Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 15 hours ago
0:00 Intro
02:32 Interview Begins
1:32:52 Interview Ends
Full shownotes: ihmc.us/stemtalk/episode-143
Today’s episode features the author of “Why We Get Sick,” Dr. Ben Bikman, a biomedical scientist at Brigham Young University.
Ben is known for his research into the contrasting roles of insulin and ketones as key drivers of metabolic function.
In “Why We Get Sick,” Ben takes a deep dive into insulin resistance and metabolic health. The book particularly focuses on the role that insulin resistance plays in many of today’s most common diseases: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s.
Ben and his colleagues at the Bikman Lab investigate the molecular mechanisms behind the increased risks of disease that accompany obesity and excess visceral fat. Much of the research at the Bikman Lab particularly focuses on the etiology of insulin resistance and how it disrupts mitochondrial function.
In today’s interview, STEM-Talk cohosts Drs. Ken Ford and Dawn Kernagis talk to Ben about:
• How insulin resistance is tied to multiple chronic diseases.
• The relevance of ketones in mitochondrial function.
• How so many of our modern chronic diseases are self-inflicted and driven by insulin resistance.
• How many of the hallmarks of aging are a consequence of insulin resistance.
• The theory that the longest-lived people are likely the most insulin sensitive.
• The benefits that occur with carbohydrate reduction as a result of increasing insulin sensitivity.
• Ben’s thoughts about the degree of intermittent fasting needed to induce autophagy in humans.
0:00 Intro
02:32 Interview Begins
1:32:52 Interview Ends
Full shownotes: ihmc.us/stemtalk/episode-143
Today’s episode features the author of “Why We Get Sick,” Dr. Ben Bikman, a biomedical scientist at Brigham Young University.
Ben is known for his research into the contrasting roles of insulin and ketones as key drivers of metabolic function.
In “Why We Get Sick,” Ben takes a deep dive into insulin resistance and metabolic health. The book particularly focuses on the role that insulin resistance plays in many of today’s most common diseases: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s.
Ben and his colleagues at the Bikman Lab investigate the molecular mechanisms behind the increased risks of disease that accompany obesity and excess visceral fat. Much of the research at the Bikman Lab particularly focuses on the etiology of insulin resistance and how it disrupts mitochondrial function.
In today’s interview, STEM-Talk cohosts Drs. Ken Ford and Dawn Kernagis talk to Ben about:
• How insulin resistance is tied to multiple chronic diseases.
• The relevance of ketones in mitochondrial function.
• How so many of our modern chronic diseases are self-inflicted and driven by insulin resistance.
• How many of the hallmarks of aging are a consequence of insulin resistance.
• The theory that the longest-lived people are likely the most insulin sensitive.
• The benefits that occur with carbohydrate reduction as a result of increasing insulin sensitivity.
• Ben’s thoughts about the degree of intermittent fasting needed to induce autophagy in humans.
