Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease--and How to Fight It

I watched Ben Bikman on YouTube when I was learning about insulin resistance. Insulin is what brings glucose to every cell in your body. When you are insulin resistant, that important ability does not work as well - the cells have difficulty letting the glucose in, so it increases glucose levels in the blood instead of it going to cells where it is needed and used. Type 2 Diabetes is insulin resistance. Pre-diabetes is insulin resistance. Even before you get to those conditions, you could be having glucose spikes due to insulin resistance which causes inflammation and damage to your body leading to health problems. This book has such a wealth of knowledge to help you understand your own health conditions, why you have them, and even more importantly, how to prevent others from developing. I gave this book to two of my nieces and my doctor (to use as a reference for others), since I wish I had this knowledge in my 20's before I had any health problems. This book lists a whole host of diseases and problems and explains how insulin resistance causes them, from high cholesterol, cardiovascular, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFLD) disease, gallstones, dementia, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), erectile dysfunction, obesity, cancer, skin problems, muscle loss, fibromyalgia, bone health, kidneys, and more. It could be a little depressing reading all the stuff that you could get when you have realized you (and 50 - 88% of Americans) are insulin resistant, but just read about the stuff that pertains to you than skim the rest. Ben does devote half the book to give you actionable advice and tips on diet and exercise to help reduce the glucose spikes. To simplify for me, it is eat protein and vegetables, limit starchy vegetables. Ben says any exercise is better than no exercise, and any movement does help your body burn off that glucose that is looking for a place to go. Walking, even better running. I have an desk version of an elliptical that I use after dinner and while watching TV (Sunny Health & Fitness Sitting Under Desk Elliptical Exerciser, Portable Pedal Training Machine for Senior Exercise, Peddler for Home Workout) and I use hand weights when I tired of pedaling. Muscles will help reduce your insulin resistance. We had gotten a Dexcom Stelo continuous glucose monitor (CGM), available without a prescription. and it was life changing. It alerted me that something was wrong when my glucose levels spiked after eating but my husband's were a lot lower. With the data, I was able to show my doctor and able to get a prescription for the Dexcom G7 CGM. Being able to see the glucose readings near real time (Stelo is 15 minutes), makes it easier to take control and move a little to try and bring down those glucose levels.

I've come across Dr. Bikman's work countless times over the years as I looked for more information while following up on readings from Gary Taubes and Dr. Jason Fung. This book does an excellent job of conveying complex topics into laymen speak. I also used AI to give more detailed overviews of those references Dr. Bikman summarized, where i had a desire to dig deeper. I really enjoyed it and will refer back to it frequently.

This book is amazing! While I had a fair understanding of insulin's purpose in the body, this book reshaped how I think of insulin as a hormone that can alter biological processes causing illness. Dr. Bikman's cites many studies in his book and while it is technical information, it is written to where it is easily understood. Dr. Bikman's studies refute the western diet, shifting the importance of how we feed our bodies. All of the US bureaucracies filling the citizenry wrong information that low fat, calorie restricting, and high carbs is the healthy lifestyle has been flipped upside down with the important studies and real science revealed in this book. I started incorporating the information into a new lifestyle and for the first time in decades I have been able to drop some weight and get healthier. My life is on a new trajectory now and I hope that other people will be able to benefit from this information too.

