The Surgeon Defending Statins, GLP-1s, and Ancel Keys | Dr Terry Simpson

In this episode, I sit down with bariatric surgeon and science communicator Dr Terry Simpson for a wide-ranging conversation about health misinformation, GLP-1 medications, statins, ApoB, the Mediterranean diet, and the loud contrarians who dominate social media. Terry has familial hypercholesterolemia, a family history of premature cardiovascular disease, and lost 50 pounds on tirzepatide, all of which give him unusual personal stakes in these debates. What we cover: How to think about uncertainty in science, and Terry's heuristic for spotting misinformation The Gila monster origin story of GLP-1 medications, and the difference between native and pharmacological GLP-1 What food noise actually is, and Terry's own experience on tirzepatide His personal case for statins, an LDL of 190 brought into the 40s, and an ApoB in the 40s A defence of Ancel Keys and the Mediterranean diet Where the carnivore, anti-statin, seed oil, and nattokinase narratives fall apart Compounded GLP-1s, peptide deregulation, and why the FDA still matters If you find this episode useful, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share it with someone who might benefit. To connect with Dr Terry Simpson, visit terrysimpson.com, find him on TikTok at @drterrysimpson, Instagram at @drterrysimpsonmd, X at @drterrysimpson, and Substack at @drsimpson. His podcast is The Unfiltered MD. Intro (00:00) Why Carnivore and Anti-Vax Are Today's Biggest Health Lies (01:02) Doctors, COVID and the Cost of Speaking Up Online (03:58) How to Spot a Health Huckster (13:25) Will GLP-1 Drugs Make Bariatric Surgery Obsolete (19:12) A Bariatric Surgeon's Personal Decision to Take a GLP-1 Drug (22:54) Willpower Is Not the Problem: What Food Noise Actually Feels Like (26:23) Why Ancel Keys Was Right and Low Carb Got It Wrong (32:51) Mediterranean Diet Results That Stopped a Trial Early (39:50) Are GLP-1 Drugs the Greatest Medical Breakthrough This Century (47:38) The Real Danger of Buying Compounded GLP-1 Drugs Online (51:27) BPC-157 and Peptides: Why FDA Guardrails Actually Matter (59:42) Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Statins and a Personal Wake Up Call (01:04:69) Inflammation vs. ApoB: What Actually Causes a Heart Attack (01:13:04) CT Angiogram Results and Keto CTA Data Explained (01:16:33) Fish Oil vs. Eating Fish: Why the Supplement Doesn't Replicate the Food (01:24:35) Simon's Plant Based Diet, Seed Oils and Cooking with Olive Oil (01:28:07) The Seed Oil Debate: Are People Just Afraid of Modern Chemistry (01:33:17) Want to support the show? 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