The Couch Potato Coach

I'm Ben, the Couch Potato Coach. I'm a recovering Couch Potato helping others get off the couch and get their lives back. I lost more than 150 pounds.

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

100%

[Dr. Marty Makary @DrMakaryFDA]

Insulin resistance — which can result from constantly eating highly processed foods that spike our insulin — is a common thread of many chronic diseases that we need to talk about.

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

The food industry starts poisoning us at the earliest possible opportunity. They exist for their own profit, not your baby's health.

[Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes]

The Florida Department of Health randomly bought 25 baby formulas from stores, almost 70% of the baby formulas they bought tested positive for heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury above legal limits

“The Florida Department of Health has collected 24 infant formulas from seven different brands purchased for multiple locations both online and in stores. Those samples were tested for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. What we found in those 24 samples was troubling. Of the 24 infant formulas tested, 16 of those formulas contained at least one, if not more, heavy metals that exceeded federal standards.”

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Get some electrolytes too.

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Cheers!

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

As you start the New Year "clean" keep this in mind.

[DoctorTro @DoctorTro]

🍎 Is fruit healthy?
The answer: DEPENDS 🤔

Iranian RCT in NAFLD…actual interventional data, not food-frequency noise.

Randomized patients to:
• <2 servings fruit/day
• ≥4 servings fruit/day

Same calories. Same BMI.

High-fruit arm had:
• ALT ~3× higher
• AST ~3× higher
• GGT ~4× higher
• HOMA-IR ~3× higher
• Worse liver steatosis

IN LARGER OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES:
When fruit is isolated from vegetables, the signal flips… in some datasets 3-4 servings INCREASES mortality

“Fruits and vegetables” as one category is a statistical trick.

More fruit ≠ healthier liver

https://t.co/2RSuhkZv1p

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Happy New Year!

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Or, you get IN shape between New Year's and Christmas. Your choice.

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Merry Christmas!

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Never forget those who gave all

[Cary Kelly @CaryKelly11]

"If all cardiometabolic markers are good, like insulin, c-reactive protein and the LDL is high, it is actually one of the greatest predictors of longevity." ~ @BenBikmanPhD

LDL plays a protective/reparative role. Pass it on.

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

1929: American spinach industry creates Popeye.

The myth: Spinach has tons of iron.
The reality: 2.7mg iron per 100g, only 2-5% absorbed. That's 0.05mg usable.

Beef: 2.6mg iron, 15-35% absorbed. That's 0.4-0.9mg usable.

Beef provides 8-18x more usable iron.

But here's the killer: Spinach contains 970mg oxalates per 100g. Highest of any common food.

Those oxalates bind to the iron, making it completely unavailable.

They also bind calcium, form kidney stones, damage the gut lining, and cause joint pain.

1937: Scientists discover the Popeye iron claim was based on a decimal point error from 1870. Spinach has 1/10th the iron originally claimed.

The correction is published. The myth persists.

Your body leeches calcium from bones to buffer oxalate damage while the oxalates prevent dietary calcium absorption.

Eating spinach for calcium and iron achieves the exact opposite result.

Popeye's strength came from being a cartoon funded by agricultural lobbyists.

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Good points made.

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

Let's talk about how long it takes for obviously wrong medical advice to change.

1950s: Doctors recommend smoking to pregnant women.
"It calms the nerves. Helps with stress."
Evidence of harm: Mounting.

How long until doctors stop recommending it: 20+ years.

1960s: Thalidomide prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness.
Causes severe birth defects. Thousands of children born with missing limbs.
Evidence of harm: Immediate and catastrophic.

How long until it's banned: Took 5 years in some countries. US narrowly avoided approval.

1970s: DES (diethylstilbestrol) prescribed to prevent miscarriage.
Causes cancer and reproductive problems in daughters of women who took it.
Evidence of harm: Mounting throughout the decade.

How long until discontinued: 11 years after first concerns.