For years, I have been slowly sinking in the quicksand of my own fat, drowning in my own fat, and never, ever came close to understanding that no matter how much you exercise, cut calories, or try different diets, or use thermogenic vitamins, supplements or hop on vibration plates, or jump on exercise equipment--nothing works. But I read this book in two hours. And I reviewed it two hours later, reading it again and in plain language---spoiler alert---Professor Bitman took the fluttering moth of this complex subject, the topic of insulin resistance, and turned it inside out: the moth morphed into a bright yellow sombrero. And I walked outside--illuminated--- by sunlight, the truth. Inflammation causes insulin resistance by the overproduction of ceramides that gunk up our glucose receptors. I AM DROWNING IN INSULIN AS AN OBESE MAN. AND UNTIL I DROP THE HIGH LEVEL OF INSULIN, I WILL REMAIN FAT. There are many videos that help elucidate the subject and different pathways to ceramides. Professor Bitman is the expert on ceramides. Fasting lowers insulin. Its that simple. One has to drop insulin levels to get the body to use AMPK to lower the enzyme that blocks CPT1 on the membranes of mitochondria, that is the gateway for fats to get in, for fats to burn in the mitochondria. With high levels of insulin---suppressing AMPK, the obese person never gets to first base in a game of baseball. Fasting for 72 hours is a home run. Alt Day Fasting for 48 hours is a like hitting a double. You can steal third from there. After three months of managing a SOBER DIET. The Obese are trapped in the quicksand of too much insulin. FASTING LOWERS INFLAMMATION. It reboots your immune system with a 5 day fast. FASTING 5 days once a month has been recommended by Dr Viktor Longo as a way to help reverse fatty liver and become healthier. FASTING once a month helps to reduce the excess palmitate in your liver, pancreas, thymus, and visceral fat around the heart, kidneys. Eat a sober diet by eliminating nicotine from smoking, drugs, alcohol, fructose from honey, fructose in berries, sugar, carbs, cereals, pasta, breads, cake, donuts, pizza, pies, potatoes, peanut butter, all nuts, all seeds, seed oils, even olive oil and avocado, and processed meats. Avoid artificial sweeteners, and the sweet taste of toothpaste and mouth wash. Eat a strict way---avoiding animals fed corn and soy like chicken, pork, turkeys---eat beef, eggs, goat cheese, sheep cheese, salmon, sardines, krill, cod liver, shrimp, scallops, crab, mussel, clams. After 3 months, you can start having something sweet again by making a great keto dessert---heavy cream, knox gelatin, and a few tsp Glycine (amino acid) chilled in a bowl in refrigerator. Add blue berries in gelatin on top of the white cream base. This is called a Keto Blueberry Salad, and recipe from the 1950s. Heavy cream is allowed if its organic and it does not have bad thickening agents. You can use Glycine to sweeten caccao, or coffee, or Golden Milk with Turmeric. I add MCT oil for these keto warm drinks. I do not sweeten my mushroom coffee with Cordycepts, Chaga, Lions Mane, and Porcini. I take unsweetened KETO electrolytes. I do not sweeten my bone broth. Or when I put butter in my coffee.

Good information. A must read, even if you don't think you have insulin issues. The author does harp a bit, but over all a very worthy topic well delivered.

Knowledge is power. We get fat and sick one bite at a time,and this book tells us why, and with that knowledge we can act with intention. Today is my 67th Birthday! Yay ME, I made it; which is a big and welcome surprise when I think back to all the people I know that didn't make it this far; most of them dying early because of metabolic diseases like cancer, cardiac disease, diabetes or hypertension. Through the decisions we make, we get sicker or healthier. It is all a choice we all make three to six times a day. November 2019, I had reasons to be concerned that I wouldn't. I was a Type 2 Diabetic with high blood pressure and very long list of chronic medical conditions my doctors were telling me were a "natural progression of getting older." December 2019, my wife and I went on the Covid-19 weight loss program and I lost 20 pounds in five weeks (I do not recommend that program for losing weight). In March of 2020 we changed from "counting calories" on a mostly vegetarian diet, to eating a low carb/healthy fat diet; and as the numbers show, the rest was history. The journey getting from there to here took a lot of control, because old habits die hard. But along the way I learned getting healthier is worth it. I feel better. I walk better. I sleep better. My mind is clearer, and I have energy levels that amaze me. I made this journey one decision at a time. At every point of action we make a decision. We will either make a good decision or a bad decision. Sometimes we know what kind of decision we made right away - putting bobby pin in electrical outlet lesson learned right away. Sometimes we don't know if it was a good or bad decision for a long time - if ever. Bucking a seat belt when we get into a car is an example of a lesson that does not happen instantly, and may never be learned. When you take time to read the owners manual for your body (WHY WE GET SICK by Dr. Benjamin Bikman) you can start making better decisions about how you fuel your body that have both short term and long term impact on your health. Just as our food choices are the poisons that kills us slowly, they are also the medicines that can health faster than any pill a doctor can prescribe. When you eat breakfast, knowing that eating the toast and hash browns is sticking the bobby pin into the electrical outlet, and avoiding them is putting on the seat belt, you can make a better decision. When you eat lunch, having a burger, french fries and soda is sticking the bobby pin into electrical outlet, and having a "bunless burger" with a side salad and dressing, with a unsweetened iced tea is putting on the seat belt, you can make a better decision. When you eat dinner, a plate of pasta noodles with garlic bread is sticking the bobby pin in the electrical outlet, and a plate of zucchini noodles with fathead dough garlic cheese bread is putting on the seat belt, you can make a better decision. Over time making better decisions leads to better numbers. Better numbers lead to better health. The numbers in the table below are the numbers that are part of every medical check up I go through as I track my progression deeper into this lifestyle. Anyone who is working on improving their health is probably tracking these numbers as well, or should be. EGL: Estimated Glucose Level A1C: Standard Glucose Test TRI: Triglycerides - Inflammation Indicator HDL: The "good cholesterol" LDL: The mistakenly called "bad cholesterol" CHLS: Total cholesterol - a number I now don't care about Weight: The number we obsess way too much about BMI: A number we should obsess more about - percentage of body fat

