Dr. Mark Hyman Nutrition Interview

Here is an INTERVIEW with Functional Medicine Doctor Mark Hyman. In it he talks about food, nutrition, how to optimize your health by balance between food and movement, and some exciting changes in the healthcare system. 

Some key quotes:

"You cannot exercise your way out of a bad diet." Meaning that to compensate for poor dietary choices, you have to spend an impossible amount of time exercising. He uses the example of having to run a marathon everyday if you eat a Supersize McDonald's meal everyday. 

"The microbiome...and gene expression changes with every single bite you put in your body." It does not take weeks or months to give yourself positive wellness progress. He goes on to speak about quality of food being the key to the long term plan. 

"Sugar is a recreational drug." Here he compares sugar to tequila. You would never pour a shot of tequila in your morning coffee, have a tequila filled candy bar in the mid afternoon and follow dinner every night with a bowl of tequila with chocolate sauce. The point is that sugar is way too prevalent and our bodies are functioning like we are walking around drunk all the time. 

"The higher fat vegan diet people lost more weight... and had better metabolic profiles..." We can't be afraid of fat, but the quality of fat is what has been throwing off our understanding of how it works in the body. Plant based fats, like nuts and seeds, avocados, and coconuts are extremely helpful to boosting health. Conversely, canola oil, which we generally buy when it is already rancid, is horrible for your health. 

What does the good doctor eat? "I eat mostly plant foods." His example goes from 75-90% veggie. He says his favorite fat is actually lamb fat. He indulges with dark chocolate covered almonds.

Dr. Hyman also mentions the Glycemic Index and how powerful it is to controlling hunger and hormonal reactions. 

 


The last big point of interest for me in this interview was how Dr. Hyman helped develop the Daniel Plan with Dr. Daniel Amen the "Brain Doctor." He asks what would we serve to Jesus Christ is he came to dinner. Would we serve God-made food or Man-made food? Good question.