Another deep book about nutrition from someone else who tells you that you may not be able to trust your doctor.
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to this deep dive. Today we’re going to be looking at this book by Dr. Ken Berry, Lies My Doctor Told Me. And it’s interesting because it’s written by a medical doctor. So these aren’t just like kind of outsider criticisms. It’s coming from someone within the medical community. And some of the stuff he says is pretty surprising.
Yeah, some of the stuff in this book definitely raised my eyebrows.
Like he claims that eating fat doesn’t make you fat. It’s actually sugar and carbs that pack on the pounds.
Yeah. I know a lot of people are talking about that these days, but he goes even further. He says that wheat is not the health food everyone thinks it is.
Really?
Yeah, and he challenges like the whole USDA food pyramid, saying it’s more about corporate profits than actual health.
It’s pretty bold.
It is. And even sunlight, something dermatologists warn us about constantly, might not be as dangerous as we think. There are so many little known medical lies out there that we’ve all just accepted as truth.
So that’s what we’re gonna do today, right? We’re gonna dig into Dr. Berry’s arguments, see why he makes these claims, and look at the evidence he presents.
Hopefully by the end of this deep dive, you’ll feel more informed, like you could have a better conversation with your own doctor, you know?
Absolutely. And maybe even start questioning some of those things we’ve always just taken for granted.
Exactly. So the book starts off, he’s addressing why there might be so many of these so-called lies coming from doctors. And his argument is that a lot of doctors are just overworked.
Right, they’re just swamped.
Yeah, they’re swamped and they don’t really have the time to stay completely up to date on all the latest research.
He even shares a story about how little nutrition training he actually got in med school. It was something like half a semester in a tiny little paperback book.
It makes you wonder, right, like how much do doctors really know about nutrition if that’s all the training they get?
Yeah, it’s a little scary.
And it’s not like Dr. Berry is trying to bash his fellow doctors. He even talks about his own wake-up call moment when he realized he was obese, even while he was giving his patients advice on weight loss.
Makes him seem more human, doesn’t it?
Yeah, it’s relatable. He’s not some perfect health guru. He’s someone who’s struggled with these issues himself.
All right, so let’s get into one of the big ones, the idea that eating fat makes you fat
I mean, this one is so ingrained in our culture, it feels almost rebellious to even question it.
It really does. But Dr. Berry uses some really interesting analogies to make you rethink things.
He talks about how farmers fatten up livestock with carbs, not fat.
It’s true when you think about it.
Yeah, and then he asks, why would our ancestors, who ate a way different diet than we do today, why would they prioritize eating fat if it was so bad for them? It makes you think, doesn’t it?
It really does. And he’s not afraid to make some bold statements. He tells his patients straight up, “Eating fat won’t make me fat, but eating sugars and starches will.”
Wow.
That gets their attention.
I bet it does. He also points out that there really aren’t that many studies that actually prove the idea that fat makes you fat. And there’s even research that suggests the opposite might be true.
That’s fascinating. And then of course, there’s the whole controversy surrounding Dr. Ansel Keyes and that Seven Countries study. You know, the one that was so influential in how we view fat and heart disease.
Yeah, that was a big one.
But Dr. Berry suggests that the study might be flawed.
Yeah, the Seven Countries study looked at diets and heart health in seven different countries and concluded that saturated fat was a major driver of heart disease.
But Dr. Berry says that Keyes might have cherry-picked his data, you know, ignored some countries that didn’t fit his hypothesis.
And that’s a big deal, right? Because that study is the basis for like all those low-fat recommendations we’ve been following for decades. If the study is shaky, then it makes you wonder about everything else.
It really does. It’s like the whole foundation of our understanding of nutrition could be wrong.
But to be fair, there is some emerging research that suggests that saturated fats might not be as bad as we once thought, and that they might even be beneficial for brain health.
So maybe butter isn’t the enemy after all. Okay, so let’s move on to another big myth.
Milk does a body good, especially for adults.
Ah, yes, the milk myth.
What does Dr. Berry have to say about that one?
Well, he pretty much debunks it completely.
Yeah.
He points out that no other species on Earth drinks milk past infancy, and even some humans are lactose intolerant, meaning they can’t digest it properly. So why are we so obsessed with drinking something that might not even be natural for us? That’s a good question.
Yeah, it’s really interesting. And it’s not just that it might not be natural. He actually cites research that links high milk consumption to weaker bones.
Really?
Yeah, which completely contradicts that whole idea that milk builds strong bones.
That’s crazy. So what are we supposed to drink instead? Water.
Well, Dr. Berry doesn’t really give specific recommendations, but he does talk about the importance of getting calcium from other sources, like leafy greens and nuts and seeds. And he emphasizes the importance of listening to your body and figuring out what works best for you, which is a pretty good philosophy for life in general, I think.
I agree.
So we’ve talked about fat and milk. What else does Dr. Berry take aim at?
Oh, he’s got a whole list. One of the big ones is this idea that high cholesterol is the main cause of heart disease. I mean, that’s practically medical dogma at this point.
Right, it’s like everyone knows that high cholesterol is bad, but Dr. Berry claims it’s another myth.
Interesting.
And you want to guess who makes a reappearance in the section of the book.
Let me guess, Dr. Ansel Keys.
You’ve got it.
Of course, it’s seven countries study again.
Exactly.
It turns out that Keys was also a major proponent of this whole cholesterol theory. And Dr. Berry argues that it was all based on pretty shaky evidence and maybe even manipulated data. It’s almost like a conspiracy theory, you know?
Yeah, like there’s this big coverup about cholesterol. But it does make you wonder, especially with the influence of all these pharmaceutical companies pushing their cholesterol-lowering drugs, like who benefits from us believing that high cholesterol is this big, scary thing?
It’s a good question. And the really interesting thing is that Dr. Berry points to newer research that suggests that saturated fats might not be as harmful as we thought. There’s even some evidence they might actually be good for our brains.
So maybe we’ve been wrong about bacon and eggs all this time.
It’s possible.
Yeah.
And speaking of things we might have been wrong about, let’s talk about wheat. We’ve all been told that whole wheat is like a healthy staple of our diet, right?
Yeah, whole grains are supposed to be good for you.
Right. But Dr. Berry is not holding back on this one. He says that the endorsement of wheat as a health food is basically a religious belief. Strong words.
Wow, okay. He’s really going forward on this one.
He is. And he makes some interesting points. He talks about how modern wheat has been hybridized and genetically modified so much that it’s totally different from what our ancestors used to eat.
Right. It’s not the same stuff anymore.
And he says that these changes have made wheat more likely to cause inflammation and other health problems. Oh, and get this. He says that bread actually has a higher glycemic index than table sugar.
What? Seriously.
Yeah. The glycemic index measures how quickly a food raises your blood sugar. So that whole wheat toast you thought was so healthy might actually be spiking your blood sugar more than a candy bar.
That’s crazy. So are we not supposed to eat any bread at all? What about those ancient grains, like keen ones stuff? Aren’t those supposed to be good for you?
That’s a good question. And to be fair, Dr. Berry focuses mostly on the negative impacts of modern wheat. So there’s definitely room for more discussion on this topic. But I think his main point is that we need to be more careful about the types of wheat we’re eating.
Makes sense. So what else is on Dr. Berry’s hit list of medical myths?
Well, get ready for this one. He takes on the USDA food pyramid.
No way, that iconic chart we all grew up with.
That’s the one. And he claims it’s more about corporate profits than it is about actual health.
That’s a pretty bold accusation. What’s his evidence?
Well, he argues that big food and agriculture industries had a lot of influence over the USDA guidelines, making sure that their products got prime real estate on the pyramid. He even calls it an embarrassing and worrisome sellout by the agency that’s supposed to be protecting our health.
Yikes.
Yes.
That’s pretty harsh.
I know, right? But he makes a really good point. He says that if our hunter-gatherer ancestors tried to follow the food pyramid, they would have gotten sick.
Makes you think, right?
Yeah, it really highlights how far we’ve strayed from what our bodies are designed to eat.
Okay, ready for another controversial one.
Hit me with it.
Dr. Barry tackles the idea that exercise alone is the key to weight loss.
Ooh, that’s a touchy subject.
It is, right? I mean, how many times have we heard that we can just burn off those extra calories with enough exercise?
Right, like all those fitness ads with people sweating and looking super fit.
But it feels like no matter how much I work out, I still struggle with my weight.
And that’s because, according to Dr. Barry, this whole idea is a myth. It benefits the fitness industry, of course, because they want us to believe that we need to keep buying their products and services.
Makes sense. And it also kind of lets the food industry off the hook. Like, we can feel less guilty about eating that extra slice of pizza if we think we can just exercise it off later.
Exactly. But Dr. Barry says this just keeps us stuck in this cycle of guilt and frustration, especially when we don’t see the results we expect. He’s not saying that exercise is bad, though. He actually emphasizes that it’s super important for overall health and wellbeing.
