metabolism in the Alzheimer's brains.
- However, when looking at ketone metabolism, both the control and the Alzheimer's brains looked totally normal.
- This is a massive step in Alzheimer's research because it shows that it is not a plaque disorder as people believe; it is a metabolic disorder.
[19:20] The Effect of Sphingolipids In The Brain – A Mystery Solved
- There is a class of fats in our cells called sphingolipids. They were named after the mysterious sphynx because we didn't know what they did for so long.
- However, now we know sphingolipids are doing two things.
- The first is causing the hippocampus to become insulin resistant. Which in turn results in the reduction in glucose-related genes being expressed.
- The second is sphingolipids directly alter the function of mitochondria. Mitochondria produce most of the cell's energy, so if they can't function well, neither can the cell.
[26:34] Hypertrophy vs. Hyperplasia Fat Growth
- Fat tissue, what we pinch and jiggle, grows in two different ways.
- Hypertrophy is where the number of fat cells is set, but each fat cell itself gets bigger.
- That is a finite growth because once the fat cell has reached the maximum dimension, the fat tissue stops growing.
- An alternative mechanism of growth is hyperplasia, where the fat cell gets a little big, and then we make another fat cell and then make another fat cell, and it continues.
- Hyperplasia is essentially limitless fat growth.
- However, that's actually a healthier way to get fat. If you can grow fat cells through hyperplasia, they stay very insulin sensitive, and the body stays insulin sensitive.
[34:00] The Humble Kidney: It’s A Tissue That’s In High Demand!
- Bikman was surprised in his research at how high the metabolic demand is in the kidney. In fact, he says he's never seen a tissue with such high demand as the kidney.
- Compared to the heart, which is known to have high metabolic demand, the kidney blew through oxygen much faster!
- People look at the humble kidney and think that it is just filtering blood, when in fact, it is doing much more.
- Of course, it also regulates the hormones responding to insulin. But even further, it is actually what sends the signal when the body is getting low on oxygen.
[37:58] Three Ways We Can Support Our Kidneys
- One of the most important ways to keep our kidneys healthy is to stay hydrated.
- Second, Dr. Bikman emphasizes the importance of learning to breathe better to increase blood flow through the body.
- One way to do this is by using strategic vasodilation with brief breath holds from time to time, especially while moving.
- Last, keeping your insulin low is also important for kidney health.
- If insulin is high, then insulin is forcing aldosterone to be high. Then aldosterone tells the kidneys to hold onto all this stuff that we don't want to hold onto.
[42:59] Has Anybody Ever Died From Type Two Diabetes?
- Diabetes is considered the seventh leading cause of death.
- Type two diabetes is overwhelmingly the most common form of diabetes.
- For someone to die of purely type two diabetes, the one thing that might kill someone is a non-ketotic coma.
- This occurs when their glucose levels are so massively high that they become hypovolemic.
- This means their blood pressure would be so low that they cannot pump blood to their brain. This can cause them to lose consciousness and potentially die.
- However, this is extremely uncommon. What usually kills people with diabetes is other health issues accelerated by diabetes, such as heart disease or cancers.
[47:18] The Effect Of Salt On Insulin Sensitivity May Surprise You
- The obvious way salt and insulin sensitivity are related is that when insulin is up, it pushes aldosterone to be up, which forces the kidney to hold onto more salt and water.
- More water means higher blood volume, which in turn means higher pressure, leading to hypertension.
- However, if you restrict salt, the body becomes determined to hold onto any salt that it can. This makes the body insulin resistant.
- The body makes itself insulin resistant in this scenario because it will raise insulin, which will raise aldosterone, making the body retain salt.
- So, when you think about today's often dietary advice to cut salt, they are really creating this vicious cycle by exacerbating the insulin resistance.
AND MUCH MORE!
Resources from this episode:
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