#147 Burn Fat with the Protein to Energy Diet - Dr Ted Naiman

Ted Naiman (0:00)

I feel like the food that we're surrounded by here is really not actual food, but food like garbage that's massively diluted with refined carbs and fats. So everything we eat is this processed food, trifecta of sugar, flour, and oil.

And these pure energies, these refined energy, quote unquote foods, dilute out the protein and minerals, the actual nutrients that we need to eat.

So most of us are basically forced to overeat energy just in order to get enough nutrients to survive.

Siim Land (0:37)

Body, Mind Empowerment. Get stronger, faster, smarter, quicker, friendlier, more helpful, more driven. Everything the body needs. Control your mind.

Welcome to the Body, Mind Empowerment Podcast. I'm your host, Siim Land, and our guest today is Dr. Ted Naiman.

Dr. Ted is a board certified family medicine physician in the Department of Primary Care at a leading major medical center in Seattle. His personal research and medical practice are focused on the practical implementation of diet and exercise for health optimization. Dr. Ted, welcome to the show.

Ted Naiman (1:13)

Siim, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Siim Land (1:16)

Yeah, it's actually been quite a long time that we tried to do a podcast. But now I'm glad that we could eventually do it after a while.

Ted Naiman (1:25)

Oh, yeah, me too. I know you've been trying to have me on and I've just been a real flake about it. So I apologize, but it's great to be here.

Siim Land (1:32)

Yeah, yeah, me too. So can you tell us a bit about your background as a doctor and like what your experience been?

Ted Naiman (1:40)

Oh, sure. Yeah. Okay. So I've actually been practicing as a primary care doctor for about 20 years, which is, wow, it doesn't feel that long. But yeah, I got out of residency in 2000, and I've been doing this primary care job for about two decades.

And it's really been a fascinating journey for me and my entire career. I've really been focused on diet and exercise and how they seem to impact health.

And one of the biggest revelations for me is the fact that the difference between some of the healthiest people I see and the unhealthiest people I see really just comes down to diet and exercise. So these things are huge. And that's really been my focus for most of my career.

Siim Land (2:32)

Yeah, it's so true that most doctors tend to learn only how to prescribe pills or medication. But you know, the true health for the most most effective results come from just the basics.

Ted Naiman (2:46)

Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think when I started out in medicine, I didn't realize how pharmaceutically aligned the entire field of medicine is and these days, it feels like medicine is just a tentacle of the pharmaceutical industry. And really, so much of our training is just focused around, you know, which drug to use for what and it's a lot of the lifestyle part is just an afterthought.

And it really should be the other way around, in my opinion. So that's what I've been focused on.

Siim Land (3:21)

Yeah, yeah, that's so true. So why do you think, you know, what's the main reasons why the states has this sort of like an obesity epidemic?

Ted Naiman (3:31)

Oh, why do we have such a bad obesity epidemic? Well, it's really about our food environment.

So I feel like the food that we're surrounded by here is really not actual food, but food like garbage that's massively diluted with refined carbs and fats. So everything we eat is this processed food trifecta of sugar, flour and oil. And these pure energies, these refined energy, quote unquote, foods dilute out the protein and minerals, the actual nutrients that we need to eat. So most of us are basically forced to overeat energy just in order to get enough nutrients to survive.

And I think this protein dilution is one of the huge drivers of the obesity epidemic. And it really just comes down to the food that's all around us.

Siim Land (4:27)

Yeah, that's true. So that's what I've seen a lot on your social media and like the infographics you share and the blog post that you write about as well that, you know, the fundamentals of a healthy diet has to do with, you know, maximizing some aspects of nutrient density and protein, especially is like a really critical component of that because like I would, you know, I think you would agree that protein is probably the most important micronutrient and it's probably the most essential one as well compared to something else like fats or carbohydrates.