1990s: Margarine recommended over butter for heart health.
Evidence: Trans fats in margarine actually cause heart disease.

How long until trans fats banned: 25 years.

2000s: Vioxx approved for arthritis pain.
Causes heart attacks. Killed an estimated 60,000 people.
Evidence: Existed before approval. Company hid it.

How long until withdrawn: 5 years. Only after public pressure.

2010s: Opioids prescribed freely for pain.
"They're safe! Not addictive!"
Evidence: Massively addictive. Destroying lives.

How long until restrictions: 20+ years. Only after epidemic is undeniable.

The pattern is clear:
Medical establishment recommends something.
Evidence of harm emerges.
Establishment ignores evidence.
Years or decades pass.
Harm becomes undeniable.
Establishment slowly reverses course.

Never admitting they were wrong. Just "updating based on new information."

So when modern doctors say:
"Seed oils are heart healthy!" "Statins for everyone!" "Cholesterol is the enemy!" "Saturated fat causes heart disease!"

Remember: They've been catastrophically wrong before.

For decades.

And they never admit it until the damage is done.

How long were doctors wrong about cigarettes? Decades.

How long wrong about trans fats? Decades.

How long will they be wrong about seed oils and statins?

We're finding out in real time.

But if history is any guide: They'll be wrong for decades before admitting it.

And millions will suffer following their advice in the meantime.

The question isn't: "Are doctors right this time?"

The question is: "Why would you assume they are, given their track record?"

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

From one Veteran to fellow Veterans, Happy Veteran's Day!

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

Good news about non-nutritive sweeteners!

[Benjamin Bikman @BenBikmanPhD]

As a metabolic scientist, I've long been pragmatic about sweeteners: my litmus test is simple���does it spike glucose or insulin? For most non-nutritive sweeteners (like aspartame, sucralose, stevia, etc.), the answer is no, based on decades of mechanistic studies showing minimal or no direct impact on those pathways. That's why I've viewed them as a clear upgrade over sugar, which reliably elevates both and contributes to insulin resistance, fat storage, and metabolic chaos. But debates rage on about long-term effects, especially on weight, gut health, and cardiometabolic markers. This latest study offers new insight: https://t.co/J1MXkYcxpZ.

The research group found that replacing sugar with sweeteners in a healthy, low-sugar diet helped adults with overweight or obesity maintain greater weight loss over a year. Importantly, and of much interest to many, this occurred alongside beneficial shifts in gut microbiome composition toward more short-chain fatty acid producers (SCFAs are metabolic heavy weights). Additionally, no negative effects on cardiometabolic health were seen. All of this aligns with my view that most sweeteners are a safe and better alternative to sugar.

[Nina Teicholz, PhD @bigfatsurprise]

Fruit in its current-day form, bred to be large and super-sweet, is no longer as healthy as it once was.

In this study, 2c fruit a day led to insulin resistance (root cause of obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, etc). Go easy on 🍎🍉🍊

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

@ProfHaub @DoctorTro Lol

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

@ifixhearts My last Tg/Hdl was .5 how am I doing?

[The Couch Potato Coach @BenCPCoach]

@CaryKelly11 Looks good!

[Elie Jarrouge, MD @ElieJarrougeMD]

At some point, you have to stop outsourcing your health to credentials and start listening to the evidence your body gives you every single day.

Degrees don’t live in your body. Experts don’t wake up with your fatigue, your cravings, or your joint pain.

Your body is constantly giving you feedback:
• Do certain foods leave you bloated, foggy, or inflamed?
• Do others give you stable energy, strength, and clarity?
• Does your weight, blood pressure, or blood sugar move in the right direction when you make a change?

That evidence is more powerful than any guideline or headline.

Yes, knowledge matters. But wisdom comes from combining good information with common sense and real-life results.

Stop ignoring your body’s signals in favor of theories that clearly haven’t worked for the millions still trapped in chronic disease.

Listen to your body. Trust the feedback. Build your health from the inside out.