Fat, Fructose and FGF21- The Science Behind Fad Diets and Obesity

Department of Surgery Grand Rounds
March 26, 2014

Patricia Chui, MD
Fellow
Metabolic, Endocrine and Minimally Invasive Surgery
Department of Surgery
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Objectives:

-Understand the role of different kinds of lipids in metabolism

-Become familiar with genetic predisposition to obesity

[jaym]

24:57 Can I increase my FGF21 by eating a high-carb, low-protein, low-fat diet based on tubers?

[fredsmit]

Great presentation. However, the Atkins diet is not essentially a ketogenic diet! It is normal for MDs to classify diets based on the food that is eaten. That is what has been done for hundreds of years. However, a much better definition of keto diet is "A diet that puts someone in ketosis". As you may know, not everyone reacts the same way to a low carb/high fat diet. For example, if person A is on a low carb/high fat diet which puts them in ketosis then person A is on a keto diet. If person B is on the exact same diet and is not able to enter ketosis, then the diet is NOT a keto diet for person B. In order for a diet to be called ketogenic, ketones must be producible on the diet. In order to call a diet ketogenic, you must measure ketones - otherwise you have no idea if the diet is ketogenic or not. Assuming ketosis based on the food that is eaten is a very bad assumption.