496: Dr. Philip Ovadia—Meat is Medicine

**Mike Rowe** (0:04)
Hey, guys, it's The Way I Heard It, my guest today. I'm gonna say is really, really, really important. I'm gonna lean in to, you know, really, really, really, really important, Chuck.

**Chuck** (0:14)
That's a lot of reallys, Mike.

**Mike Rowe** (0:16)
Let me tell you why Dr. Philip Ovadia is important. He's not just another voice espousing the virtues of a, what do you call it, ketonic?

**Chuck** (0:27)
Ketonic diet, yeah.

**Mike Rowe** (0:28)
Ketonic, yeah.

**Chuck** (0:30)
Or a carnivore diet.

**Mike Rowe** (0:31)
Carnivore diet, the Dr. Atkins diet. He's just, he's not just another guy who's saying, hey, maybe carbs are wrong, or hey, maybe the food pyramid is upside down, or hey, something's wrong with the medical system. This particular doctor is a heart surgeon who has conducted thousands, over 3,000 open heart surgeries.

**Chuck** (0:52)
Yeah.

**Mike Rowe** (0:53)
And he also was a guy who was 100 pounds too heavy.

**Chuck** (0:58)
Yep.

**Mike Rowe** (0:59)
He was doing both of these things at the same time.

**Chuck** (1:01)
Which is odd, isn't it?

**Mike Rowe** (1:02)
Well, it certainly would inspire a measure of cognitive dissonance, I would think, in the patient.

**Chuck** (1:09)
Yes, exactly.

**Mike Rowe** (1:10)
Who's getting wheeled in.
Oh, yay, yay. But look, he went on his own sort of physician heal thyself journey, which actually is not a bad title for this. Did we come up with a title for this one yet?

**Chuck** (1:23)
You know what? I don't think we did.

**Mike Rowe** (1:25)
I don't think we did either.
Let's call it Physician Heal Thyself, because that's what he did. And in the process, he's healed a lot of other people thanks to a book he wrote a few years ago called Stay Off My Operating Table. I learned about this book from our friend Vinny Torderich, who's been a frequent guest on the podcast. And Chuck, you took it to another level.

**Chuck** (1:48)
Yeah, I actually had a couple of consultations with him. He recommended that I get a CAC scan, which I can't remember what that stands for at this moment. But you got one. I got one and determined that I was at a medium risk for heart disease. And he helped me to prevent that, let's say.

**Mike Rowe** (2:10)
I mean, what really initiated it, tell me if I'm wrong, but your doctor doctor told you your cholesterol was too high.

**Chuck** (2:18)
Yes, yes.

**Mike Rowe** (2:19)
And in order to get your cholesterol down, you need a statin.

**Chuck** (2:22)
Yes.

**Mike Rowe** (2:23)
And this would be filed under conventional wisdom slash accepted consensus.

**Chuck** (2:28)
Makes sense. The number is up here, you need it down here. The statin drug does that.

**Mike Rowe** (2:33)
Except Dr. Ovadia said it's all backwards, it's all wrong. Cholesterol is not the enemy at all.

**Chuck** (2:39)
Yep.

**Mike Rowe** (2:40)
And if you were just another guy saying this, I wouldn't have him on.
But like I said, he's got the receipts, he has the experience, his book is terrific. He's written a new book called Stay Off My Kitchen Table.

**Chuck** (2:55)
Yes.

**Mike Rowe** (2:56)
That's more diet focused.

**Chuck** (2:57)
Correct.

**Mike Rowe** (2:58)
So this conversation is full of really good tips for anybody who just wants to fight back against inflammation, maybe blood sugar regulation, insulin resistance is the thing you're going to hear him talk a lot about.
There's all that. The evidence is compelling. But between my friend Vinny and my friend Chuck, and then my dad's recent heart attack, and my friend who I graduated high school with, whose name I'm not going to mention, but she has since signed on to Dr. Ovadia's practice. The transformation in her life has just been extraordinary. I don't need to tell you everything we're going to talk about, but suffice it to say that Meat Is Medicine is another thing you're going to hear a lot about.

**Chuck** (3:46)
That should be the title.

**Mike Rowe** (3:47)
Oh, that is a better title.

**Chuck** (3:49)
Yeah, that's what he said multiple times.

**Mike Rowe** (3:50)
Yeah. All right, scratch that. The episode you've already started is not called Physician, Heal Thyself, although it could be. It could be. Because he did.

**Chuck** (3:59)
Yeah.

**Mike Rowe** (3:59)
But if I were to put something on a billboard that we're really going to get people's attention and make them want to learn more, coming from a source as credible as Dr. Ovadia, it would be Meat Is Medicine.

**Chuck** (4:13)
Yep.

**Mike Rowe** (4:14)
So vegans, vegetarians, clutch your pearls.

**Chuck** (4:17)
Buckle up.

**Mike Rowe** (4:18)