Metabolic Scientist Eats 140g Sugar Daily for 30 Days to See What Happens

Intro (0s)

• Dr. Nick Norwitz conducted an experiment where he consumed his normal baseline ketogenic diet for a couple of weeks, followed by two weeks of "Oreo cookie supplementation therapy" where he added 12 Oreo cookies to his diet per day, and then a 3-month washout period, and finally six weeks of a high-intensity statin at a high dose of 20mg of Crestor (30s).
• The goal of the experiment was to see what would affect his cholesterol, specifically LDL cholesterol, more: statins or Oreo cookies (1m4s).
• The results showed that the Oreo cookies were two times as potent in one-third the time at lowering LDL cholesterol, with a 71% decrease in just two weeks, compared to a 32.5% decrease with the statin in six weeks (1m18s).
• The study aimed to provoke an emotional reaction and spark discussion about the effects of diet on cholesterol levels (1m41s).
• The experiment is part of a larger study on why cholesterol levels increase on low-carb diets for some people, a phenomenon that has significant implications for the clinical use of ketogenic diets (2m5s).
• Ketogenic and low-carbohydrate diets have a range of clinical applications, including epilepsy, obesity, diabetes, neurological diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, and mental health conditions (2m12s).
• However, the increase in cholesterol levels on these diets can be a clinical implementation speed bump, leading to concerns about the safety of the diet (2m36s).
• Dr. Norwitz's own experience with a significant increase in LDL cholesterol on a ketogenic diet led him to investigate this phenomenon further (3m2s).
• The question of why some people experience increases in LDL cholesterol on low-carb diets, while others do not, remains unanswered and is the subject of ongoing research (3m46s).

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Nick's Oreo Experiment (5m20s)

• A metabolic demonstration was envisioned to prove a point and force a discussion, which involved comparing Oreos to statins, a provocative idea that was predicted to work (5m30s).
• The experiment was announced on Chris McCal's channel, and an IRB exemption was obtained from Harvard Medical School, with Professor William Cromwell, a highly esteemed lipidologist, as a co-collaborator in the design and authorship (5m45s).
• The prediction made by the model was correct, and Oreos actually worked, which was an intentional provocation with legitimate science behind it to force a discussion in the public, academics, and with clinicians (6m16s).
• The goal of the experiment was to get more attention to the work, get more resources for larger scale and more rigorous studies, and to help people understand the phenotype being studied (6m58s).
• The experiment was designed to elicit an emotional reaction, with some people potentially having their BS detectors go off, while others might get curious and look for legitimacy in the results (6m21s).

Why Does LDL Cholesterol Increase on a Low-Carb/Keto Diet? (7m11s)

• When individuals with a certain phenotype (high HDL, low triglycerides) shift from a high-carb diet to a low-carb or ketogenic diet, their LDL levels tend to increase due to a shift in energy trafficking from carbs to fat, resulting in an increase in free fatty acids in the bloodstream (7m28s).
• The liver responds to this increase in free fatty acids by converting them into triglycerides, which are then packaged into very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) for transport to fat and muscle tissue (8m18s).
• At the fat and muscle tissue, the triglycerides are removed from the VLDL by lipoprotein lipase, resulting in a decrease in triglycerides and an increase in LDL as the VLDL is converted into LDL (9m3s).
• This process also leads to an increase in HDL as the surface components of the VLDL, including cholesterol, are transferred to HDL (9m18s).
• The resulting triad of low triglycerides, high HDL, and high LDL is often observed in individuals who follow a low-carb or ketogenic diet (9m23s).
• Adding carbs back into the diet is predicted to reverse this phenotype by reducing the need for the liver to produce VLDL and LDL, and this prediction has been tested in previous studies (9m52s).
• The lipid energy model makes several other predictions, including the effect of increased activity on LDL levels, which have been borne out in previous studies (10m38s).
• A lipidologist consultant, Professor Willam Quell Cromwell, suggested taking a paper seriously, but most of the effect is exerted at the beginning, and lipid levels stabilized on the stat in between weeks three and five (10m59s).
• Increasing step count by 10,000 steps per day, without any other changes, resulted in a 50 milligrams per deciliter increase in LDL, which supports the lipid energy model (11m13s).
• The lipid energy model predicts that increasing energy demands, such as through walking, will increase LDL, and this was observed in the experiment (11m18s).
• The model also predicts that high-intensity exercise, which is more glycolytic, may not stop the flywheel and may still cause LDL to go up, even on a low-carb diet (11m50s).
• However, there are other factors to consider, such as how exercise, especially resistance training, can alter muscles and create a sink for LDL and similar particles, which may affect the results (12m57s).
• Resistance training can cause structural damage to muscles, requiring repair, which may create a demand for LDL and similar particles, potentially affecting the results (13m2s).
• Even people with low body fat who are muscular and do a lot of heavy resistance training may not see the same results due to the structural demand for LDL and similar particles (13m17s).
• However, typically, if they slim down, they do tend to see a less hyper-responsive or hyporesponsive phenotype (13m31s).

