The Dr. Chad Larson Podcast

Why we still eat pancakes

In this episode, Dr. Chad Larson and Nicole demonstrate a metabolically aligned pancake recipe filmed in their home kitchen. The conversation covers the carbohydrate math behind traditional pancakes — roughly 50 to 70 grams of net carbs per stack — and how reformulation drops that to about 1.5 grams per pancake without giving up the experience of pancakes as a meal. Each ingredient swap carries its own clinical reasoning. Almond flour and flaxseed meal replace wheat flour, with the flaxseed contributing lignans, omega-3 fatty acids, and a soluble-insoluble fiber blend that supports the gut microbiome. Monk fruit and allulose replace sugar without measurably affecting glucose or insulin. Coconut oil supplies medium-chain triglycerides — a fat your mitochondria convert to ketones with very little metabolic friction. Cinnamon contributes to post-prandial glucose regulation. The broader point of the episode is the distinction between restriction and control. Restriction is what diets do. Control is what food literacy gives you, and it's the basis for the kind of metabolic health that survives a stressful quarter, a holiday week, or the rest of your life. This episode is part of the ongoing Kitchen Video series. The full video version is available on YouTube.

Four ingredients. One Skillet. Every benefit we want.

Dr. Chad and his wife Nicole walk through a four-ingredient  skillet meal they fall back on most weeks — rotisserie chicken,  mushrooms, onions, and arugula, cooked in a single cast-iron pan  in about twelve minutes. The conversation moves through why each  ingredient earns its place metabolically and why the most durable  patients aren't the most precise eaters — they're the most  repeatable. Topics covered: - Protein as the metabolic anchor — thermogenesis, glucose    steadying, and muscle protein synthesis - Why arugula's glucosinolates support phase 2 liver detoxification - Inulin in onions and what prebiotic fiber actually does for the    gut microbiome - Beta-glucan in mushrooms and its role in immune and    gastrointestinal function - Why "good, better, best" beats "perfect" when sourcing real    ingredients - How Nicole plans meals around tomorrow's schedule instead of    prepping for the week Dr. Chad is a naturopathic medical doctor (NMD) running  The Adapt Lab, an integrative metabolic health practice in  Solana Beach, California. Learn more at doctorchadlarson.com. This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not  constitute medical advice. Always consult your physician  before making changes to your health regimen. Tags: metabolic health, naturopathic medicine, functional medicine,  real food, gut microbiome, integrative medicine

Why we dump butter on our chicken

Most people didn't stop eating butter because they wanted to. They stopped because a generation of nutrition advice told them they had to. In this episode, Nicole and I walk you through a real Sunday dinner at our house — bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs basted in grass-fed butter and avocado oil, an arugula salad, cooled rice for the kids, and a scoop of kimchi on the side. We cover why the skin stays on, why butter earns its spot back on the plate, what glycine and butyrate actually do inside your body, why cooled rice behaves differently than freshly cooked rice, and why a fermented food on the table is doing more work than most people realize. The framework is the same one we keep coming back to: protein anchor → fiber base → healthy fats → optional carbs calibrated to your own tolerance. Master that, and butter isn't a guilty pleasure. It's how the meal holds together. This isn't a diet-rules showcase. It's what eating well actually looks like when a naturopathic doctor makes Sunday dinner for his family.

What a Metabolic Doctor's Kitchen Actually Looks Like at Dinner Time

Most people don't struggle with knowing what to eat. They struggle with actually building a metabolically healthy meal when life is moving fast and the fridge is full of leftovers. In this episode, Nicole and I walk you through a real weeknight dinner — a lamb taco bowl built around what we had on hand, the shortcuts we lean on without apology, and why this meal works metabolically even when it isn't perfect. We cover the protein anchor, slow-carb vegetables, healthy fats that keep your mitochondria burning clean, and how to think about carbohydrates relative to your own tolerance. The framework is simple: protein anchor → fiber base → healthy fats → optional carbs. Master that, and you can build this meal a hundred different ways out of whatever's in your kitchen. This isn't a perfection showcase. It's what a metabolically healthy lifestyle actually looks like when you're busy, you have a family to feed, and the guacamole is leftover from Easter.

The Day Your Health Stops Feeling Like Work

The most disciplined people in my practice are often the ones who can't stay consistent with their health. That pattern is worth examining — because it means the problem isn't what most people think it is. In this episode, I work through a clinical pattern I see constantly: high-capacity individuals who are exceptional at managing everything in their lives, whose health keeps unraveling on the same schedule. Not because they lack discipline. Because their life is configured in a way that makes health optional — and anything optional, under enough pressure, eventually loses. The goal was never to get better at discipline. It was to build a life where you stop needing it. Where does your metabolic health actually stand? Find out here: Take the quiz [https://metabolicquiz.doctorchadlarson.com/p/metabolic-quiz-1?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=metabolic_quiz_podcast_cta&utm_content=cta_link]