Degrees of Health

Why Drew Decker Believes Ketosis Could Change Mental Health Forever

Your brain runs on what you eat. So what happens when you fuel it with fat instead of sugar? Drew Decker and Ben join together to discuss his study on the ketogenic diet and depression in college students and how a simple dietary shift led to a 70% reduction in depression scores. No tracking apps, no dieticians, no hand-holding, just students with a budget, a plan, and a mission to feel better. Drew’s journey started after a traumatic brain injury in the military and led him to Dr. Jeff Volek’s lab, where he’s now leading research into how ketosis may impact mental health, PTSD, inflammation, BDNF, energy metabolism and more. This is one of those episodes that’s equal parts hopeful, data-driven and deeply personal. 🧠 Ketosis as a tool for mental health 📉 The downside of keto? Pretty capped. 🥑 How college students stuck to keto on a tight budget 🧬 BDNF, energy metabolism & brain inflammation 🧠 PTSD, trauma & the future of metabolic psychiatry 💊 Exogenous vs endogenous ketones 🥩 Animal-based, dairy-based, veggie-heavy — what actually matters 📚 The ketogenic diet as metabolic medicine Find Drew: Instagram - @drew_d_decker ResearchGate [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Drew-Decker] Mentioned in this episode: Keto-Mojo [https://keto-mojo.com/] Feasibility of Ketogenic Diet in College Students with Depression - A pilot study [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12420795/] Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this link [https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn] Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5w] Instagram  @degreesofhealth [https://www.instagram.com/degrees_of_health/] Disclaimer [https://www.canva.com/design/DAF6uea0cwE/S6IFQR7g0IoRiQiRkAIDyA/view?utm_content=DAF6uea0cwE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=viewer] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Why 'Eat Less, Move More' Doesn’t Work | Jessica Turton, PhD

Most people who end up in Jessica Turton’s health clinic have already tried everything from calorie tracking, low-fat, fasting, moving more, eating less… and still nothing works to shift weight. So what’s going on? Ben sits down with Jessica - dietitian, nutritionist, researcher - to talk about what happens when your body’s been stuck in energy deficit for years, and how the real issue for many people isn’t overeating, it’s under eating. They get into why most nutrition advice backfires, how your brain handles hunger, the impact of stress on metabolism and why we need to stop treating weight loss like a willpower problem. We cover: 🧠 The real metabolic cost of chronic dieting 🥑 Low-carb ≠ low-calorie (and why that matters) 💉 Why type 2 diabetes is reversible if you treat the cause 🔥 Why most people are walking around under-fueled 💊 GLP-1s, binge cycles & the illusion of control We also look at what low-carb actually looks like when done well, and how to eat more food without losing your mind. Fascinating if you've ever been in this cycle yourself (which is most of us) and how we might actually be able to break the loop. Find Jessica: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jessicaturton_dietitian/?hl=en ] Ellipse Health online clinic [https://ellipsehealth.com.au] Mentioned in this episode: The Minnesota Starvation Experiment [https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/10/hunger] Jessica’s PhD Research on Type 1 Diabetes [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37432920/] Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this link [https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn] Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5w] Instagram  @degreesofhealth [https://www.instagram.com/degrees_of_health/] Disclaimer [https://www.canva.com/design/DAF6uea0cwE/S6IFQR7g0IoRiQiRkAIDyA/view?utm_content=DAF6uea0cwE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=viewer] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Muscles, Cancer & the Future of Exercise Medicine | Professor Mark Febbraio

What if your muscles could talk to your organs and maybe even prevent cancer? Here, Ben sits down with world-renowned exercise scientist Professor Mark Febbraio to dismantle the science behind myokines - molecules released by muscle that signal throughout the body. Insights covered in this episode: 🧪 Myokines and inter-organ communication 🦠 Exercise’s role in cancer prevention 🧬 Inflammation, cytokines & what IL-6 does 🧠 The cognitive power of exercise & BDNF 🏋️‍♂️ What type of training protects best and how much is too much 💉 Why we don’t understand GLP-1 side effects yet 🧫 The future of exercise mimetics & blood-based therapies 🧠 Why “we don’t know” might be science’s most honest answer From interleukin-6’s double life to how exercise blood can fight tumours, this one’s a digestible dive into how movement truly is medicine. Find Mark and papers reference in this episode: Google Scholar [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lnLGvFMAAAAJ&hl=en] ResearchGate [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark-Febbraio] Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this link [https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn] Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5w] Instagram  @degreesofhealth [https://www.instagram.com/degrees_of_health/] Disclaimer [https://www.canva.com/design/DAF6uea0cwE/S6IFQR7g0IoRiQiRkAIDyA/view?utm_content=DAF6uea0cwE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=viewer] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Weight Plateaus, GLP-1s & Why Keto Got So Complicated | Amy Berger, MS, CNS

