Carnivore Clips - TOP 3 CAUSES OF INSULIN RESISTANCE AND WHAT TO DO - Prof. Ben Bikman explains [CARNIVORE CLIPS]

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Focus on lowering chronically elevated insulin, the most changeable of the three primary causes of insulin resistance, through one day of fasting or strict low-carb eating. According to Prof. Ben Bikman, the three causes are stress hormones, inflammation, and chronically elevated insulin, and insulin is the one that can be changed most quickly. He describes insulin resistance as the most common disorder in the world, which is why he calls it public enemy number one.

Key Points

• The three primary causes (promised list):
  1. Stress: elevated stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which can come from anxiety, physical stress, overtraining, or lack of sleep.
  2. Inflammation: active immune pathways in cells, such as during autoimmune disease, infection, or feeling under the weather.
  3. Chronically elevated insulin: the lever Bikman says matters most because it can be changed fastest.
• Bikman calls these three causes "primers" because they have been shown to drive insulin resistance in isolated cells, rodent models, and humans.
• Stress and inflammation are harder to control, since the speaker says it is difficult to know how to lower cortisol or inflammation in a given person.
• Insulin levels can begin to fall within a day, according to the speaker's account of fasting and low-carb use.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions:
  • To lower chronically elevated insulin, the speaker says one day of fasting or strict low-carb eating starts to bring insulin down.
  • Giving it two days of fasting or strict low-carb eating lowers insulin further, according to the speaker.
  • This line misattributes the phrase; it was actually the host who said fasting is a double-edged sword, not Bikman.
  • The speaker says he is not giving medical advice.
• Dr. Jason Fung's published papers, as described by the speaker, reported people with type 2 diabetes on multiple medications who needed to lower or stop their insulin doses within days or weeks of fasting or strict low-carb eating. This is the speaker's account and is not medical advice.
• Bikman says he has published papers on stress and inflammation as well as insulin, but he considers insulin the most important lever to act on.
• The speaker describes insulin resistance as a severe public health problem and says he has given talks across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia because of its prevalence.

Bottom Line

Among the three named causes, the speaker's practical focus is insulin, since it is the one he says responds fastest to changes in fasting or carbohydrate intake. Health decisions like fasting, especially for anyone on diabetes medication, should be discussed with a qualified professional.