A Talk With Professor Richard Feinman: Part 2 (Episode 136)
8 05 2008If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Welcome to the world’s hottest low-carb podcast, “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show With Jimmy Moore!”
In Episode 136, our host Jimmy returns again to Dr. Richard D. Feinman, renowned professor of cellular biology and editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Nutrition & Metabolism. This is the conclusion of his two-part interview with Dr. Feinman from the recent American Society of Bariatric Physicians/Nutrition & Metabolism conference in Phoenix, Arizona last month.
Part 1 was very popular and we’re sure you’ll enjoy today’s installment as well! Be sure to share your thoughts about Dr. Feinman’s interview in the comments section below! Thanks for listening!
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 136
- Jimmy Moore’s new and improved “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Discussion” forum
- 2008 ASBP/Nutrition & Metabolism conference in Phoenix, AZ
- Nutrition & Metabolism Society website
- Nutrition & Metabolism scientific journal
- Jimmy Moore’s blog interview with Dr. Feinman in June 2006
- Related blog post: “Feinman To Warshaw: How Healthy Is A Diabetes Diet That Requires Medication?”
- Related blog post: “Can You Actually Get Fatter On A Low-Carb Diet?”
- Related blog post: “Survey: Majority Of Low-Carb Dieters Shift To Salad Greens From Starch And Sugars”
- Related podcast: “Gluconeogenesis Is Your Internal Carb Factory (Episode 13)”
- Related podcast: Jimmy Interviews Professor Richard Feinman: Part 1 (Episode 135)
From over 400 pounds to 230, Jimmy Moore is 
Hi, my name is Vadim and I am an evening manager at Suny Downstate Medical Center at Brookly, ny. I have read and followed Dr Eade for a long time but how suprised I was to find out that Dr Feinman was working in the same institution.
I have lots of anecdotal stories about my experience with diets but it would take at least a day to describe. May be I will share it in one of the forums.
Jimmy, I cant express enough gratitude and appreciation for the work you have been doing educating folks out there on the benefits of low carb lifestyle. Not only you conduct it in a professional and lighthearted way, but you also let your listeners do it for free. I want to thank you from the bootom of my heart! The interview with Dr Feiman was amazing, very informative and useful. Look forward to share my story with you sometime. Its quite intresting.
I have come to USA about 15 years ago. I have since graduated from two colleges with a degree in nutrition, EMT-Paramedic and DMI( diagnostic medical imaging}. I have lost and regained more then 120 pounds 3 times. I have experimented with all diets out there from Ornish eat more weight less to Dr Barry Sears zone to Fat flush to Dr Gundry diet evolution to Paul Bragg miracle starvation diet. I even tried drastic measures while being on Ornish diet.
While working in Italian restaurant and being able to avoid those hunger times, I would suck on ascorbic acids ( 20 of them) until my tongue bled and that would prevent me form eating, I simply couldn’t. I could go on and on!
I was the most successful on Atkins diet but my doctor basically convinced me I would be dead by the age of 40 if I continued. i was terrified and quit. I studied nutrition extensively to only finally suffer from “paralysis from over-analysis”.
I was ready to give up and adapt a diet that has only one simple rule; Eat anything you want as much as you want as long as you do naked in front of the mirror! Until one day I stumbled upon your website. I can’t describe the jubilation and excitement. I am a reborn person again and hearing those wonderful doctors and scientist talk so passionately about low carb made a believer out of me again.
I am back on a bandwagon again!
Vadim, THANK YOU for sharing your story. You are a very inspiring story indeed and I’d love to hear more sometime. Feel free to e-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. And THANKS for your very kind comments. Dr. Feinman is truly amazing!
Oh sure. No, thank you. I am very greatful for all the interviews you did with these amazing people.
I currently have two jobs. I do adult echocardiography in the morning and then work as a night manager at the student center at DMC( Downstate medical center of Brooklyn).
My day starts 6 am and ends at 12am so by the time I come home you can imagine how tired I am. When I stumbled upon your website I couldn’t go to sleep for at least few days listening to all those podcasts. I have found the messengers and their messages so intresting and educational.