This is an easy read! While I have never been overweight, I have found my joints to be aching more and more as I age (I'm a fit 55). After reading this book, I was reminded of the role insulin has in the body and specifically for me, inflammation. I now look at ANY carbohydrate as a direct contributor of my pain and have a choice to make when presented foods (cakes, pasta, chips) that in the short term, are OMG delicious and soothing, but I pay for it for days. Indeed, when I eat more carnivore than paleo, I feel better. It's not just a little better either. It's significant. If you want to explore how insulin resistance works and is related to weight, dementia, inflammation this book is for you.

this book is all the new science in 1 book to get or stay healthy.. a]where every single statement is foot-noted with an appendix in the back showing each peer-reviewed published medical journal study which backs up the statement made. Written by a teaching scientist who knows how to distill the jargon down so his own students could understand .. just like you and I

This is a must read for everyone who wants to understand what really makes us sick and how to avoid it. Absolutely amazing work, Dr. Bickman. Thank you so much!!!

At 55- I arrived late at the caring about health party. Ive read and YouTubed my way through a lot on insulin resistance and related subjects. This book is fantastic (builds great detail on YouTube interviews with author (Benjamin Bikman) , if you prefer to first check that format). The facts, the pace, the layout, the science blended with the accessibility of well explained information. It documents what any mature (I still reserve the right to be immature) observer has seen play out in their own and the life of others around them. The health issues we see and lose people to - even better with options, that are simple (they may or may not be easy - but contrasted with early death, are good to understand) . Many books I now "read" on audible, some books are great in that format - This book isn't IMO suitable for that, it needs the ability to go fast or slow and pause for clarity. I don't mean its a hard scientific read, but nor is it a book at bedtime. But at the end of the read - well I suspect you can add years on a life, not many books can claim that. Not only that, if need be you can hold your own against any medical professional or sceptical friend, who doubts your emerging belief that ownership is the real key to health. I've started to give it as a present to family members (usually over 30), some may think "why is this mad uncle giving me this irrelevant book" - I say "well give it a skim read, drop it in your awareness - and if its not for you, please pass it to a parent - preferably one I get to hang out with as I age, so they can be around" (hopefully with a bit of madness, in terms of ideas and taking chances on our ability, not Alzheimer's ). Its the best value £15.57, Ive ever spent (lets not count those mad nights long ago - ) I suspect, the extra gifted copies will pay off like no other investment I've made, but I doubt my review will be updated then :). Well done the author Benjamin Bickman (No he isn't in my family) - for making really important latest science discoveries accessible, to those of us who are interested in, but are not scientists - that is a skill possessed by very few.

An amazing book! Filled with great knowledge and ideas. Ben Bikman did an outstanding job! I recommend it. Take a look at his lectures on youtube!

Touts les personnes dans les soins au malades ,devraient lire ce livre et appliquer les méthodes décrites car d'une simplicité et d'une logique implacables. Soyons simples ,pratiques et retournons au fondamentaux..

Comprehensive and detailed, but easy and fun to read. A tour de force of what causes most modern chronic illness, and how to avoid these illnesses. It should be compulsory reading for every medical practitioner, dietitian, nutritionist and public health official. Anyone interested in health should read this book. It shows how diet (what we eat, and when we eat it) and exercise influence insulin resistance, and how insulin resistance is a major factor in dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, obesity, hypertension, dilated cardiomyopathy, salt and water retention, heart disease, diabetes type 2, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, polycystic ovarian syndrome, alzheimer’s disease, breast / prostate / colorectal cancers, parkinson’s disease, migraine headaches, neuropathy, erectile dysfunction, acanthosis nigricans, acne, skin tags, psoriasis, sarcopenia (muscle loss), fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, gout, reflux esophagitis, gastroparesis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, gallstones, kidney stones, kidney failure, etc. Obviously these problems are influenced by genetics and other environmental factors, but Bikman concentrates on what we can do about them. A rare book suitable both for health professionals and lay people. While concepts are explained simply, the references let the professional go into as much detail as they need to. Well referenced, reference numbers often expand into several very pertinent references. Unfortunately in the first few chapters a few of the reference numbers are out of order or missing references – a little editing is needed – Kindle Edition - Claire Schulz?