Keto doesn’t have to be complicated. Yep, you heard that right. Nutritionist and author Amy Berger joins us to unpack the chaos of keto culture and how a once-simple metabolic switch has turned into a jungle of macros, misinformation and food fear. Amy cuts through the noise and brings keto back to what it was always meant to be: a simple, flexible, effective way of eating. Together with Ben, she covers the realities of weight loss stalls, hormonal shifts, fasting fads, the rise of ultra-processed keto products and what the science says about vegetables, carnivore diets, GLP-1s and calories. We cover: 🥩 Carnivore vs Keto - what’s happening metabolically 💊 GLP-1s, weight loss drugs & long-term risk 📉 Why weight loss might stall (and what to do about it) 🧃 Keto vs processed “keto” - marketing vs metabolism 🥬 In defense of vegetables (yes, really) 📊 Fasting: myth, magic, or just misunderstood? Whether you're new to low-carb or neck-deep in macros and metabolic rabbit holes - this one’s for you. Find Amy: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@amyberger-ketowithoutthecrazy] Website [https://stallslayer.com] Courses [https://adaptyourlifeacademy.com] Substack [Keto Without the Crazy] Mentioned in this episode: The Alzheimer’s Antidote [https://amzn.eu/d/1CWYaIY] by Amy Berger The Stall Slayer [https://amzn.eu/d/351Wj61] by Amy Berger End Your Carb Confusion [https://amzn.eu/d/51zSvTu] by Amy Berger & Dr. Eric Westman Dr. Eric Westman - Keto researcher & collaborator The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living - Dr. Jeff Volek & Dr. Stephen Phinney Eat Like a Human - Dr. Bill Schindler Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this link [https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn] Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5w] Instagram  @degreesofhealth [https://www.instagram.com/degrees_of_health/] Disclaimer [https://www.canva.com/design/DAF6uea0cwE/S6IFQR7g0IoRiQiRkAIDyA/view?utm_content=DAF6uea0cwE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=viewer] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Anorexia Recovery, Ketosis & How We Medicalised Hunger | Michelle Ann Hurn, RD

What if we’ve been treating eating disorders the wrong way? In this deeply personal and provocative episode, registered dietitian Michelle Hurn shares her journey from severe anorexia and psychiatric medication to ultra-running and mental clarity through a radical change in nutrition. Ben and Michelle unpack the broken foundations of dietetics, why metabolic health is inseparable from mental health and how the standard of care may be making things worse. We cover: 🥩 Why animal-based diets are helping eating disorder recovery 🧠 The link between stable blood sugar and psychiatric health 📉 The connection between calories, insulin and metabolic disorders 🏃‍♀️ Running long distances with zero carb loading 🧪 Exogenous ketones vs. yerba mate for ketone production 🔥 GLP-1 drugs, health at every size and what we’re getting wrong From hospital feeding tubes to ketones and carnivore protocols, this is a raw, real and - we hope - hopeful conversation about what happens when you stop following the food pyramid and start listening to your body. Find Michelle: Website [thedietitiansdilemma.net] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/runeatmeatrepeat/?hl=en] X / Twitter [https://x.com/michellehurnrd?lang=en] Mentioned in this episode: Book - The Dietitian’s Dilemma [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dietitians-Dilemma-restored-opposite-everything/dp/B08TYVDGS4] by Michelle Ann Hurn The Fox Family Food Fight [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fox-Family-Food-Fight/dp/B0CNKKJGWV] Case Study: Ketogenic Diets in Anorexia [https://journalofmetabolichealth.org/index.php/jmh/article/view/84/254] Paper - Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900714003323] Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off via this link [https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn] Want to watch this on video? Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpVgBgbtgoNBz3sRQauH5w] Instagram  @degreesofhealth [https://www.instagram.com/degrees_of_health/] Disclaimer [https://www.canva.com/design/DAF6uea0cwE/S6IFQR7g0IoRiQiRkAIDyA/view?utm_content=DAF6uea0cwE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=viewer] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.