No insults to anyone else but especialy Dr Mike Eade. I trully admire him. I read all of his work back in the days. I loved his first book in which he detaily describes protein synthesis and explains why low carb diets work. I also watched him on his show with his wife. Thank you for interviewing him.
I know so many websites charge a lot of money for listening to the interviews. And I did pay money to listen to few. I would definitely pay money to listen to people like Eades and Bowden, but I didn’t have to, and for that I truly want to thank you.
I have a question though. I know that you are not a big fan of soy. The studies are very controversial about soy. I know that more and more companies grow whats known as genetically modified soy which could be dangerous for our health. However I am one of those crazy people that happen to love soy, especially fermented such as miso.
I actually asked Dr Feinman when I spoke over the phone with him few days about soy. How lucky is it to work with that man door to door. He only works part time though, but he is gracious that not only he gave me his cell but I can pop in in his department of biochem at any time to visit him. Dr Feinman said he doesnt know that much about soy and thats its not part of his repourtair.
But I love shirataki noodles. Have you ever tried shirataki noodles? They are made of yam flour( which is basically pure soluble fiber) and a bit of soy for texture. The whole package has only 40 calories and basically carb free. I saute it in olive oil with garlic and spices and then fry it with egg. They do taste like regualr pasta aldente without all the guilt. What’s your opinion about shirataki?
I like the shirataki noodles, Vadim. They have brands that are made without soy (Konjac), but the ones with soy (House Foods) are pretty close to the real thing. Here are some posts I’ve done on these amazing Japanese miracle noodles:
http://lowcarblinks.blogspot.com/2006/09/theme-based-low-carb-links-shirataki.html
As for eating soy in general, I try to avoid it. It reminds me too much of a low-fat diet to begin with (EEEK!) and I just don’t like the flavor of it. Plus, there are some rather damning studies out there about soy despite what the low-fat apologists have to say about how “healthy” it is. THANKS again for writing!
No, once again thank you!
I couldn’t follow Part I because I don’t know enough about chemistry and it went over my head. Part 2, though was the most interesting and useful interview about food that I ever heard.
THANKS Peter! Dr. Feinman gets into “professor” mode sometimes and forgets us laypeople don’t know even some basics…but I agree Part 2 was much more practical. I appreciate you listening.
What I learned from Dr. Feinman:
1. A major cause of heart disease and diabetes is carbohydrate intolerance.
2. LDL is a poor marker of heart disease. The ration of triglycerides/HDL is a better one, and over 3.5 is risky.
On a different topic, I think that “high carb” as a movement is dead, though of course lots of people eat like that. No need to fight it any more. The emerging movement that is alive and well (which of course doesn’t mean it is right) is the “good food/bad food” idea:
Low glycemic foods are good; high glycemic foods are bad.
Local food is good; food from far away is bad.
Meat from naturally raised animals is good; grain-fed beef, bacon, sausage, chicken with antibiotics and hormones are bad.
Organic food is good; food raised with pesticides is bad.
Food from the farm is good. Food from factories in packages is bad.
Anyhow, you get the idea. In fact, you already knew it!
Peter, those are interesting observations. It is worth pointing out that one particular point you mention: “Local food is good; food from far away is bad” really has more to do with the carbon footprint of your food than any particular nutritional attribute (unless it was shipped over such a long period of time that the nutrients in it began to degrade).
It reminds me of Michael Pollan’s latest book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Have you read it? I highly recommend it. One of his main themes is the development of “Nutritionism”, a belief that bad food can be made good by merely adding supplements to it.
For instance taking a really deficient breakfast cereal (which started life as a highly nutritious, lower-glycemic whole grain and then was refined to the point of nutritional uselessness with HFC added) and “improving” it by adding all kind of extra vitamins and minerals (usually in a form that is inferior to the way nature originally supplied it).
A great example of that is when Dean Ornish told Jimmy how proud he was to have convinced Tropicana to add processed fiber back into it’s orange juice, rather than just encouraging people to get the “orange juice with natural pulp” or - better yet - just eat a real orange.
You can read my review of Pollan’s work and see a video at my health blog: Michael Pollan Speaks In Defense Of Food