The Leaner Nick gets, the Higher his LDL Becomes (13m36s)

• Observations have shown that weight gain or loss can affect an individual's phenotype, and changes in body fat percentage can impact LDL levels. (13m37s)
• When body fat is gained, LDL levels tend to decrease, but when an individual leans out, their LDL levels often increase. (13m51s)
• A personal experiment showed that the leaner the individual became, the higher their LDL levels rose, with the highest recorded level being 545 milligrams per deciliter. (13m56s)
• Initially, an attempt was made to reduce high LDL levels through lifestyle changes, including cutting out almost all dietary cholesterol and high-saturated fat sources. (14m13s)
• Despite these dietary changes, which included a low saturated fat intake with a 1:5.7 saturated to unsaturated fat ratio, LDL levels increased due to weight loss. (14m46s)
• This outcome is consistent with a model that suggests leaning out can dominate over saturated fat intake in its impact on LDL levels. (15m7s)
• A meta-analysis of 41 randomized control trials found that having a normal BMI (less than 25) was about five times more powerful in predicting LDL rises on low-carb diets compared to high saturated fat intake. (15m27s)
• These findings suggest that BMI and the lipid energy model may be major drivers of why LDL levels increase in some individuals on low-carb diets. (15m43s)

Effects After Ending the Oreo Experiment (15m50s)

• After stopping the Oreo intervention, it took several weeks for things to stabilize back to normal, which is an interesting observation that has also been noted by others, but the exact reason for this delay is unclear (15m56s).
• Adding back carbohydrates to the diet after the intervention caused LDL to drop very quickly, but it generally took a little longer for it to return to normal levels (16m10s).
• The time it took for LDL to return to normal levels after the intervention was longer than expected, considering the half-life of LDL, and this is an area where more research is needed (16m19s).
• Despite some uncertainties, the models used to predict outcomes proved to be more accurate than any other model, even in unusual experiments like the Oreo versus Statin experiment (16m43s).
• The frequency of carbohydrate consumption may be an important factor, but this aspect is still being explored (16m51s).
• The researcher is working with colleagues, including Dave Feldman and Adrien Soto, to further develop and refine their models (16m32s).

Carbs Post Exercise (16m55s)

• In a hypothetical scenario where an individual is doing resistance training and wants to consume carbohydrates after a workout, glycogen resynthesis or synthesis would likely occur, potentially disrupting the body's response to the carbohydrates (16m57s).
• Consuming a pure carbohydrate in a liquid form, such as waxy maize, post-workout may serve as a targeted ketogenic diet and not heavily kick the body out of ketosis (17m13s).
• The hypothesis is that consuming carbohydrates in one significant bolus post-workout could achieve some of the same effects, primarily due to liver glycogen replenishment (17m30s).
• Carbohydrates can be used as a tool to resynthesize muscle glycogen preferentially over liver glycogen, as glucose receptors are at higher levels on muscle cell membranes after exercise (17m46s).
• The glucose taken up by muscle cells would not replenish liver glycogen, suggesting that the approach is specifically about liver glycogen stores (18m4s).
• Consuming carbohydrates in this manner, gram for gram, would likely attenuate or reduce the effect of the carbohydrates on LDL (18m8s).

The Interpretation of the Oreo Cholesterol Experiment (18m25s)

• The Oreo versus Staten experiment was conducted as a metabolic demonstration for scientific curiosity and as a social experiment to observe public reaction in a time where the general public has access to information and interacts with academia (18m48s).
• The experiment presented a paradox, with an unhealthy intervention (eating 12 Oreo cookies per day) resulting in a good outcome (a 71% reduction in LDL), creating cognitive dissonance and prompting people to add their own interpretations based on pre-existing opinions (20m10s).
• The goal was to present the findings without value judgments on LDL or statens, but rather to spark curiosity and invite others to join in the journey of scientific discovery (19m21s).
• The response from clinicians and academics has been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the potential benefits of academia interacting with the general population (21m38s).
• There is a desire for people to immerse themselves in curiosity and scientific awe, rather than taking information at a surface level and reacting emotionally (21m11s).
• The general public has the power to demand more from science and academia, and embracing curiosity can lead to a more positive and productive interaction between the two (22m11s).
• There is a concern that discussing nuances in scientific topics, such as cholesterol, can lead to misunderstandings and unhealthy actions among the general public, causing some to avoid nuanced discussions (23m16s).
• The phrase "lower is better" is often used in the context of LDL, but it is not a universally applicable statement and can be misleading without context, such as the metabolic context and potential side effects of interventions (23m40s).
• Interventions like statins have side effects, and a nuanced discussion of the potential risks and benefits is necessary, but this often does not happen in public settings due to fear of being misinterpreted (24m8s).
• The lack of nuanced discussions can lead to dogmatic and overly simplistic information, which can cause more harm than good and lead to people rebelling against the information (25m14s).
• The response to oversimplification can be predictable, with people feeling patronized and seeking out alternative information, which can be misleading or incorrect (25m6s).
• The difficulty in predicting how different statements and exposures will affect people's behavior and understanding of scientific topics is a challenge in communicating complex information (25m38s).
• A publicity stunt, such as comparing Oreo cookies to statins, can have unexpected effects, such as clinicians becoming aware of and engaging with more nuanced scientific information (25m53s).
• A metabolic scientist conducted an experiment where they consumed 140g of sugar daily for 30 days to observe the effects, and the results have been used to draw attention to their research and its potential for clinical implementation (26m28s).
• The scientist notes that their research has been well-received by clinicians, with some even reporting successful use of sweet potato therapy to lower LDL cholesterol in patients who were previously statin-intolerant (26m46s).
• The scientist believes that open communication around science as it develops in social spaces can be valuable, but also acknowledges that it can be challenging to do well (27m29s).
• They mention that they have conducted another experiment where they ate 720 eggs in a month, but plan to move away from "n=1" experiments and instead collaborate with top labs to conduct more rigorous trials (28m8s).
• The scientist is working with top labs to conduct multi-million dollar experiments, but does not want to name names to avoid bringing them under social media scrutiny (28m48s).
• They express their enthusiasm for engaging in provocative science and asking hard questions, including a potential study on the carnivore diet (29m18s).
• The scientist's goal is not to promote dogmatic opinions, but to explore the emotional charge around certain topics and facilitate conversations around them (30m0s).

Where to Find More of Nick (30m25s)

• Nick Norwitz can be found on all social media platforms under the handle "i n r Wiz" (30m26s).
• Nick Norwitz has a new website, nicknorwitz.com, where all his social media links are available at the bottom of the page (30m32s).