ICP 87: Kevin Bass, MS- An Introduction to Ketosis and its role in cancer.

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Ian Cramer Podcast. I am the one-man-band podcast creator Ian Cramer. This podcast seeks to interview doctors and scholars of lifestyle medicine. I want to bring thought leaders to my audience, those who are doing research within the lifestyle medicine, nutritional science space, or who are treating patients using diet, exercise, and lifestyle approaches. Why do I do this? Well, I hate to be a pessimist, but our healthcare system isn’t working that well. In the United States, we’re spending way more money per person than other countries, and it doesn’t really seem like people are getting healthier. What are we spending that money on? Procedures and prescriptions! And status-quo! When what we really need more of is basic education, lifestyle interventions, we don’t need the latest greatest stent or lipid-lowering medication, what we need is lasting diet and lifestyle changes. And those who emphasize these pillars, is who I fill this podcast with. Welcome.   In Episode 87, am joined by a Twitter lighting rod. His name is Kevin Bass, and at least from my observations of him, lots of people love him, and a disproportionate number of people do not like his style. Kevin is an MD/PhD student in Texas. He has a BS in biology and BA in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in immunology. For his PhD, he studies the potential use of the ketogenic diet as an adjunctive therapy in the prevention and treatment of cancer, focusing particularly on the role of G-protein-coupled receptor GPR109A. He will return to medical school in 2021 to complete his medical degree. He also has a particular interest in nutrition, nutrition science and how diet and lifestyle play a role in chronic disease prevention and reversal. What caught my attention about Kevin and what motived me to speak to him for an episode of the podcast was the way he always speaks up when something is not evidence-based. He is candid, he’s sometimes rough around the edges, yet also capable and open to scholarly discussions, He challenges my thinking, gets my wheels turning and makes me think more critically about topics having to do with chronic diseases, diet and lifestyle changes. I’ve also enjoyed reading Kevin’s blog articles on various topics within nutritional science. He stands up for what’s right, he speaks up against pseudoscience, espouses scientific integrity, he is intellectually honest and curious, and even in this episode, he pushed back a few times on my statements and philosophies with his interpretations of the literature. I find the way he approaches topics in an unbiased and pro/con way very refreshing. In this discussion, we speak about his doctoral dissertation on a Ketogenic diet and cancer. We start with discussing the physiology of a ketogenic diet, then dovetail into the origins of this dietary strategy and different definitions of ketogenic diets. We then speak about various applications of ketogenic diets such as Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, Obesity and metabolic disorders, and longevity, and then end with a summary of the literature on ketogenic diets and cancer prevention and treatment. You may hear in this episode that we mention a Part 1 several times. We did record a part 1 several weeks before we recorded this. But after some deliberation, we agreed that we would not publish that because we weren’t happy with it. In spending over 3 hours with Kevin, I learned things not only about ketogenic diets but also how to be a better podcaster and host and interviewer, which is something else I appreciate about him. I thank Kevin very much for his time, and thank you for listening. Without further delay, I hope you enjoy my conversation, on Episode number 87, with Kevin Bass.  I really enjoyed that, and appreciate how much time Kevin gives people, whether it’s a podcast, or on twitter or through his blog articles. I highly recommend you check out his blog at NutritionRevolution.org where he has the tag line ‘Science is a permanent revolution”. I hope many of you are new listeners to the podcast through Kevin’s reach on Twitter, and if this episode met your expectations, please consider sharing this episode on social media. I always pin the most recent episode on my Twitter page, or FB page. Use the hashtag IanCramerPodcast. So you just found my podcast…I hope you continue listening…and even go back to previous episodes and check out what I’ve already recorded. If you’re a long-time listener of the podcast and if you have found consistent value in the episodes, please join the 49 other listeners who support my work through Patreon. Think of this as you’re buying a newspaper or a subscription to Sports Illustrated or Time Magazine. Every time I put out a new episode, you get charged a small fee to help me continue putting out quality content. For more details, please visit Patreon.com/IanCramerPodcast. You can also connect with and thank Kevin directly on Tw9tter at KevinNBass. And as always, you can connect with me on Twitter and call me anything you want, just don’t call me late for dinner, @IanCramer Please look forward to a new episode coming out every other Saturday morning. Stay Healthy, Take care.