Right, exercise has tons of benefits. It’s just not a magic bullet for weight loss.
Exactly. It’s more about finding a way to move our bodies that we actually enjoy and that fits into our lives. You know, while we’re talking about things we might have wrong, Dr. Barry spends a good chunk of the book debunking a bunch of those everyday truths we’ve all heard. Like, did you know that we don’t actually only use 10% of our brains?
Really? I always thought that was true.
Yeah, it’s a common misconception.
Brain imaging studies show that we use all parts of our brains, just not all at the same time.
Huh, that’s interesting.
And that whole thing about needing to drink eight glasses of water a day, not really a hard and fast rule.
Wait, what?
Yeah, our bodies are actually pretty good at telling us when we’re thirsty. We don’t need to force ourselves to drink a certain amount. And another one, shaving makes hair grow back thicker and darker.
Oh, I’ve definitely heard that one. It always feels like my leg hair grows back thicker after I shave.
But it’s just an illusion. The newly shaved hair has a blunt end, so it appears thicker. Hair growth is actually determined by our genetics and hormones, not by how often we shave.
Good to know.
And that age old warning about reading in dim light, also a myth.
But I thought reading in the dark was bad for your eyes.
It might make it harder to see, which could lead to eye strain, but it doesn’t actually damage your eyesight.
Oh, God.
Our eyes are pretty anything at adapting to different light levels.
So I can read in bed without worrying about going blind.
Exactly. And here’s one that I’m sure a lot of people will be happy to hear debunked. Salt is inherently bad for you and raises blood pressure.
But salt has such a bad reputation.
I know, right? But Dr. Berry says there’s not actually a lot of strong evidence to support this claim. Some studies have even shown no correlation between salt intake and high blood pressure in healthy people.
That’s wild. So are you saying we can eat all the french fries we want?
Well, hold on there. He does say that our bodies do need salt to function properly, and they’re good at regulating it. It’s only when we eat tons of salt that it becomes a problem.
Okay, that makes sense. Moderation and all things, right?
Exactly. Finally, let’s talk about calories. That idea that a calorie is a calorie, meaning it doesn’t matter where those calories come from, as long as you stay within a certain limit, you’re good to go. What do you think Dr. Berry says about that?
I’m guessing he doesn’t buy it.
You’re right, he totally debunks it. He explains that different foods are metabolized differently by our bodies, so the source of those calories matters a lot. Like, 100 calories from broccoli is gonna have a different effect on your body than 100 calories from a candy bar.
Makes sense.
Right. And he actually cites a study that was published in JAMA that’s a very reputable medical journal that showed people on a high-fat diet lost more weight than those on high-carb or high-protein diets, even though they ate the same number of calories.
Wow, that’s fascinating. So are we supposed to throw out our calorie counting apps now?
It’s not that simple, but it does challenge the way we think about weight loss. It’s not just about the number of calories, it’s about where those calories are coming from and how our bodies process them. So as you can see, Dr. Barry covers a lot of ground in this book. He’s challenging a lot of the conventional wisdom about health and nutrition.
A lot to take in.
And it’s really about getting us to think critically about what we’ve been told and to be open to new possibilities.
Yeah, like maybe everything we thought we knew about health and nutrition is wrong.
Right, it’s like he’s turning everything upside down.
But I think that’s good, you know? It gets us out of our comfort zones, it makes us question things. So what are some of the key takeaways from all this?
Well, I think the biggest one is that we need to be our own advocates when it comes to our health. We can’t just blindly trust everything we hear, even if it’s coming from a doctor or the government.
Right, it’s about doing our own research, asking questions and being informed.
Exactly, and I think it’s also about being willing to experiment and find what works best for our individual bodies. What works for one person might not work for another.
Totally, we’re all different and our bodies have different needs.
Yeah, and I think Dr. Barry’s book really highlights that. He’s not saying that everyone needs to go on a high-fat diet or give up week completely, he’s just saying that we need to be open to different possibilities and find what makes us feel our best.
And remember, this book is just one perspective. There are tons of other resources out there and it’s important to explore different viewpoints and figure out what resonates with you.
Totally.
Don’t just take our word for it or Dr. Barry’s word for it. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.
Exactly. So we’ve covered a lot in this deep dive, but if there’s one thing I hope you take away from it, it’s this,
question everything. Don’t be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom and think for yourself.
Yeah, like if so many of these common medical beliefs we’ve been told are actually myths, what else might we be wrong about?
That’s a great question to leave you with. Keep thinking critically, keep asking questions and keep learning. Thanks for joining us on this deep dive.
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