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BOOK
REVIEW

(a manifestation of starvation), which increased insulin secretion.
By administering the insulin suppressive agent octreotide, he was
able to get them to lose weight; but more remarkably, they started to
exercise spontaneously. He then demonstrated the same phenomenon
in obese adults without CNS lesions. The universality of these findings
enabled Dr. Lustig to weave these threads together into a novel unifying
hypothesis regarding the etiology, prevention and treatment of the cur-
rent obesity epidemic.
“If you see a wasp,” asks Dr. Lustig, “do you simply kill the wasp; or
do you destroy the wasp’s nest? For too long, our healthcare system is
designed to kill the wasps one at a time; I think we need to go after the
nest that spawns disease.”
And that nest is the human gut with its bacterial partners, who out-
number the host’s cells by a factor of 10. Research links gut health to
including autoimmune disorders, metabolic syndrome and even mental
health conditions. How? Disruptions in gut microbiota and intestinal
permeability can contribute to systemic inflammation and disease man-
ifestation.
"Leaky gut syndrome" is a condition where the lining of the intestines
becomes more permeable, allowing substances like toxins, undigested
food particles and bacteria to leak into the bloodstream. The intestines
usually have tight junctions that control what passes through into the
https://robertlustig.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Fat-
bloodstream, but in this condition, these junctions become loose or
Chance-Cookbook_Eat-REAL-Download.pdf.
damaged. This increased permeability can lead to a range of symptoms
The opportunity to interview the author came about, and I explained
and potential health issues.
it might be a challenge to recommend a book asking readers to develop
“Why have we seen so many novel disease outbreaks in recent
new paradigms while rejecting old ones. He assured me that physicians
decades? SARS, Swine Flu, MERS, Ebola, Zika, and of course,
recognize the dynamic nature of their continued education.
COVID, have wreaked havoc in the last twenty years. Why have they

mutated so quickly, become resistant to antibiotics, and why are we so
“David, let me share with you a story. My first day of
vulnerable?”
The answer, according to Dr. Lustig, is that we are polluting our own med school, our ‘white coat ceremony,’ one of the most ven-
bodies, because the foods we eat and research suggesting their health- erable clinicians in the history of medicine said to the
fulness are both polluted. Our foods are polluted not only by additives, class, ‘50 percent of what we teach you is wrong. We just
but “subtractives” — removing valuable dietary components. Finally,
don't know which 50 percent.’ Metabolical addresses that
the shoddy science that has polluted the medical literature by its pri-
50 percent. I hope that in figuring out that which is
mary sponsors, Big Pharma and the Agricultural Industrial Complex.
Without overburdening this review with technical matters, let me wrong, Metabolical can help be a guide to a different way
urge our readers’ awareness of Dr. Lustig’s work — for if they aren’t, of thinking.”
it’s likely their patients will be. Still ranked #4 in Public Health Ad-
ministration and #6 in Medical Diseases Books by Amazon over two David Alex Schulz is certified in HIPAA privacy and security
years following release, Metabolical is only one of Lustig’s many works. compliance, and a contributing writer to San Antonio Medicine
One of which is a cookbook based on these principles that he made magazine. Metabolical, as all the books we review, is available
public during COVID-19, and the pdf can still be found at from the San Antonio Public Library.

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