Episode 5: Cholesterol - Your Metabolic Hero, Not Villain

Remember when they told you cholesterol clogs arteries like grease in pipes? They lied. Dr. Presciutti dismantles 70 years of anti-cholesterol propaganda with shocking facts: Countries with highest cholesterol have LOWEST heart disease (WHO MONICA Project). The Honolulu Heart Study found low cholesterol in elderly = higher death risk. Statins block the same pathway that makes CoQ10, literally poisoning your cellular energy (Folkers et al., 1990). Plus: why cholesterol is essential for ALL your hormones, vitamin D, and brain function. If your TSH is "normal" but cholesterol is high, you're hypothyroid - not diseased. Time to fire your doctor and eat some eggs. Science-backed rebellion at its finest.

References mentioned:

• Framingham Heart Study
• Littarru & Langsjoen (2007) - Biofactors
• Schatz et al. (2001) - The Lancet
• WHO MONICA Project
• Honolulu Heart Program
• Folkers et al. (1990) - PNAS

⚠️ WARNING: This episode will completely shatter the low-carb dogma and reveal why your keto diet might be destroying your thyroid.

Join Biospark Health research team members Marcus (recovering 3-year keto extremist) and Jenna as they expose the suppressed science that proves sugar is your body's optimal fuel source. This isn't opinion - this is biochemistry that's been established for decades but buried by diet industry propaganda.

Bombshell Research Revealed in This Episode:

🔬 The Randle Cycle (1963) - The foundational research proving that fatty acid oxidation directly BLOCKS glucose metabolism at multiple enzymatic points (hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate dehydrogenase)

📉 The Danforth Study (1976) - Shows T3 thyroid hormone drops by 50% within DAYS of carbohydrate restriction while reverse T3 skyrockets

🥩 Stefansson & Anderson's Carnivore Experiment (1930) - The "successful" all-meat diet that actually resulted in scurvy symptoms, declining athletic performance, severe constipation, dropped body temperature, and reduced pulse rate

⚡ The Crabtree Effect (1929) - Established science showing cells preferentially choose glucose over fat when both are available (your cells literally prefer sugar!)

🏃‍♂️ Elite Athlete Fuel Data - Why the world's best endurance athletes consume 60-90g of carbs PER HOUR during peak performance (hint: they're not in ketosis)

🫁 The Bohr Effect & CO2 - How glucose metabolism produces the CO2 necessary for oxygen delivery to tissues (why keto dieters have "air hunger")

🌎 Blue Zone Populations - Okinawans (70% calories from sweet potatoes), Costa Ricans (rice & beans), Sardinians (sourdough) - zero long-lived populations doing keto

🏥 The Pima Indian Case Study - Traditional diet of 70% carbs = zero diabetes. Government rations with lard = diabetes epidemic (it was the fat, not the sugar!)

🧪 The 1960s Sugar Studies - People eating 40-50% of calories from pure sucrose showed improved cholesterol, normalized triglycerides, and felt amazing (when PUFAs were low)

🧠 Why Your Brain Fog Won't Lift on Keto - Chronic cortisol elevation from gluconeogenesis (making glucose from protein) creates persistent stress state and anxiety

🔥 The Metabolic Rate Connection - Why traditional cultures eating massive amounts of carbs stayed lean through adaptive thermogenesis (impossible on keto)

Sacred Cows Slaughtered:

❌ "Gluconeogenesis is efficient" - Actually like borrowing money at 50% interest
❌ "Fat is clean burning fuel" - Produces MORE oxidative stress than glucose
❌ "Carbs make you fat" - De novo lipogenesis is extremely limited in humans
❌ "Ketones are superior brain fuel" - Emergency backup system, not optimization
❌ "Low carb improves thyroid" - Literally impossible due to T4→T3 conversion

🎯 THE BOTTOM LINE: You've been torturing your metabolism with fat-adaptation when your cells are screaming for glucose. This episode shows you why and exactly how to fix it.

Part of the Metabolic Revolution series with Dr. Steve Presciutti. These research deep dives go where the main episodes can't - into the studies, the biochemistry, and the personal stories that prove everything you've been told about nutrition is backwards.

Keywords: Randle Cycle, glucose metabolism, thyroid T3 T4, Crabtree Effect, Danforth study, keto side effects, metabolic rate, adaptive thermogenesis, Ray Peat, bioenergetic nutrition, sugar metabolism, ATP production, low-carb thyroid, carnivore diet problems

Episode 4: Sugar is Your Body's Preferred Fuel (Yes, Really)

The health world's biggest lie? That sugar is killing you. In this game-changing episode, Dr. Steve Presciutti demolishes the anti-sugar propaganda with hard science. Learn why your brain literally runs on glucose (not ketones), discover the Nobel Prize-winning research that proves sugar produces 38% more cellular energy than fat, and find out why those "healthy" low-carb dieters are aging faster than smokers. From the Randle Cycle to traditional cultures thriving on 70% carbs, this episode reveals why avoiding sugar is like putting diesel in a gasoline engine. If you're cold, tired, and metabolically broken from restricting carbs, this is your permission slip to eat the damn fruit. Warning: This episode will make you question everything your CrossFit coach told you.