Background on The Ketogenic Diet Before all the ketogenic diet enthusiasts come after me for writing this blog post, I do want to let you know that I am actually in nutritional ketosis while writing this blog, so please don’t throw zero carb eggs at my windshield. I’ll cover the ketogenic diet in more detail in a future post, but because this diet is spreading like wildfire and most of the online information out there treats it like the diet to end all diets, I wanted to share some of my top concerns first based on clinical and personal experience. Having this knowledge will also help you be more successful if you do decide to give the keto diet a try. If you have no clue what the ketogenic diet is, then my brief description is that it’s a diet that makes our body produce a chemical substance called ketones,…
Read MoreIs Ghee Good or Evil for Health
Background When you ask a lay person about what is a primary dietary cause of heart disease in Indians, a common response points the finger at ghee in the diet. Before we discuss ghee in further detail, let’s first discuss what ghee is since I have readers from many different ethnic backgrounds who may not be familiar with it. Ghee is clarified butter made traditionally from cow or buffalo milk during a simmering process that removes milk proteins (casein and lactose) and water. The simmering process gives ghee a distinct flavor and a high-smoke point which prevents oxidative damage during cooking, which means preventing inflammation in the body. Ghee is one of the original ancient health foods originating from the Indian science of Ayurveda. It is a versatile component of Indian culture used to cook, to heal and is used in many traditional Indian ceremonies and rituals. I will first…
Read MoreCoconut Oil: A Scientific Review and Our Clinical Insights On Its Use
We get flooded with questions about coconut oil in the clinic. Many folks have been raised to think coconut oil is the central culprit in the cast of dietary characters responsible for heart disease and chronic disease. Used sensibly, coconut oil can be a powerfully effective nutritional tool in our quest to improve body composition and reverse diseases. Medical student, Nihaal Karnik reviews the research behind coconut oil, and then our clinical dietician Prerna Uppal and I will share some of our experiences from the clinic at the end. Introduction Like every young Indian kid in America there is nothing I dreaded more than the blue bottle: yes….the coconut oil bottle my mother would heat on a weekly basis. No, mom was not ahead of the curve with regards to consuming coconut oil. Like every other Indian mom she was absolutely hell bent on heating that greasy stuff and working…
Read MoreWatch My TEDx on Prescription Apps and Join Our Bay Area Meetup Group
My TEDx on Prescription Apps Sorry it took so long for me to post this. My first TEDx was a non-broadcast event (not online) back in 2013, in front of a bunch of execs and movers and shakers in the community, held at the Silicon Valley Capital Club in San Jose. This time around I had a different audience. Students and their parents at Monta Vista high school in Cupertino. I was particularly interested in this audience since they are in a critical stage of their life where career and health decisions can really set the foundation for their future. A significant number of them are pre-meds and I wanted to make sure they were in it for the right reasons. My topic for this particular talk was how I use Apps and media to engage my patients and leverage my message to a broader audience, like you guys. There were…
Read MoreA Condensed Guide to My Book for Those With Little Time
FEEDBACK SO FAR I’ve had overwhelming feedback so far from book readers globally about the remarkable improvements in health they have experienced and how they have been inspired by the case studies which they connected with. Despite the title, folks from all ethnic backgrounds (South Asian, East Asian, Western, etc.) have found the content useful. My goal was not just to overwhelm readers with scientific and nutrition information, but to also tell stories that readers could connect to and gain inspiration from. I’ve had physicians successfully use the principles in the book as well to make game-changing improvements in the lives of their patients. A CONDENSED GUIDE TO MY BOOK One challenge some patients and readers have echoed is the length of my book and how they wish they could get their friend, spouse, etc. to consume key content and benefit immediately. The good news is I’m working on that…
Read MoreMetabolic Syndrome: What Cholesterol Guidelines Should Really Focus on
Background I recently had the opportunity to meet a medical hero of mine at the Stanford University faculty club. Gerald “Jerry” Reaven is the renown endocrinologist and researcher (pictured with me) who coined the term metabolic syndrome and is author of Syndrome X: The Silent Killer. I owe him my life given that his metabolic syndrome criteria helped identify my own underlying risk for heart disease and chronic disease. Something the cholesterol guidelines and archaic Framingham risk calculator (old version and newer version) would have missed. See my prior post on the new guidelines. His research has also inspired me to devote my medical practice to the care of high risk Asian Indians and now even East Asians who are plagued by an epidemic of insulin resistance characterized by metabolic syndrome. Global heart disease is predominantly driven by metabolic syndrome, an insulin resistant condition which has nothing to do with the LDL result you…
Read MoreA Closer Look at the New Cholesterol Guidelines
Old Cholesterol Guideline Theme: It’s All About Your LDL Number When clinical guidelines come out, there are two major levels at which they’re interpreted. The first interpretation is literal, following the guidelines to a tee. However the more important interpretation is the guideline theme. Most docs forget about the specific details over time and apply the general message to their practice. The prior cholesterol guidelines morphed into the following thematic messages: 1. LDL is bad and the higher your LDL level, the greater your risk of heart disease. 2. The higher your individual risk, the lower your LDL target. For example, let’s drop LDL to less than 70 mg/dl in patients with existing heart disease. Not because there’s evidence to do so, but because we’re making an assumption that lower is better. 3. Since LDL is evil and lower LDLs are better, it is ok to use multiple medications to reach…
Read MoreIn Defense of Eggs
Eggs have been one of the most maligned and misunderstood foods on the planet. Nearly every government issued heart healthy handout lists eggs as one of its banned foods due to high cholesterol content, particularly those so called evil, artery-clogging yolks. Instead you should be eating a few slices of whole wheat toast or a bowl of oatmeal according to standard nutrition mantra. Back in the days when obesity and insulin resistance hadn’t reached epidemic proportions, this advice was still incorrect, but didn’t lead to any significant harm for most people. However, today, where insulin resistance and excessive carbohydrate intake have become the rule, especially for South Asians, I’ve seen this standard advice cause more harm than good. A True Superfood Eggs are an excellent protein source with all 9 essential amino acids and less than 0.5 grams of carbs, making it ideal for weight loss and for overcoming insulin…
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