Most of us have heard the advice: “calories in = calories out.” But according to Dr. Robert Lustig, one of the world’s leading voices on metabolic health, that’s not just wrong, it’s killing us.
In our recent Deep Tech Live, Dr. Lustig sat down with SOSV’s Mohan Iyer to unpack the myths and realities of metabolic disease. Here’s some of his most eye opening facts:
- Not all calories are equal. Fiber, protein, fats, and sugars affect our bodies in profoundly different ways.
- Only ~10–15% of foods in an average grocery store today actually qualify as “good food” by his standards of metabolic health.
- The real roadmap to health? Protect the liver. Feed the gut. Support the brain. And any food that does none of the three = poison.
Where does all the confusion come from? It comes from Big Food (which sells addictive, sugar‑loaded products) and its accomplice, Big Pharma (which offers GLP‑1s that treat symptoms, instead of the root cause). The result is a system that profits, while chronic metabolic disease which drives enormous healthcare costs.
Dr. Lustig goes on to share his thoughts on the systemic policy changes needed to make metabolic health widely possible, practical advice on what (and what not) to buy at the grocery store, and how companies can rebuild their food portfolios around true metabolic health.
Watch the full conversation: